MIKE HOLMES: A clean filter makes a happy furnace

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 30/10/2010 (5502 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

I hate to break it to you, but summer’s over. And if you haven’t done so already, you’ll have to do it soon: that act that signals the start of winter. You’ll have to turn on your furnace. Sorry about that.

Before you do, though, you need to do one simple thing that will help get your home — and your furnace — ready for the cold season. You need to make sure your furnace is in good working order and ready for the months ahead.

No one wants to go down into the furnace room. It’s dark. Maybe it’s damp and cobwebby. But it has to be done — you need to change your furnace filter. People always forget to change the filter and it’s one of the most important things you need to do regularly to help your furnace run optimally. It takes almost no time to do and filters don’t cost much, but for some reason, we all tend to forget what’s not right in front of us.

It’s important. Think of your furnace as the beating heart of your home. Ducts are the arteries and veins that carry heat to all parts of your house and return cold air back to the furnace to be reheated. It’s important that you don’t restrict the airflow from your furnace through your home because of a clogged furnace filter or furniture blocking cold-air returns and heat registers.

Furnace filters were originally designed to protect your furnace, not clean your air, which is what most people think, and how they are marketed these days. Take a look at where they are installed in your furnace: between the cold-air return that supplies the furnace and the fan and blower. Air is brought from your home through the cold-air returns and is cleaned by the furnace filter before it goes into the furnace to be heated and sent back out into your house.

A clean furnace filter helps your furnace operate more efficiently and protects the fan, heating coil, blower motor and supply ducts from accumulating circulated dust.

Your furnace fan has to work harder to pull cold air in through a clogged filter. By working harder to maintain enough airflow, your furnace’s efficiency is reduced and the blower works harder, which costs you money and wears out the parts faster.

Dust particles, hair, bits of insulation, dirt and mould spores all get drawn into your furnace. You need a filter and you need to change it as often as your furnace manufacturer recommends. Why not do it more often? What does a standard filter cost — few dollars? What’s the cost to service your furnace? How much are you spending on wasted energy?

What about those floor-register filters? Are they a good idea to keep your indoor air clean? They are sold as cleaning the air and keeping dirt from falling into the register. Well, let’s be logical: They also prevent warm air from coming out. On an ongoing basis, it’s easy to pull off the register covers and vacuum inside. Do the cold-air returns as well, which will help reduce the junk that reaches your furnace filter.

The air coming out of your furnace is cleaner than the air going in, remember. It’s the air coming back to your furnace from the cold-air return that’s dirty, bringing all the dust and pet hair and who knows what else into your furnace. And that’s the filter you need to worry about.

People wonder if they should have their ducts cleaned now that winter is coming. To me, it’s common sense. It’s logical that your ducts will get dirty over time. It’s not something you need to do every year, but if you have pets or allergies, and especially if you’ve just done a renovation, you should have your ducts professionally cleaned.

When you have your ducts cleaned by a professional crew, make sure they are pros and have good equipment. A bad duct-cleaning job can create more indoor-air problems by stirring up and releasing trapped dust and dirt. It can also damage your heating system or ductwork. As with all contractors you bring into your house, make sure you check them out before you hire.

Catch Mike in his new series, Holmes Inspection, airing Thursdays at 7 p.m. CT on HGTV. For more information, visit www.hgtv.ca. For more information on home renovations, visit makeitright.ca.

— Postmedia News