Why does my AC filter get dirty so fast?

It’s a nice, warm day in southern Louisiana, and you’re a happy little dust particle. You came off of somebody’s fingernail a few days ago, and you’ve been biding your time by swiftly and smoothly circling the living room of a beautiful home in New Orleans.

Your life, so far, has been a breeze. This day, however, is different. The owners of the house have company over, and they begin chattering in the living room.

Michael, the tallest and loudest of the bunch, intrudes on your space and begins booming about his latest fantasy football win. No one is interested.

His voice pushes you into the upper corner of the room. Frustrated, you try to wiggle your way back to your favorite spot. But you can’t seem to move (you’re a dust particle, after all, and limbs do not come standard on your kind.)

You feel a slight breeze begin to push you further into the corner. It gets stronger and stronger until finally, you slam against a mesh wall of fibers.

You have just become stuck to an air filter.

Air filters are perhaps the most underrated implementation in the modern house. Most people go about their days without thanking the one thing that’s keeping their home from becoming a dusty, dirty nightmare.

As a result of this, air filters are often neglected. And that’s a real shame, because air filters that are changed regularly can reduce your energy bill and allow your AC system to go repair-free for decades.

If you are having AC problems, such as break downs or reduced power, check your air filter first. If there’s dust from before Y2K on it, that’s probably the reason.

If you are changing your air filters every three months, but you find that they get dirty more quickly, there could be a number of things going on. Today, we’re going to discuss each of these and what you can do to fix them.

Your filter gets dirty quickly because of your pets.

Little Scruffy Johnson over there sure is cute. Very sweet, well-trained. A great dog. He’s also the reason your air filter is causing you so many issues.

If you have a pet that sheds a lot, that hair and dander is getting tossed up in the air every time you pet or play with them. This hair and dander mix into a clumpy, oily mess and collect in your air filter. That filter gets clogged, creates strain on your HVAC system, and leads to a higher energy bill and more AC repairs. It’s probably one of the largest costs of owning a pet that gets completely overlooked.

Luckily, this is a pretty simple fix. If you have the time and desire, you can get a brush and give your pet a quick run through with it every week. This collects their shedding in one place, which you can just discard into the trash. This prevents the hair from collecting on your air filter.

You can also check your air filter every two weeks and determine how frequently it gets clogged. Once you determine that, you can set up a subscription through Filter King’s online store, and have air filters delivered to your door at those intervals. This is an extremely convenient way to alleviate a lot of headaches in your life, and we highly recommend it.

Your air filter gets dirty quickly because of you have the wrong filter.

Here at Filter King, we’re kind of filter-crazy. Our passion is improving the air quality and happiness in the average home, so we know everything there is to know about air filters, AC systems, and how to perfect your air quality.

However, we understand that not everyone is as passionate about air filters as we are. I mean, let’s be honest, for someone who works in an unrelated industry, air filters are kind of boring.

Unfortunately, this tends to make some people overlook the quality and type of their filter, which can be very detrimental to the health and longevity of their AC system.

One of the most common problems we see is the use of filters that are TOO fine. This means they let through fewer contaminants. Now normally, this is a good thing. It means the air coming out of your AC system is cleaner.

But finer filters tend to get dirtier faster, so if you are using them and not changing them more frequently, problems are bound to occur.

There are two solutions to this. The first is to use a less fine filter. While this may reduce your air quality, it can save you money by allowing you to change filters less frequently. This in turn reduces the strain of clogged filters on your AC system.

Alternatively, you can use the same filters, but change them once every month or two.

Your air filter gets dirty because of a foreign source of dirt.

That’s a vague subtitle, but it’s accurate. There are two main variations of this.

The first is an air duct leak. If you have holes in the pipes and ducts that carry air around your house, dirt and dust of outdoors, your attic, or your insulation can easily work their way into your system. Once it’s in there, it’s got to go somewhere. Typically, this dust comes to rest in your air filter. This can clog it up fast, and then break your AC.

The other variation of this is more innocent. Sometimes, our interior design skills are less than perfect. If you’ve placed a potted plant near an intake for your AC system, it could very well be sending dirt into your system. The same is true of vents near curtains, corners, or anything else that tends to collect dust.

To solve this, just move the plant, or vacuum the dusty area every week or so, and change your filter. Presto! No more clogged filters.

To change your filters easily and for the best price, check out Filter King’s online filter store. We have every size of filter possible and we deliver them right to your door within a few days. Filter King is the best way to get your new air filters delivered.