DOES FURNACE HAVE TO BE OFF TO CHANGE FILTER?
Does your furnace have to be off when you are changing your air filter?
Yes, it is best to turn your furnace off. There are a couple of reasons for that.
1. Your filter is already dirty. When you go to change your filter you are moving it around and disrupting dirt and dust. If your furnace blower is on, it will pull all that dirt and dust that was dislodged into your HVAC system. (Which is the whole point of having a filter…to stop that from happening.)
2. If you try to change your filter with the unit on, there is air pressure that makes the process more difficult. There’s actually a suction being pulled into the blower compartment so as you pull your filter out, it has an extra pressure on it. The filter may not want to slide out quite as easily or it may begin to hang up. With the furnace turned off, the filter is much freer to pull and move around.
STEPS FOR CHANGING YOUR FURNACE AIR FILTER
1. Turn off the power switch to the furnace.
2. Change the filter
3. Make sure you turn the power switch back on.
Click here to see how to power off your furnace.
Make sure your furnace is turned back on. If you forget to turn the system back on it may take most of the day to figure out that there is a problem and your HVAC has not been running. We’ve had many calls from people who think that their furnace or air conditioner is not working where after a little questioning, we discover that they changed their filter earlier in the day and they did not turn the unit back on.
WHICH WAY DOES FURNACE FILTER GO?
Which direction does the filter go? There is a right way to change your furnace air filter.
There is typically an arrow on the filter.
Point the arrow toward the furnace.
Everyone’s filter is in a different location, but there is an airflow direction on the filter and you always point that arrow toward the furnace.