Your heating, ventilation and air conditioning system is the lungs of your home, and your HVAC filter helps keep your home’s lungs clean and free of obstructions — and your actual lungs in the process. Unfortunately, as your local HVAC professional will likely tell you, homeowners typically neglect to change their filters often enough — if they change them at all.

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That’s too bad, because changing your HVAC filter is literally one of the simplest home-maintenance tasks you can do — and one that delivers a disproportionate return on the minimal investment of effort.

When dirt and dust build up, the filter will no longer be able to remove mold and allergens from your indoor air. When you replace the filter regularly, you can reduce your energy bills, improve the air quality in your home and extend the life of your HVAC unit.

Homeowners should swap out their HVAC filters at least once every three months — and more often if you have pets or a fireplace, or if you smoke inside. For comparison, that’s roughly twice as often as you should be cleaning your refrigerator coils — which I'm sure you totally do … right?

Breathe easy, homeowners. If we can do it, you can do it.

More Related Articles:

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• The Do's and Don'ts of HVAC Maintenance
• How to Clean Your AC Filter in 7 Simple Steps
• Got Central Air? Use This Top-to-Bottom Air Conditioner Maintenance Checklist
• How Much Does HVAC Repair and Maintenance Cost?

Follow these seven simple steps to change your HVAC filter...

Step 1

Turn the unit off. If you're unsure of how to do this, you can turn off the circuit breaker that's tied to the HVAC system.

Step 2

Remove the filter from its packaging and make sure it’s not damaged.

Step 3

Unhook the latch for the cover grille.

Step 4

The grille itself may be dirty and covered with crud, so clean the slats with a microfiber cloth, or with a vacuum that has a brush attachment. Then slide the old dirty filter out.

Step 5

Insert the new filter, making sure it's oriented in the right direction. The filter should have colors or arrows indicate how it needs to be installed.

Step 6

When the filter is securely in place, return the grille back in its original position and close the latch.

Step 7

Now, switch the unit back on.

See how easy that was? Now, about those refrigerator coils ...