Energy bills can add up quickly, so unless you live ‘off-the-grid’, you’ll likely want to look for ways to make your home more energy efficient and reduce your overall utility expenditures every month. Heating and cooling most likely accounts for more than half of your utilities every month, but there are several factors at play.
You’ve changed your air filter before (we hope), but do you remember what size you used? Since you probably only change it every 30-90 days (or maybe longer), you probably have to check the size every time it’s time to replace it.
Maintaining clean air in your home is essential if you want to keep respiratory conditions and allergies at bay (and if you hate dusting!). The air is full of irritants and pollutants such as dust mites, pet dander, pollen, smoke, plant and mold spores, bacteria, and possibly even (in older homes) volatile substances like asbestos, which degrade the air and expose occupants to health hazards.
Air filters are essential for healthy air. Whether it’s the filter in your car or your home, they screen out the gunk in the air that could clog your engine or HVAC system (and your lungs). Pollen, dust, and other pollutants are unavoidable, but an air filter prevents them from circulating. In race cars, air filters are critical because clean air translates into higher power output of the engine, which translates to a faster car that wins races.
As a NASCAR driver, Blake Koch knows the value of regularly changing the oil in his vehicles. He knows dirty oil will affect his motor and his race results, so changing his oil was easy to remember.
Blake has a little more trouble with his home’s air filter, however. He can never remember how long it’s been since he changed it, and when he remembers, he either doesn’t have a new one to replace it with, or he remembers it at the store, where he doesn’t remember the right size.
First of all, I did a Twitter contest for my followers to win a FilterTime hat and shirt, and to enter you had to tell me the last time you changed your air filter. I was shocked at some of the responses and how long people have gone without changing their air filters, but the majority was within the past 3 months, which is a good thing. Some people said it has been a year, some said 2 years, and a few people said they couldn’t even remember. It’s not an easy thing to remember, it’s out of sight out of mind. That’s why I started FilterTime.com. To take remembering to buy air filters off everyone’s to-do list for good.
