Replace Your Air Filter

First of the month, um, I'm going to remind you about your air filters, something very important. Uh, if you've not heard episode 413 of the podcast, um, it talks about air filters. So the reason I talk about it so much is because it's one of the most important things you can do for your system. This is according to third parties. The most important impact you can have on your system is to check and change the air filter. It can save you between 5 and 15% just on energy just by changing your air filter. Something that simple, that small, can make a big impact. Now I get the question quite a bit of which one should I use, because when you go to the big box store— Walmart, Home Depot, Lowe's— and you look at the aisles of filters, there's so many options. The technician can tell you which one you need the most. I personally, and we recommend and we provide for our club members, we'll what's called a MERV 8 filter. Filters are rated on a MERV rating, so the higher the number, the more efficient it is at collecting smaller particles. The challenge becomes if you have too good of a filter and your system can't handle it, the air is going to bypass the filters and you'll see it kind of suck in. It kind of sucks down the grill and then the air goes to the corners through the sides, sucked through wall outlets, they— the unit is going to get the air it needs. You want to be— the filtered, conditioned, warm or cool air that you're running to go through a filter before it gets back to your unit again. But the unit is going to get the air it needs, but you want to make it as easy as possible because air is like water. Air is just like water, it's going to travel to the easiest place. So the path of least resistance is what the air is going to do, just like water. So you want to make it as easy as possible. But I would recommend— we recommend a MERV 8 filter to start with. That's not, you know, super efficient, but again, it's not, such a throwaway that it's, uh, considered one of the cheaper filters, um, that's not doing a really good job for you. But when the technician comes out for that club maintenance or the summer cool, um, they can tell you which one is better for your home because it depends on duct system as to what kind of filter you need. And if It depends on you as well. Do you have allergy, asthma problems? Do you need better filtration? Uh, do you need to get into air cleaning versus filtration? So all that plays into effect, but the main message is check or change your air filter. At least do a MERV 8 filter. Again, the higher the number, the more efficient it is at getting smaller particles you can't see But the trade-off is airflow. You have airflow challenge, and airflow could be stopping up because that filter is too good. It's not letting the air travel to it. The unit's going to start freezing up, and it's going to start getting air from outside surfaces, crawl space, attic, uh, things you don't want to happen. So First of the month, check or change your filter. But if you have any questions, you can always text me, 910-463-5811. 910-463-5811.