It costs less than $5 a month to make the air
your family breaths inside your home cleaner and healthier.
That’s how much it costs to buy a
good-quality, pleated HVAC filter and to change it once a month.
If you buy a filter that’s too cheap - like
one of those $1 blue filters – you could do more harm than good. Those filters
don’t do a good job of trapping small pollutants like dust and pet dander; in
fact, they remove only about 10 percent of pollutants from the air. So those
particles find their way into your HVAC system, where they can clog up the works
or blow back into your home for you to breather in again and again.
It might surprise you that the really
expensive, ultra-thick disposable filters – the ones that cost $15 or $20 –
aren’t any better for your system than the cheap ones. Same goes for reusable,
washable electro static or “monofilament” filters.
Sure, they trap the tiniest bits of dust and
dander. But they’re so thick that they don’t allow the air to flow through
them freely, especially if you don’t clean them every week. That makes your
HVAC system work harder, and will shorten its life.
You best bet: a one inch pleated air filter
that costs $4 to $5. It looks like cloth on the outside, but the pleats contain
fibers that catch allergy-causing smoke, mold and dust before your HVAC system
can suck it in. At the same time, the pleated filter allows enough air to get
through so your system can operate properly.
Using a pleated filter and replacing it every
month will keep your air cleaner and your HVAC system in tip-top shape for
longer.