You know me: I’m always preaching the values of changing your filter regularly. It’s a simple job, doesn’t cost much, and keeps your HVAC system in good working order for years to come.
A pair of coils called evaporator coils sits above the blower in the upper half of your furnace. They’re directly tied to the central air conditioner, which pulls in air from outside and pushes it through the coils to cool it. Your furnace filter, which works with your HVAC system year round—not just during the winter—catches anything like dust or similar stuff. That prevents dust from getting into the inner workings of your furnace, and ultimately, onto your evaporator coils.
But you don’t need to take my word for it. I’ve got a couple of pictures to show you.
Everyone will have to upgrade their furnace at some point—things just wear out over time. But boy, you should see the state of some of those coils that come out of there.
This one here, this guy changed his furnace filter regularly, every three months or as necessary, for as long as he had the furnace in his home. Those coils don’t have a speck of dust on them.
There’s no wonder, looking at that, his furnace lasted as long as it did. You take care of the things you invest in, and they’ll be a much more worthwhile investment.
Now, on the other hand, you have this one.
There are I don’t know how many years worth of dust collected on those. And sure, you can have your coils cleaned, but ultimately you’re going to want a professional to do it—it’s not an easy task, and you’d be far better off just preventing the need to clean them in the first place by replacing your filter when it needs replacing.
Dirty coils can lead to your evaporator coils freezing up. This can ultimately cause your A/C to wear down prematurely. No one wants that.
Keeping a close eye on your filter isn’t a tough job, and you’ll be really happy you’ve done it. Otherwise, you may end up like the guy above.
