If you are anything like me, you try to save money where ever you can. And one way I thought I was saving money was by buying a mid-grade air filter (for our central unit). I sent hubby to pick one up and he brought back a Filtrete Air Filter that cost $14! And he installed it before I had a chance to say anything to him about it or return it. Needless to say I wasn’t happy about spending twice as much as we normally do.
However, I am now a convert. We are going on the 4th month of using this brand of filters (we are on our second one) and our house is less dusty! (It was insanely dusty before.) And we are now able to run our a/c unit on 75 degrees instead of the 70-72 we were running it on. (Keep in mind I live in Alabama and it’s running 90-100 degrees every day and I am pregnant.) So that is a huge savings on our power bill.
It’s amazing to think that the cheap air filter I thought I was saving money by buying was actually costing us more money!
Be sure to catch up on all the previous Let’s Save Some Money posts.
Jane says
Thanks for this tip! We are first time homeowners and need all the tips we can get!
Kelly says
Another way to save money on air filters is to buy reusable ones. They are more expensive usually running $15 a sheet and you need to cut them to your size. I got two filters out of one sheet. Every three months you remove the air filter and wash out in the sink or tub, let dry and replace. I have two sets and alternate and have been using mine for about 2 years. They are very thick and help reduce the amount of dust. I had trouble finding them, but a local A/C coupany sold them to me. If you call one in your area ask for washable filters cut to fit.
sarina says
Thanks for posting this-we recently moved and I keep forgetting to put a filter in (the apt didnt have one in when we got here)-I am going out tonight to buy one.
Julie H says
Good Lord, my husband would shoot me if I kept our thermostat at 73!!! It’s at 82 upstairs and 80 downstairs all day long. and that’s in Houston, where it’s so stinky muggy and hot. Ugh. It’s interesting to see how different people keep things. We just changed our filters this weekend actually. How funny.
Marie says
5:30am ours is at 79 switches to 78 at 6pm and then 76 at 9pm… this is the schedule all week! I’m home all day and it’s always comfortable/cold and not hot. We are currently using the purefilter2000 it’s suppose to be a 90 day filter however we change it every 30 days (5 dogs and 3 cats in our house) we live in central florida on the east coast our house is aprx 2300 sq ft under air and our electric bill runs up to $220 in August/September we use budget billing so it’s always around $130-$150 we have a natual gas hot water heater and furnace… our problem with filters are the size ours is 18″x30″ so we generally buy whatever is available when we need more but no matter the brand we change it every 30 days.
We are currenlt thinking of getting the window film/tint for our house to help with the temp control
Roz says
Hi my husband is a HVAC Tech . I have been told that in order for your unit to run more efficiately it needs a clean filter. Trust me when I say we purchase the little more expensive filters due to dust and having 8 people in our house they have improved the air quality tramendously. Also if you keep your air temp. set between 69-73 is where it runs its most efficiant and suppose to use less electricity. I set mine on 73 during the days and try to keep the main exterior doors closed or at least one and at night I dropp the temp. to 70 while we sleep. our electric bill during the summer runs $88.00 and we live in Southeast Tennesse. SO IT”S HOTT.
Tara Kate says
We use the Filtrete air filters as well, though I won’t say I see less dust as for some reason the master bedroom gets covered in dust. Though you can buy a 2 pack at Sam’s for $20ish.
We still need to change ours every few months, but we are able to keep the A/C at 75 throughout the day (most days, sometimes when I am cleaning up a storm etc I lower it to 73) and at night we keep it at 77. We live in NC, so it’s hot and humid here as well. Also that company (Filtrete) will do rebates sometimes!
Penny =^.^= says
I am going to have to agree with Missy, I work for a HVAC company and those more expensive air filters will restrict air flow and cause more problems on your unit. It can damage your equipment. I have seen it many times. I highly recommend the cheaper ones (Blue) and change them every 30 days. I also recommend that you turn your disconnect off outside and hose down you outdoor unit, if you have grass clippings or leaves that is a major problem too. Sorry to have to disagree on this one. Those digital tstat help too.
But have runny many calls for no a/c and it is just a dirty filter.
Ruth says
http://www.achooallergy.com/Spring_WebMD_Ad_2010.pdf
This shoud make it more bearable!- a $4 rebate!
Andrea L. says
Thanks for the link for the rebate, Ruth. My hubby is going this weekend for our filters and this will come in handy!!
Melissa says
I got my electric bill in and it jumped $30 more from last month. My hubby hasn’t changed the filter in a couple months although I have reminded him several times… I’m just not sure I am willing to climb a chair at the very top of the stairs and attempt this by myself! I have the AC thermostat now up to 81 from 78… In hopes that brings down my electric bill. Also running the washer on speed wash which cuts the cycle down by half the time. Hope some of my little changes bring my bill down ALOT lol
Ruth says
I run my dishwasher but do not use the dry cycle. I open it after the wash cycle and let the dishes air dry. We also installed and an attic fan. When the attic gets to a certain temperature it turns on and pulls the hot air out of the attic.
monique says
vacuuming the ducts also helps it run better. We just vacuumed the a/c closet and all the ducts in the house, and I am amazed at how much more efficiently it is cooling the house
did you submit your recipts for the filtrette filters on the rebate?
Ruth says
Just curious. Did you vacuum the yourself or have a professional come and do it?
Emily says
I’m also curious about that. And, if you had a professional come and do it, do you mind me asking how much something like that costs? I’ve been seeing a lot of advertisements in my area for what seems to me like a decent price to have someone come and do that (plus one company will even throw in a dryer vent cleaning with it).
monique says
We did it ourselves, the design of our ducts are very easy and closed off mostly from the main pipes. I need to contact the building maintenance to come fix our dryer vents however.
Tabitha says
Just curious, how does the air filter affect the temperature?
I get the less dusty thing. And I probably need to look into it for that reason because I don’t dust the furniture as regularly as I should. LOL!
But the temperature thing I don’t get.
Kristin from Couponing to Disney says
I don’t get it either. ;)
Missy says
My air guy said in the summer it’s better to run the real cheap ones because it will save you money because your unit won’t have to work as hard pulling air through – he also said when using the cheap ones to change them every 2 weeks – he also said once it got cooler it was ok to go back to more expensive ones….