When you buy a house, they typically don’t give you an owner’s manual telling you about all the maintenance you need to do on the house to keep it in good repair. Today’s post is a list of many of the filters you’ll find in your house and the places you’ll want to check to make sure they are in good order.
Vaccume cleaners – who knew your vacuums cleaner has multiple filters. Not only are their bags that act as filter to replace in many models, but there is sometimes a side air filter and if you look inside, right under where the bag sits, chances are you might see yet another filter keeping all the dust and dirt from the motor. I confess, I knew about the first two, but when I was cleaning the dirt out of my vacuum, one fine day, I realize the dirt collected so nicely in that particular spot, because a filter was underneath trapping it.
Furnace/ Air Conditioner – Keep your furnace running smoother longer by keeping the filters clean both within the unit and the ducts leading to it from within your house. Vacuum dirt out of the floor vents to keep it from getting back to the main furnace unit. You’ll also want to look for filters on your wall and in your ceiling. Make sure you change these out/ vacuum them on a regular basis. The frequency will depend on the filter and the amount of dust, dirt, dander and hair in your house. Here is more information on furnace maintenance. If you aren’t sure how to change the filter in the unit, have a professional come out for annual preventative maintenance.
Water filters – These can be found in a variety of places. If your refrigerator has a cold water option, you’ll want to read the manual and see if there is a filter involved. If you don’t buy filtered water, perhaps you have a filter on your kitchen sink or keep a picture of filtered water in the fridge. People who have a well are likely to have a filter under the house that cleans grime out of the well water before it enters your home.
Refrigerator – While not a filter, refrigerator coils catch a lot of debris and hair that float under the refrigerator. Many fridges have a removable grill in the front, where you can slide your vacuum in and give it a good clean.
Ceiling fans – Some people buy filters to put on their ceiling fan blades. These help to catch the dust and pet hair that fly around.
Air cleaners – Air cleaners are one big filter with a motor that pulls the air through one area and blows it out another. The lifetime of the filter will depend on the air cleaner, the amount you use it and how much dirt is in the air in your house. In my house, 9 cats and their litter boxes make for one busy HEPA filter.
Humidifiers – It is important to change out your humidifier filter after any period of time it is left unused. When the humidifier is not used, the filter is no longer flooded with water and the remaining moisture creates a wonderful breeding ground for bacteria and mold. You don’t want to be blowing that nasty stuff around your house and breathing it!
Liter Boxes – Many liter boxes have a place for a charcoal filter in the lid. If your cats are like mine, that little bit of charcoal doesn’t do a bit of good to combat their stink.
Computers – To-date, I have not seen a computer with a filter. Perhaps they are out there. Computers do have little air vents and places dust, hair and other particles can get into. Every now and again, get take a can of air and blow all the dust out.
And once you step outside of your house, you can start on your car.
Did I leave any out?
