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The timely replacement of home filtration products is a lot easier when you know what air filter size you need. When it come time to make a purchase you will be presented so many different air filter dimensions that you might not feel confident finalizing your order. We don’t recommend relying only on gut feelings when it comes the correct air filter size you need and we don’t want you to feel uncertain in your buying decisions. Quite the opposite, at Filtersfast.com one of our main goals is to create a more informed customer. Really, it is right on the wall of our marketing department.

Filtersfast has a wall of cards that remind us to always put our customers first.

If the filter is too big you will have to send it back and that is more time you are keeping an old, clogged filter in operation. Never do this! When air flow is constricted 2 things happen. The first is your energy bill will start to look a little ridiculous as hot or cold air becomes trapped behind a wall of particles. The second is you will be running your air conditioning system for much longer because hot and cold air is not circulating properly. If the filter is too small you wind up with air gaps and contaminants just bypass the filter material.

So how do you go about choosing the right air filter dimensions when shopping for home filtration products? Below we outline 3 steps you can take to determine the air filter size your need  that will give you more confidence in your buying decision.

1. 1. Take it out and look for the air filter dimensions. First, turn off your air conditioning system. When you remove the filter it is easy to knock dirt loose. Depending on where your air filter is installed you will either suck the dirt into the air conditioning system or blow it out into the house. Now look for numbers printed on the filter. Some places don’t print dimensions on the filter or you might find they are faded. If that is the case try step 2.

1. 1. Take out your measuring tape and get the exact dimensions yourself. These are written as length x width x depth (for example: 18x20x1). Lay the filter flat on the ground and start by measuring top-to-bottom for length, left-to-right for width, and front-to-back for depth. You should have 3 numbers written in inches. Except there is a small hitch to make things more complicated. When shopping for air filters you will see the words ‘nominal dimensions’ and ‘actual dimensions’ together. In all likelihood your measurements are not a nice round number , so what should you buy?
      The reason for this difference is many air filters are not cut to an exact size. Normally we see air filters being around 1/8″ to 1/4″ smaller than advertised.  This guarantees that if your air conditioning system is designed for 18x20x1, if that number is off by even a little bit the the filter will still fit. Except we said earlier that air gaps aren’t good, so why would you want an undersized filter? This isn’t an issue for 2 reasons: If it was the exact size of your system you might damage the filter trying to install it because there would not be enough space; when air is pushing or pulling the air it will press up against the opening and create a seal. So go ahead and install your filter and we promise you will be happy with the results.

1. If all else fails, refer to your air conditioning system product manual or contact the manufacturing directly with your system model number. They can help you figure out the exact specification of your unit.

If you bought from Filtersfast.com before you can access your account and reorder filters you already bought, or contact customer support and they can get you hooked up with everything you need to keep on schedule to make sure your air conditioning system is working at its best.