Upgrading The Filter And Cleaning The Blower

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Always upgrade the filter for cleaner air. Most filters catch only large dust particles to keep them from getting into the blower motor. To capture more dust, mold, pollen, animal dander and other fine airborne particles that cause allergy sufferers so much grief, have a heating contractor install an electrostatic filter unit. It has a reusable filter which you wash monthly in a detergent solution. You can also have a unit installed that takes disposable plated fabric filters but they get dirty quickly and need to bechanged often.

If you have your furnace serviced once a year, a thorough cleaning of the blower should be part of the job. To do it yourself, turn off the power switch that controls the furnace and open the blower compartment. Vacuum the fan blades and the blower housing to remove as much dust as you can. If a vacuum attachment won’t reach all the blades, use a bottle brush or rag-wrapped stick to clean them. The blower motor on an older furnace usually needs to be lubricated every year, another task that an annual servicing should take care of. Most of these motors have small oil ports covered with caps or rubber plugs on the visible part of the motor. Lift the cap or plug and add several drops of oil into each hole. Don’t overfill. The blower motors on newer furnaces have permanently lubricated bearings that don’t require oiling.

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