BBB-Blog Dan Jape | Dan Jape - Reliable Heating and Air - Atlanta

As the warm spring weather arrives, homeowners frequently ask me if there is
anything they can do to ready their cooling system for summer. There are a few
simple steps that one can take to assure their system will be ready to take on
the hot muggy days of summer. Over the next few months I will go in depth about
some helpful cooling tips I have discovered over the years.
This month I
would like to give you some insight on the first and most important step in
summer cooling preparation-making sure to properly change the furnace air
filter. This should be done every month during the months when either the
heating or the cooling is operating. At under $3.00 a piece, it?s the best
investment you can make in your home?s heating and cooling system, considering
the fact that over 75% of the service calls we receive in the first thirty days
of the cooling system involve a dirty or improperly-sized filter. Over
three-quarters of the time, our technicians are cleaning dirty cooling coils,
blower wheels and clogged condensate water drains caused by homeowners not
changing their air filters.
Most of our customers incorrectly believe that
the job of their furnace filter is to remove airborne dust, dirt and pollens
from the air their family breathes. An even larger segment of our customers also
incorrectly believe that the job of their furnace filter is remove pet dander,
bird feathers, fish tank smell, cat pan stinks, small toys that junior threw
down the floor grills and smoke from uncle Harry?s cigar at Christmas. Well,
they are all wrong! The job of a properly designed and installed furnace air
filter is to keep the cooling coil/radiator clean and efficient during the life
of your system. Inside the duct work above your furnace is a cooling
coil/radiator called the evaporator coil, and outside of your home is a device
called the compressor/condenser. The job of the coil/radiator is to remove the
moisture and the heat from the air in your home and just like the coil/radiator
in your car, your home?s cooling coil needs just the right amount of airflow
going though its tightly packed fins. Just as your car will overheat if your fan
belt breaks, your air conditioner will overheat and stop working if coil becomes
clogged with dirt.
The fan blades that provide this airflow are in your
furnace and they are also protected and kept clean by a regular furnace filter
changing. If your furnace blower or your cooling coil becomes clogged with dirt,
a professional repairperson with have to be called as this cleaning requires
removal of both components and is very costly.
A dirty coil/blower wheel will
cause reduced airflow and possible icing of the compressor/condenser and cooling
coil. This icing causes many problems including the complete destruction of your
compressor/condenser. A unit with a dirty coil or furnace blower will run longer
generating higher power bills and will not be as efficient in transferring heat
as a clean coil and blower.
It is very important to use the correct size
filter so that all the incoming air is directed through the surface area of the
filter. Do not bend or fold a too large filter and make sure your filter is
properly held in place by a wire retainer or clip. Remember there is up to 2000
cubic feet of air blowing through your filter and it will be pulled out of place
unless firmly held in by a filter retainer clip. I can?t tell you the number of
times I find a furnace filter all mangled up and torn by the blower and dirt
just blowing right on the coil. It?s very hard to get the filter springs back in
place after you change the filter. Try lying down on the floor and with a
flashlight in hand partially crawl in the blower area to observe the filter
spring clip holder. Keep at it until it latches in place. If you are lucky
enough to have an external filter rack or holder, be sure and reinstall the door
correctly to make sure no air leakage occurs.
If you are using those 99-cent
blue fiberglass throwaway filters, STOP RIGHT NOW. Those filters are designed to
stop dirt particles the size of junior?s toys he throws down the grills and they
do a darn good job of it! But everything else smaller flies right through them
and builds up on the surface of your cooling coil where it joins with condensate
water to form a product ?coil scrounge?. Invest in the MERV 8 1? pleated filters
that cost about $3.00 a piece at your local home improvement store. Make sure
you buy a dozen at a time to make it easy to do. You will never remember to go
to the store every month. If you have an air cleaner or a hard to find filter
size do not give up. Give me a call and I will give you the name of a wholesale
supply house in your area that WILL sell to you. I have spoken to the manager
and they will be glad to help you directly. In the past I have heard from
homeowners that supply houses will not talk to them unless they are ?in the air
conditioning business?. I will gladly give you the name and number of this one
supplier you can purchase a full array of air cleaner and media filters at a
very reasonable price.
By changing your furnace filter often and correctly,
you can rest assured that you have done one of the most important functions in
assuring continued comfort, efficiency and life span of your home?s heating and
cooling system.

?Air Conditioning, Care and Maintenance

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