Heat Exchanger Cleaning Equipment

If you don’t know where your furnace filter is located, you are not alone. You might not think about it when you move into a new home, but you will need to change your furnace filter at some point within the first few years. So, the million dollar question is:

Where is my furnace filter located?

Every heating system has one, whether it’s an oil furnace, electric furnace, or gas furnace. In some cases, it may take some detective work in locating your furnace filter. Sometimes even HVAC professionals can have difficulty in locating the furnace filter. Rest assured, it’s in there, even if it’s in a rather hidden location.

Typically, the furnace filter is somewhere near the fan. This is because the purpose of a furnace filter is to keep dust and particles out of the fan. The furnace filter can be almost anywhere as long as it is “upstream” from the fan. In other words, somewhere the air will flow through prior to reaching the fan.

You furnace filter may be located inside a duct opening, behind a panel, or even behind other equipment, hidden from view. In older heating systems, it is common to place the furnace filter in the duct system, upstream from the air handler. You can locate the furnace filter by starting at the air handler and work backwards until you find it. You might find the furnace filter at the opening of the return air grill, or just behind the return air grill.

You should be able to determine the location of the furnace filter by resolving which duct is the return duct. The return duct is the one that pull air into it. The furnace filter should be somewhere between this opening and the air handler.

There are cases where no furnace filter is present. It may have been removed instead of replaced, or it may have never been installed in the first place. If this is the situation, your furnace will need to be inspected to ensure that it is still capable of operating safely.

A properly maintained furnace filter is necessary to allow for good airflow past the heat exchanger. Having a poorly maintained furnace filter, or even no furnace filter at all can create a dangerous situation. The reduced airflow past the heat exchanger can cause the heat exchanger to overheat, and result in a cracked or warped heat exchanger.

In worst cases scenarios, a cracked or warped heat exchanger could leak carbon monoxide, or start a fire. Both of these situations can be deadly! For more information on the safety issues, see Safety: A Reason to Keep Your Heat Exchanger Clean

A bad, or missing filter will also cuase your heating equipment to operate inefficiently, and that is an added cost as well. One way or another, it will be much less costly to properly maintain your furnace filter.