How to Clean Your Ducted Air Conditioner Filters

Phill Crawley

Smarter Air & Electrical

i 3 Contents

Looking to learn how to clean ducted air conditioner filters? Cleaning your air conditioning filter is one of the best ways to keep your ducted air conditioning system running cleanly and efficiently. As your system runs, it draws air from common areas which are full of things like dust, dirt, pet hair and other tiny particles. Over time, these tiny particles build up into a not-so-tiny mess on your return air filter.

How to clean ducted air conditioner filter:

  1. Disconnect the fixing holding the hinged return air grille to the frame. This will be a screw or sliding clip found to one side of the grille face.
  2. Make sure you support the grille face while undoing the screw/clips, otherwise it will freely swing downwards.
  3. Slide out the filter from the frame.
  4. Vacuum as much of the lint and dust off as possible.
  5. Wash the entire filter medium in warm water.
  6. Place the filter in a sunny area and wait for it to dry completely.
  7. Slide the filter back into its frame and resecure the grille by fixing the screw or clips.

Why should you clean your ducted air conditioner filters?

1. Increases air quality throughout your home

A clean filter is better able to stop dust and other tiny particles from being recirculated throughout your home. Keeping the filter clean is the best way to ensure that less dust and allergens make their way into the air that your family breathes.

2.  Reduces power consumption

Left unchecked, your return air filters will continue to get clogged with dust and detritus, restricting the airflow to the indoor AC unit. If your air conditioner has to work harder to pull air through the filter, it will consume more power.

3. Air conditioner longevity

A build-up of particles inside of your air conditioning unit can potentially damage the fan coil and will require a deeper cleaning than simply vacuuming the return air filter medium periodically.

how-to-clean-ducted-air-conditioner-filter-smarter-air

How often should you clean your air conditioning filters?

How often you need to clean your air conditioning filters will depend largely on how often it is used. When the air conditioning is off, it’s not going to be drawing air through the filters, therefore a build-up will take much longer. The usual rule of thumb is to clean the filters for a residential system once every two months, although this may vary with different usage throughout the seasons, i.e. less in winter and more often in summer.

 

A professional inspection and clean

Cleaning your ducted air conditioning filters regularly is a great way to increase the lifespan of your indoor unit, keep your household air cleaner and reduce running costs. It is also important to organise a regular service of your ducted air conditioning unit by a professional. By organising an annual service with Smarter Air, one of our experienced technicians will inspect and clean the parts of your ducted air conditioning system that you aren’t able to see, as well as look for any potential issues with your air conditioning before they turn into costly problems.

For when learning how to clean your ducted air conditioner filter isn’t enough, join Smarter Air’s annual maintenance program for a hassle-free expert inspection and clean to look after your air conditioning.

Scott Booth
We had a great experience from quote to install. I spent a year shopping around for air conditioning solutions and this mob had the best ...
Scott Booth
We had a great experience from quote to install. I spent a year shopping around for air conditioning solutions and this mob had the best price and the best service by far. An easy decision.
Scott Booth
Scott Booth
Jade Marsh (Jadey k450)
Had ducted aircon installed very promptly. Chose this company due to their customer satisfaction and importance for continuing to offer support. Have had to have ...
Jade Marsh (Jadey k450)
Had ducted aircon installed very promptly. Chose this company due to their customer satisfaction and importance for continuing to offer support. Have had to have technicians out twice to replace sensors and the second technician was absolutely phenomenal and gave use amazing advice.
Jade Marsh (Jadey k450)
Jade Marsh (Jadey k450)
Goran Radosavljevic
Very professional and friendly people at the same time, so easy to deal with. They always come on promissed time and deliver all 100%. They run ...
Goran Radosavljevic
Very professional and friendly people at the same time, so easy to deal with. They always come on promissed time and deliver all 100%. They run like ants, everyone knows what he's supposed to do and before you know it's ready to be turned on, when they start showing you how to control your new AC. Well done Smarter A&E, very happy with what you've accomplished. I strongly recommend this business to everyone.
Goran Radosavljevic
Goran Radosavljevic
Zuzana Husak
Smarter Air & Electrical made the choosing and installation of aircon a breeze. From the first contact, through inspection and installation I was impressed with ...
Zuzana Husak
Smarter Air & Electrical made the choosing and installation of aircon a breeze. From the first contact, through inspection and installation I was impressed with the professional service, punctuality, tidiness and politeness. I would highly recommend the team, in fact I already have. Thank you Alex, Davis, Tom and the boys.
Zuzana Husak
Zuzana Husak
Dave B
The guys were great. Professional, polite and efficient. Arrived on time, completed all work to a very high standard and left the house cleaner than ...
Dave B
The guys were great. Professional, polite and efficient. Arrived on time, completed all work to a very high standard and left the house cleaner than when they started. Would not hesitate to recommend Smarter Air to anyone.
Dave B
Dave B
Aslam Chapri
Excellent!!! The customer service was outstanding. Alex went above and beyond to help me finding the product I wanted. They efficiently and in time replaced ...
Aslam Chapri
Excellent!!! The customer service was outstanding. Alex went above and beyond to help me finding the product I wanted. They efficiently and in time replaced my old ducted aircon system. The installation team, Tom, Jacob, Levi and rest of the team were highly professional and polite and tidied up nicely after completing installation. Davis' initial site inspection was very informative. I highly recommend Smarter Air & Electrical.
Aslam Chapri
Aslam Chapri
Frankie Smith
Contact from start to finish was good, company was very responsive. Guys who installed were polite and professional. Price was much better than other quotes ...
Frankie Smith
Contact from start to finish was good, company was very responsive. Guys who installed were polite and professional. Price was much better than other quotes we got too. Happy all around, would highly recommend
Frankie Smith
Frankie Smith
Aaron Bey
Had our ducted aircon installed today the team was on time very professional and very efficient and tidy. It has been an amazing experience...
Aaron Bey
Had our ducted aircon installed today the team was on time very professional and very efficient and tidy. It has been an amazing experience from initial contact to quoting through to site visit and install. Didn’t try to sell us anymore than we need and really knew what they were talking about. Would highly recommend to anyone look to have air con installed. Thanks to the whole team.
Aaron Bey
Aaron Bey
Adam Staier
These guys are great. From initial quote right up to demonstration after it was installed they’ve been brilliant. Ours was a tricky install...
Adam Staier
These guys are great. From initial quote right up to demonstration after it was installed they’ve been brilliant. Ours was a tricky install due to access issues and they absolutely nailed it. Friendly professional staff and they work hard.
Adam Staier
Adam Staier
Anna Marcantelli
Have had the team from Smarter Air and Electrical do an aircon system for our shop and it’s absolutely changed our life. We were...
Anna Marcantelli
Have had the team from Smarter Air and Electrical do an aircon system for our shop and it’s absolutely changed our life. We were dying from the heat before but the guys had it installed in no time and couldn’t have been any easier to deal with! From calling up and booking in to having the system installed was seamless and the super friendly team made the decision that much better! Will continue to use these guys and always recommend to anyone in the future needing any air conditioning and electrical work done!
Anna Marcantelli
Anna Marcantelli

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