Maintain clean air filters in your cooling and heating systems to ensure that they are operating at maximum efficiency, and to prolong the life of the units.

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Maintain clean air filters in your cooling and heating systems to ensure that they are operating at maximum efficiency, and to prolong the life of the units.

Professionals recommend that you check filters once a month, and that you replace or clean them every one to six months, depending on the frequency of use and the quality of indoor and outdoor air.

When filters are seldom cleaned or replaced, dirt accumulates on the cooling and heating coils. Dirty coils can cut short the life of a system, not to mention reduce its ability to heat or cool your home. The cost and effort required to clean dirty coils-or get an entirely new system-is substantially greater than the cost and effort to regularly replace an air filter a few times a year.

If you keep a clean filter, you can avoid spending an extra ten percent on your cooling and heating costs-a savings that can easily exceed $60 per year.

Across all U.S. households, the total money saved annually by regular filter replacements could buy more than 3 million of the most energy-efficient air conditioners on the market.

Department of Energy
Actions You Can Take To Reduce Cooling Costs (PDF)