Quality ProsGuaranteeContact UsImportance Air Conditioning Filter UseYour air conditioner delivers important comfort during the cooling season, helping to keep your home temperature and humidity levels comfortable. If the prospect of living without your AC is more than you can handle, it’s a good idea to maintain your air conditioner regularly to make sure it keeps humming along. Check out the Energy Star website for useful heating and cooling information that will help you maintain your appliances. You’re likely to notice reduced efficiency and higher cooling costs if you don’t check your cooling unit regularly. You’ll quickly realize the importance of air conditioning filter use when your cooling bill rises or your family starts getting sick. Changing the air filter shouldn’t take more than a few minutes of your time and then you’ll have the peace of mind to run your air conditioner as you need it.There are specific factors that determine how often you should change air conditioner filters.

If you have pets or if someone in your household smokes, your air conditioner filters will need more frequent changing. If you have family members that suffer from asthma or allergies, you’ll need to keep the filter impeccably clean to make sure you’re filtering out contaminants and allergens. In addition, the time your air conditioner spends running also affects how often you need to change the filter. If you run it 24/7 during the cooling season, you’ll probably need to change the filter every three weeks. If you run it less often, you may be able to get by with changing it every five to six weeks. An air conditioner clogged with debris from a dirty air filter won’t operate efficiently. Your unit will need to work harder to produce less cooling, an unpleasant situation for your wallet. When you change the air filters on a regular basis, you’ll notice that your unit cools your home faster, which reduces the amount of time it has to run. Over time, an air conditioner that doesn’t have to work as hard will last longer with fewer repairs, too.

Clean and Healthy Cooling A clean air filter will help keep your indoor air cleaner and more healthy. The EPA considers indoor air pollution to be a significant environmental problem. At the same time, an inefficient air conditioner adds additional waste into the environment, which can contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. If you make a habit out of running your air conditioner with a dirty air filter, you will eventually notice accelerated wear and tear on the unit. Dirt that escapes the dirty air filter will restrict airflow through the unit, which can fill the coils with debris and make the unit freeze up. Eventually you also may have to replace the compressor of your unit. This will involve hiring a technician, which won’t be cheap. Air filters have efficiency values that will help you choose the best filter for your air conditioner. The minimum efficiency reporting value ranges between 1 and 12. The higher the value, the more filtration and cleaning you’ll have with the filter.

Be careful, though – it will also take more power to pull air through higher-value filters. about window ac unitsFind a middle ground in efficiency value to control energy costs.how to remove ac unit from window When you know you can’t be without your air conditioner to get through the cooling season, maintaining it becomes a priority to control expenses and keep it running smoothly. old ac unitsChanging the air filter shouldn’t take more than a few minutes of your time and then you’ll have the peace of mind to run your air conditioner as you need it to keep your indoor areas cool, comfortable and healthy.Get an answer from a qualified expert within 24 hours1. What else should our Experts know?Popular Expert AnswersI use Filtrete 1900 A/C filters for my upstairs and downstairs units.

How often do I have to use the pump to clean the filter My air conditioning unit stopped last night, The Filters were in a word Filthy.Though we're technically still in the season of spring, June is off to a hot start in many parts of the country, and that means one thing for millions of sweltering people: air conditioning. And while we may take air conditioning for granted, it's generally an expensive luxury. Americans spend more than $22 billion a year on electricity to cool their homes with air conditioning — and use a whopping 183 billion kilowatt-hours, according to recent statistics from the U.S. Department of Energy. That accounts for at least 15% of all energy used in some homes, and in warmer climates can represent up to 70% of a summer electric bill.If you're shopping for a new air conditioner, you'll notice quite a few different sizes and models. But one thing's for sure: Savings are always chill. Here's a quick primer to staying cool and keeping your wallet from overheating when picking out an A/C unit.

What's a BTU and How Many Do I Need?Chances are you already know that BTU stands for British Thermal Unit, and that the more BTUs an air conditioner cranks out, the stronger its cooling power. (No disrespect to the Brits, but maybe we need an American Thermal Unit, where 1 AMU corresponds to 1 square foot.)Lobbying for the AMU aside, you don't have to guess how much BTU power you'll need to cool your space. Instead, download this Energy Star document and turn to page three. There you'll find a handy chart that simply correlates the area you want to cool into BTUs per hour. So for example, an air conditioner with a rating of 8,000 BTUs can cool a room that's 300 to 350 sq. ft., aka one that measures about 18 ft. x 18 ft. Of course, you still have to measure your room, but we trust you can work a tape measure and apply this formula: Area equals length times width. For irregularly sized rooms, you can always estimate.Air Conditioner + Ceiling Fan = SavingsIt's one thing to run an air conditioner in your room.

They generally start at about $40 a piece, but we found this Harbor Breeze 42" Armitage White Ceiling Fan with Light Kit ($24.98 with in-store pickup, a low by $35), which is among the least expensive 42" ceiling fans we've seen. The nice thing about a ceiling fan is that it can make you feel anywhere from 3 to 8 degrees cooler.Calculate Yearly A/C Costs Before You BuyNowadays, nearly all air conditioners come with one of those bright yellow Energy Guide stickers on the box that tells you exactly how much that unit will cost to run. Take this expense into account, as that's part of your total cost for both buying and operating the unit. Most folks think bigger is always better, but that's not so: "Air conditioners remove both heat and humidity from the air. A properly sized unit will remove humidity effectively as it cools."Why a New Window Unit Could Pay for ItselfIf your air conditioner is more than 10 years old, you should seriously consider replacing it. Many new Energy Star air conditioners are so efficient that they use about 10% less energy than one without that designation, according to U.S. Department of Energy estimates.

Depending on how long you hold onto the new unit, you could save $60 or more over its lifetime in energy costs alone — a de facto rebate just for upgrading to an Energy Star model.The key number to look for is the Energy Efficiency Rating (or EER): The higher the EER, the more efficient the unit. An energy-efficient unit will cycle the compressor on and off so that it doesn't operate continuously. And Energy Star central air units are on average 14% more efficient than standard models. Speaking of which ...The Great Central Air DebateIf you're thinking about upgrading to central air, it's easy to beat yourself up for being an energy hog, or to get intimidated by the sticker price. But if you have more than two rooms to cool, then your best bet is to go with a central unit, which also provides long term resale value for a home. Well-designed central systems also win out in terms of being able to filter the air for allergens and pollutants, and for controlling humidity.Again, keep in mind that window A/C units aren't necessarily more energy-efficient than central air units.

A less efficient system will cost you more to run.Help Your New Air Conditioner Do Its Job More EfficientlyIt's easy to think that buying a new air conditioner or two will solve all of your summer cooling problems. With central units, for example, a programmable timer or thermostat can save you about $180 every year in energy costs by regulating the temperature when you're out of the house, and by turning on only when you return home.With window units, air filters get dirty ... fast. Regardless of the type or age of the unit, you should change your filters after every 90 days of use. What's more, you'll use less energy cooling down a room by keeping direct sunlight out during the day: Sunlight can raise room temperature by 10 to 20 degrees. The less heat that gets into your home, the less you have to pay to remove it. It just so happens that drapes block sunlight and heat better than blinds.We've got an ever-updated list of air conditioning deals for you to peruse and compare. This time of year, sales are as plentiful as backyard barbecues.