Having said that, the obvious exception is when cigarette, pipe or cigar smoking occurs on a regular basis. Now the pollution can’t be missed, you can see it and you can smell it. The health concerns regarding smoking are well known and possibly beaten to death, so we won’t get in to that. Not so obvious is the health impact of dirty interior air when we don’t notice it. Medical experts have concluded that symptoms ranging from headaches, asthma, bronchitis, allergies and cancer among others, may likely be attributed to polluted interior air.

The next reason to use a furnace filter or air conditioning filter is to keep your heating and cooling system operating as it was designed and to prolong its life. For an air conditioning unit to operate at its peak efficiency it needs to be kept clean. The evaporator is the component in your system in which the air passes directly over and is cooled and returned to your living space. The surfaces of the evaporator are normally very cold and therefore wet with condensation. The moisture in the air condensates on the evaporator and subsequently drains to the exterior of the building. Imagine blowing dirty air across the cold wet surfaces of the evaporator. How long do you think it takes for the dirt to completely cover this wet surface? Once dirty, the evaporator loses efficiency and may begin to support mold and bacteria growth, after all it is a dark moist environment.

The last reason for using an air conditioning filter and furnace filter is to help keep your house clean. Look at it this way, every time your air conditioner or furnace runs it is like someone is vacuuming the air of dust, dirt or worse. All of this for only a couple bucks per month, seems like an obvious choice, your air must be filtered. What may not be obvious is which furnace filter and air conditioning filters should be used, we will try to help with that decision.

There are many different types of furnace air filters available today.  The two main types are throw away and the other are washable. Washable furnace air filters won’t last forever but most people could get several years of use from them with regular cleaning. Then again cleaning these filters is a pain and if it is cold outside it can be quite inconvenient. We feel most people will find using a disposal filter is both easier and quicker and in the long run a better option.

Selecting the correct filter will include looking at the MERV rating. If you would like more information about visit our page what is MERV  We have pointed out the health effects from breathing dust and dirty air. A little education here will pay off for you and your family, especially if any of you suffer from allergies.

The average person takes about 20 breaths per minute, which works out to almost 30,000 breaths per day. Clearly this is an activity which we spend considerable time, if not effort. Each one of those breaths contain dust, bacteria, germs, soot, fumes, pollen and many other harmful material. It is true that our bodies have some built in filtration functions but why overtax the body? Estimates vary widely but some suggest interior air can be 10 or more times as polluted as outside air. If the man made indoor pollution is that concentrated should we really believe our bodies were designed for that? Not likely.

We humans live in closer proximity to each other than ever before. That proximity intensifies the airborne particles from vehicles, other people, animals, manufacturing and other sources. Some well known airborne diseases are influenza, diphtheria, hay fever, tuberculosis, colds, viruses, pneumonia, scarlet fever, measles, etc.

When we think about dust its not just dust it is made up of a vast array of materials. Most of the materials are not good, such as; soot, dander, sand, smoke, fibers, insects, hair, not to mention chemical fumes. The US Weather Service estimates that one cubic inch of air could contain as much as 100,000 particles of dust. Worse yet, each piece of dust can contain thousands of germs.

A human living indoors is a relatively new phenomenon, at least with more or less sealed buildings. Only one hundred years ago our buildings had no air conditioning, central heat, weather-stripping, thermal pane windows, insulation or any of the modern products currently used to effectively seal the inside air from the outside.

Health statistics show that incidence of asthma which is known to be aggravated by air pollution is rising dramatically in the USA. The health risks are too great to ignore the regular use and replacement of a good air conditioning filter

Prior to choosing furnace air filters, you should know the size that your furnace requires.  There are several different models of furnace air filters that can be found.  They include those that throwaway filters and reusable filters.  Washable furnace air filters are not able to last a lifetime, but may last a year.  You can quite often cut back on spending if you select a washable air filter, but you will need to clean it on a monthly basis.

To maintain washable furnace air filters, you will need to hold them beneath running water to get rid of every bit of grit and grime that has gathered in your furnace.  This will make it possible for you to keep the filter clean so it will run your furnace more effectively.  The more you attend to cleaning and changing your filters, the more effectively the fan will run on your furnace.  When the filters wind up clogged, it not only spreads unhealthy air to each of your rooms, but it also ends up raising your furnace bills.

If you own a particular style of furnace, you might want to stick with furnace filters that are made by the manufacturer.  You  can either choose these over the web, where you can get them pretty cheap, or buy them from the distributor.  There are many varying sizes when you need furnace air filters, so take care that you get the right size for your furnace.  You may need to take a used filter along with you when you go to the store so that you can see the size for yourself.  If you are buying online, take the furnace filter out and then look at it so that you can easily view the dimensions.  Many people attempt to guess when they are buying furnace air filters and get an wrong size that will never fit the furnace.

Although your furnace may be operated sans furnace air filters, it is not a wise idea.  You will suffer from allergens and dirt being dispersed throughout the house.  If you are wanting a way to operate your furnace in the best way possible and also cut down on your gas bill while keeping your house dust-free, you should get the highest quality furnace air filters for your furnace and replace them regularly.