Poor indoor air quality can have a significant impact on your health and your wallet. A dirty air filter can spread pollutants that can cause rashes, headaches, eye irritation, sinus problems, asthma or allergy symptoms, and other health problems. Not only does this increase your energy consumption and increase your utility bill, but it can also cause the heat exchanger to overheat and shut down prematurely. If this continues to happen, there is an electronic “limit switch” protection that will fail and cause the oven to not turn on at all, leading to a costly repair.
A clogged air filter will allow all the dust and debris that needs to be filtered to circulate back into your home. This can cause chronic allergies and, above all, be dangerous for people with asthma or other respiratory conditions. Over time, congested filters become secondary sources of indoor pollution. Dust accumulations support vast microbial colonies, especially in humid climates.
Mold, bacteria and dust mites that live in dirty filters can cause allergies and asthma. You may develop symptoms such as shortness of breath, fatigue, dizziness, congestion, and eye irritation. Simply put, dirty air filters reduce airflow. As a filter becomes dirty, it becomes clogged and causes the fan motor to work harder. In this cause-and-effect scenario, the fan motor can burn out causing overheating and system failure.
Heat can also build up around the heat exchanger, which can be a life-threatening problem. Cracked heat exchangers will cause the system to shut down and can cause a fire or release of carbon monoxide. A clogged oven air filter will negatively affect airflow throughout the home and HVAC system. The lack of fresh air in the oven will cause the heat exchanger to heat up too much and turn off. Dirty filters indirectly cause short cycling problems and will make it difficult to keep your home warm.
We recommend replacing the clogged air filter before the summer season to avoid damage to the air conditioner compressor. One of the purposes of an air filter is to filter out all microscopic particles such as dust, pollen, pet dander, bacteria, plant spores and mold, and even smoke. To ensure that the air in your home is safe to breathe, it is important to continuously replace the oven air filter to prevent dirt and debris from seeping into the air supply. If the filter becomes too clogged with dust, dander and debris, then the blower has to work harder to get air through a clogged filter. In the most severe cases, a dirty oven air filter can damage the internal components of the oven. If you're waiting to replace your filter because of cost, you can end up with the much more significant expense of replacing your oven or air conditioner.
Even if you don't have respiratory health problems, replacing filters every one to three months is essential to keeping indoor air clean. As a result of a clogged air filter, the fan motor has to work harder which increases energy consumption and increases your utility bill. In addition, it can also cause the heat exchanger to overheat and shut down prematurely which leads to a costly repair. Heat can also build up around the heat exchanger which can be a life-threatening problem if not addressed quickly. In fact, according to a study by the Florida Public Utilities Commission, the number two cause of high energy bills in the summer was air filter clogging. The oven uses a fan to circulate and recycle hot air throughout the house to maintain the temperature you have programmed in the thermostat. If you have pets or have a lot of chemicals in the house, indoor air quality will be even worse with a clogged filter.
Air filters have a nominal cost compared to the cost of repairing or replacing your home's heating and cooling system. To ensure that you are breathing clean air in your home it is important to continuously replace your oven air filter every one to three months depending on how often you use it. This will help prevent dirt and debris from seeping into your home's air supply which could lead to costly repairs or even worse health issues.
