Home Inspection Winter Tips #2

While performing a home inspection in Iowa City, Waverly, Waterloo or Cedar Rapids I get the opportunity to see homes in varying degrees of condition. As winter approaches, in Iowa we need to begin to get our homes ready for the season ahead.

This weeks winter tip is to change your furnace filter!  The furnace may have sat idle through most of the fall season, but soon the weather will demand that we fire it up to keep warm. Keeping your filter changed regularly will help to ensure a properly and efficiently functioning furnace through the winter months.

The majority of furnaces I see at a home inspection  have a one inch filter. Some filters like the one here are four inches thick.  These are good filters that protect the unit from large particles circulating through the return ducts. Large particles can and will over time clog the coils and fan motor inside the unit causing it to run inefficiently, restrict air flow, and may even damage the heat exchanger if not kept in check.

Do not get caught up into the fallacy that a one inch filter that cost $15.00 will clean the air in your home. These filters do in fact trap smaller particles. But, given the average amount of time the unit runs per hour and the amount of air that moves through the system, the filters do not act as an air cleaning system as they do not meet the minimum amount of air exchanges per hour. That is another subject for another time.

Check you filter every month during the season. You may be surprised how much debris accumulates on the filter. You don’t want to have me finding your filter looking like this one that I saw at a recent home inspection. Remember, we want to move as much air through the system as we can while still protecting the unit in order to maximize efficiency. That helps keep money in our pockets and is good stewardship.

I hope that I have helped you understand just a bit more about how your heating system works and why it is important to keep your filters clean. Visit the rest of our website to learn more and see why having a home inspection is so important before moving forward with your home purchase.

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