During the course of any heating or cooling season, dirt, mold spores and other debris can collect within your HVAC system’s evaporator coil. A dirty furnace coil affects home comfort, the life of the system, and your utility bills. It can even cause the furnace to shut down suddenly. Here is more about the effects of a dirty furnace coils and how you can prevent future problems.

Effects of a Dirty Furnace Coil

Air heated by your furnace travels through an evaporator coil and into your home’s ductwork. When debris accumulates in the furnace coil, less air can pass through. This makes an impact on the volume of heated air you will feel coming through your registers.

Besides just experiencing less warmth, you will also experience higher energy bills. Your furnace produces heating according to your thermostat setting. With less heated air reaching your home’s interior, the furnace must remain on longer to bring your home to the set temperature. The harder your furnace has to work, the higher will be your utility costs.

When furnace coil debris accumulates unchecked, a more serious scenario can develop due to airflow restriction. Your furnace can overheat and shut off, leaving you without heat when you need it most. When this happens, some homeowners assume that their HVAC system has died due to age, yet the shutdown was simply caused by a dirty coil, which is a preventable issue.

Prevention

Preventive HVAC maintenance is key. During a preventive service visit, your technician will check the airflow volume in the system and clean the evaporator coil of any accumulated dirt and mold. If you have not scheduled a furnace maintenance visit this year, make sure you do so soon and discuss evaporator coil cleaning with your technician.

Between maintenance visits, make sure you change your furnace filter regularly. During prime heating season, many types of furnace filters need to be replaced monthly. Clean filters help prevent extra dust and dirt from entering the system.

For more information about preventing a dirty furnace coil, please contact us today at Powers Heating & Air.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Peachtree City, Georgia and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about furnace coils and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Guide or call us at 770-487-2040.

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