If I put a filter on an air register, will it affect the air flow?

Janel
by Janel

If I put a filter on the air registers around my home will it effect the air flow and will I have to turn up/down my heat-A/C in order to make it comfortable in my home?I am finding that there is a lot of dirt and dust blowing out. I do clean them on the outside often, however I am not great at dusting the home and we do have a dog that sheds.PS - I do vacuum every other day and have a Roomba run every day too!

  5 answers
  • J J on Aug 24, 2019

    My furnace guy told me to use the cheapest furnace filters and change them every month. If you you super efficient filters or add more it will cause your unit more wear and tear.

  • Redcatcec Redcatcec on Aug 24, 2019

    I agree with J, if you cover the vents is will restrict the airflow, the way to handle this situation is through the furnace, change out the filter frequently. An alternative is to get the ones that can be washed, dried and put back in, available at DIY stores.

  • Lynn Sorrell Lynn Sorrell on Aug 24, 2019

    I buy cheaper filters and change them every 3 weeks(lots of pets 3dogs, 6 cats and live in AZ desert DUSTY) also might need to get main unit cleaned (mine has 2 sets of coils many times only one set gets cleaned regularly). I get system serviced 2x a year Spring & Fall and get 2nd set of coils cleaned every 4 years. do not block air flow it will mess up your system. open the registers and vacuum them out or check into duct cleaning usually just changing filters every 3 weeks monthly helps tremendously buy enough one time each year to change them out regularly,this will help get you into the practice and mark it on your calender ahead when it's time every month to do it.if you buy by the case you'll have them when it's time to change them no excuses or inconvinience of having to get them from store. AC/Heating units are huge cost to replace/fix so take care of yours

  • Jewellmartin Jewellmartin on Aug 24, 2019

    Our h/vac man said the same thing, except to change the expensive filters every three months since we already had a box of them. If you have a bunch of grate-sized filters, place them under the grates and keep a list of the kWh you use each week and each month for 3-6 months, compare it to the previous year’s usage, and you will have your own efficiency statistics. And always call your electricity provider once a year to make sure you are getting the best rate possible for your house. When the time runs out on the rate you have, the company can switch you to a much higher rate, so it pays to check for sure. Best wishes to you! Jewell

  • Janel Janel on Aug 27, 2019

    Thanks so much everyone. We currently have our HVAC system checked twice a year and we change out the unit filter monthly. I think we may need to just go to a 3 week cycle of changing them out. We don't buy the expensive ones, as we were told they just hurt the efficiency of the HVAC system.