"Why should you worry about changing your air filter? Who cares if it gets dirty? Why should that bother me?"
Many people pay little attention to the state of their filters and let them get dirty and clogged up, because they don't realize the possible consequences.
- Dirty air filters reduce airflow - Whether it's for a furnace, an air conditioner or an air cleaner, having a clogged-up filter will reduce how much of the hot, cool or cleaned air reaches your residence.
- Dirty air filters reduce energy-efficiency - Because it's so much harder to push air through a dirty filter, the fan on your unit will have to work harder to creat airflow and will use up more electricity than it otherwise would need.
- Dirty air filters can damage your unit - Trying to push air through a clogged filter can put heavy strain on your fan, leading it to overheat or even breakdown, leading to repairs much more expensive than a new filter
- Dirty air filters are just plain dirty - Once a filter has picked up enough particles, not only will it no longer be able to pick any more up, but it will begin leaving them in the air that flows through it, potentially making that air dirtier than it was before.