Can I Run My Furnace Without A Filter

NO. A furnace filter has a critical job to perform and a filter cannot be run without one. For a furnace to work properly, it should ever exist equipped with a clean, working filter. Every bit we'll run into, a dirty filter tin can crusade problems, and then can having no filter at all. When it's cold outside, many of us rely on furnaces to heat our homes. If y'all're non an HVAC professional, yous don't need to know much nearly how your furnace works, but in that location is one function EVERY homeowner should be familiar with: the filter.

Do All Furnaces Have Filters?

Yes, all furnaces & heat pumps have filters. If your domicile uses another type of heating arrangement, similar a boiler which uses water to heat the domicile, you will not have filters, but for a furnace or oestrus pump, a filter is a vital component. A furnace filter serves as a barrier to catch dust and debris that comes in through the return duct so information technology doesn't make it to the blower fan. This protects your furnace and keeps your air cleaner since your HVAC organization isn't recirculating allergens dorsum into the air.

It's of import to empathize that all warm air furnaces and heat pumps are designed with filters. Some furnace filters are disposable, and others are made to be cleaned and reused. Either way, furnace filters must be changed periodically and then they can continue to perform their vital role and protect your furnace and circulate make clean air.

washable filters

Running a Furnace With a Dirty Filter

Since filters aren't designed to keep working indefinitely, even if you take a filter in your furnace, it could be clogged if information technology hasn't been changed in a while. A dirty furnace filter can cause some serious problems. Namely, it impedes air from flowing properly through your furnace, and can trigger it to shut down.

This tin can event in a colder home. Since the furnace volition accept to work harder to get air through, y'all can besides expect higher free energy costs. If you find your heating bills seem high and your house isn't getting as warm as it should, the first thing to check is the filter on your furnace.

Additionally, if your furnace is too overworked or likewise clogged, it could incur harm. For example, when there isn't enough air bravado over the rut exchanger, the exchanger tin become overheated and crack. Fifty-fifty if your furnace doesn't break as a direct consequence of a clogged filter, the added wear and tear on the system can cause the system to eventually fail and crave a replacement or extensive repairs sooner than it otherwise might have.

How Oft to Change a Furnace Filter

how often should you be changing your air filter

Irresolute your furnace filter tin be an "out of sight, out of heed" state of affairs for some homeowners. Even during winter months, when we rely on our furnaces to go along our homes comfortable, we aren't probable to call up about the wellness of our organisation until there is a lapse in its function. When information technology comes to changing your furnace filter, this is a simple way to foreclose problems from occurring and maintain the health of your furnace. Yous may be surprised by how often this task should exist on your to-do list.

Central PA Furnace Services

You should check your furnace filter once every month, specially during the winter when your furnace is working hard to keep your home warm. Remove the filter and concur it upwardly to the light to see if the light shines through. If the filter is however translucent, you can continue to use it. However, regardless of its appearance, you should modify your filter after 3 months for 1″ filters and every 6 months for 5″ filters. If the filter doesn't let light through, information technology'southward time to alter it. You will also be able to see the grit and debris accumulation on the filter and tin can brand a judgement call to change it out but from the appearance of it.

What Happens If Yous Don't Have a Filter in Your Furnace?

If you discover that your furnace has a dirty filter, but it's a disposable filter and you don't have a replacement on hand, you lot may be tempted to just remove it and let the furnace run for a while without a filter. Technically, yous tin can temporarily run a furnace without a filter. However, information technology's important to emphasize the word "temporarily" hither. Running a furnace without a filter overnight, for example, isn't likely to cause problems, but you lot should never allow this to plough into a long term solution.

Running a furnace without a filter for an extended period can cause some serious problems. The consequences of running a furnace without a filter include:

Poor air quality:For i, not having a filter in identify means in that location is nothing to prevent dust and debris from beingness sucked into your furnace and recirculated throughout your home. This ultimately leads to inferior air quality for yous and your family to exhale in your home. This can exasperate any breathing issues like asthma and allergies. If you lot have air purifiers in your home, they will have to work harder to filter out allergens in the air.
Polluted duct work:Another issue is that some air pollutants will settle in the duct work. Since there is wet present, these conditions promote mold growth to occur in your duct work. This contributes to an overall pass up in air quality likewise as to a more than severe wellness hazard, particularly for those with mold allergies.
System failure: Nosotros've focused on air quality and wellness consequences so far, but it's important to recall that a furnace filter's primary function is to protect the furnace itself. If there's no filter in identify to provide that protection, the inner workings of your furnace can become coated in grime. The evaporator coils or the blower motor could easily neglect due to the added stress.

Schedule Routine Preventive Maintenance

It's easy to take our furnace for granted and fail to requite it the upkeep it needs to go on working properly. In add-on to changing out filters, this also means checking on your furnace to make sure everything is in good working society. Typically, you'll desire a professional to behave these routine checkups. There are a lot of different filter types to choose from and a professional can recommend one that will work more than efficiently and filter out certain particulars that others can't.

Routine preventive maintenance does more assist y'all avoid immediate bug. It's the all-time mode to proactively do all you can to maximize the life of your furnace. A well-maintained furnace can concluding longer than ane that is developing issues or suffering from wear and tear. A well-maintained furnace will also piece of work more than efficiently and more effectively than 1 that is functioning in spite of clogged filters or other bug.

Full HVAC Services From Abode Climates

a home in central Pennsylvania having their air filter upgraded

Dwelling Climates offers service tune-ups for HVAC systems then you can maintain the health of your organization. We recommend scheduling a furnace tune-upwardly every fall so you lot can be sure your furnace is in tip-top shape earlier colder atmospheric condition hits. Even if yous exercise chose to look to take maintenance washed during the winter, a furnace melody up is still important and helpful. Our service technicians tin take care of replacing filters in addition to inspecting the furnace and diagnosing whatsoever possible issues.

In addition to offer tune-ups, Home Climates tin can aid with whatever of your HVAC needs. If you're dealing with an immediate trouble with your furnace, for case, and demand to schedule a furnace repair, Abode Climates tin help. We are committed to customer satisfaction in all we practise and will partner with you lot in any mode nosotros tin can to aid y'all enjoy uninterrupted, efficient heating in your home.