We bought the house recently. Heating system was recently installed by the previous home owner. I cannot believe they did not think of this but the place for filter is inside the furnace. The problem is that there is a pvc pipe in the way. PVC is for condensation. I have to bend the filter from under the pvc pipe and then try and slide it. Also it does not slide easy at all. there are still some open areas which I can above the filter. Sometimes filter tears. It is such a pain every 3 months!! I did find that outside the furnace there is a flex duct its some sort of heavy fabric which is tapped to the duct system. I assume they use this in case duct system doesn't line up. Is there anyway I could have a filter location installed there? Or cut the duct system and install it somewhere in between?
Best Answer
Actually, the filter seems to be installed in the wrong location. It’s installed on the wrong side of the “air filter tray”.
If you look closely at the bottom of the filter, the metal plate just to the left of the filter, has a “J-shape” at the bottom. That “J-shape” is made to hold the filter vertically in position, so it doesn’t slip down and not cover the intake opening properly and is called the “air filter tray”.
Also, it appears there is a sufficient space (vertically) for the filter to fit on the left side of the tray too. (NOTE: Before you move the filter to the left, I’d check with your manual, if you have one, and if not, I’d check with a HVAC contractor...because there are wires in that space too. Very unusual. Maybe the wires can be moved out of the way so the filter fits snug against the intake.)
The reason it’s important to install the filter in the proper location is because it needs to “fit” properly and completely cover the air intake. The reason THAT is important is because you don’t want air seeping around the filter and carrying dust, etc. into your furnace. The reason THAT is important is because dust will build up on your heating coils and could ignite when the coils are turned on. (Even if it doesn’t ignite, it will make the furnace very inefficient because it “insulates” the coil do it doesn’t give off all the heat.)
I’d try to cut the condensate pipe so you could temporarily remove it, which would then allow you to remove the filter. Then, when new filter is installed, you could reinstall the pipe...