EspañolOur air conditioner consumes more electricity than any other appliance in the house in the summertime. How Does the Air Filter Affect the Home A/C unit?
How can we make our A/C run better and more efficiently to save electricity?
Now that we have the kids back in school, we can do some changes at home so we can take back control of our energy usage and get back on track with our home budget. Summer is almost over, temperatures are dropping, however, our high electric bills are coming in the next few days. Don’t be surprised, this 2022 summer was one of the hottest summers in years. With many days over 100˚F, no rain, and trying to keep our family comfortable was not an easy thing to do.
Indeed, we love our air conditioner during summertime. To keep this appliance in good running condition we can give it a little help and at the same time, save some energy and lower our electricity bill.
Here is how the air filter affects the home A/C unit.
Get the picture?
A clogged air filter will make the A/C unit work harder and for longer periods. Over stressing our air conditioner can cause more than one problem.
Condensation leaking
Aside from wasting more electricity, it can make leaks and damage the base where is standing. This problem may not be easy to detect, consequently, in the long run, it can cause some serious damage.
Non-stop A/C unit
As mentioned above, it may not even reach the desired temperature and the unit will not stop working. For as much as you would like to have your house at 65˚F, it will never reach that desired temperature if the air filter is not letting the airflow. Additionally, the compressor may get too hot and stop working.
Air duct pollution
Additionally, all the dust and particles that may escape from the sides of the unit’s air filter rail, will get through the ducts and may stay there. You can add $150 for an air duct cleaning technician.
Dirty coils
Lastly, help your compressor unit clean the coils with a water hose. Here is a video on how to clean the coils.
Changing your air filter is more than just saving money, think about your health.
A high-quality air filter may cost 3 to 4 times more than the cheapest air filter. However, these cheap air filters (the green filters) don’t even do 1/10 of the job they are supposed to do. With all mentioned above, do you think is worth it to even try this kind of filter? Let me tell you that I live in an apartment, and the maintenance guys replace the air filter with the lowest quality filter there is. Yes, it is free but no thank you, I rather get my own filter and do this myself. Come on, it takes $10 and 2 minutes of your time, that is $40 and no more than 10 minutes a year. I bet that you will save more than $40 per year on electricity with a decent air filter installed in your A/C unit every 3 months.
DIY – Lower your energy bills.
For more ideas on how to save on electricity, you can follow our Power Blog. Air Filter Affect A/C
Prepaid electricity helps you save energy and lower your electric bill.
If you would like to see if your energy-saving efforts are really working, use prepaid electricity with Payless Power. Prepaid electricity will give you daily energy usage notifications. This way you can test your appliances to be the most energy-efficient possible. Try it, it’s a great option to challenge yourself, and see how much energy you can save every day.