Podcast episode (single speaker) offering practical HVAC advice: recommends using higher-efficiency filters versus cheap see-through Home Depot filters, emphasizes that small particles (not visible large debris) cause most problems, warns about restricting airflow with overly tight filters, and gives signs a filter is too tight for a unit (corners caving in; difficulty removing).
Chapters
When our techs go out to the house, they can recommend what's better for you. But I would. Yes, you need a better filter than the 69 cent Home Depot see through filter. I mean, if you can, if you can lay it on your table, take salt, pour it over it, and the salt gets through. That's not a good filter. That makes sense because you're trying. I mean, the big filter is stopping, or the cheap filter is stopping things like sandwiches and chickens and any kind of furry pets from coming through, but it's not stopping the small particles that you need to be stopping. And that is 98% of your problem is the small ones, not the big ones. So that's where you need to be focused on. So the better filter is better for you. But you do have to walk a fine line of restricting airflow and stopping the particles. Now, there are air cleaners on the market, they can handle both. We have them, but you just have to be careful about novice. I'll tell you a good sign. So when you put the filter in the return and the unit's running, if it starts to cave in a little bit and the corners cave in a little bit, the filter is too much for that unit. It is too tight because now you're caving it in a little bit and the air is still going around the corners. So, I mean, you defeat the purpose. It's not going into the filter anymore, it's going around the filter to get to where it's going. So, you know, you should give a gentle little tug to get it out. You shouldn't have that much force to get it out. So that's kind of a rule of thumb. I kind of hate rule of thumbs, but there you go, there's one of them. So if you have, I mean, if you have to like, you know, lean against the wall to get it out, that is a problem. If you have to just, just pull a little bit, you're good.
