Has Your Air Conditioner’s Air Filter Betrayed You?

In the desert that is the Valley of the Sun, we rely on our air conditioners to keep us comfortable most of the year.

So it’s unlikely that you would willingly sabotage your own air conditioner, right?

But you could be doing that exact thing if you’re not regularly checking and changing your air filter.

Here’s how.

The basic air filter in most home air conditioning systems in the Phoenix area are very cheap and simple. They are fiberglass (or some other inexpensive material) and designed to do one thing—keep harmful dirt and debris out of your AC system.

Why is that important?

While it’s unlikely that one or two particles of dust will negatively affect your air conditioning system, a buildup of dirt and debris can cause problems in several ways:

• Reduces your AC’s ability to cool your home’s air. This can…
• Increase your energy bills and
• Lead to premature breakdown from having to run longer and harder

Enter our hero: the air filter. It catches dirt particles and other debris, keeping them out of your air conditioner.

If you’re not careful, the heroic air filter can quickly betray you.

When you leave your air filter in your AC system too long, it gets full of dirt (especially during the monsoon season) and becomes worse than useless—it can do real damage.

A dirty air filter reduces the amount of airflow to your air conditioner, which can cause your AC to:

• Overheat and even trip your circuit breaker
• Not cool your home properly
• Break down
• Use much more energy to cool your home

As you can see, a dirty air filter in your AC system can cause a lot of damage. Luckily, the solution is dead simple—change your air filter.

We recommend checking your air filter about once a month and changing it when it looks dirty (which is usually once a month in any Arizona summer).

This will keep your air filter working as it’s designed to do, saving your AC system from the dangerous dirt and debris in your home’s air.