Aug 19 2007
Furnace Filter
In my family, there are two topics of conversation that are always relevant. One is any conversation that discusses the weather and the other is whether or not you have changed your furnace filter. The importance of changing your furnace filter is emphasized throughout this conversation and old anecdotes told about the daughter who didn’t know a furnace had a filter to change are brought up throughout. Having just purchased a home, the furnace filter conversation has taken place quite often. It is embarrassing to me to admit my ignorance of all things home repair. I do not know the answer to the simplest home repair questions. In years previous, my solution was to ask Dale to fix it and thereby cover the extent of my ignorance. With Dale deployed, my ignorance is now painfully obvious. The plastic bit that held a kitchen drawer in place broke, so I brought it to Lowes to get a replacement. They didn’t have the exact one, so I bought 4 different plastic bits in the hope that one would work. I then wedged myself into the bottom cabinet and attempted to screw the new plastic bit that looked most likely into place. The screw went round and round, but did not penetrate the back of the cabinet. I then shimmied back out of the cabinet and googled “do you have to drill a pilot hole before you put in a screw” - ignorant question #1. The answer to this appeared to be yes, so then I went downstairs to find Dale’s drill and stared at the endless array of drill bit choices and guessed that the drill bit should be smaller than the screw. I may have googled that ignorant question as well. Then I had to figure out how to tighten the drill around the bit and wedged myself into the cabinet again. I attempted to drill the pilot hole and the bit came flying off. Apparently, I hadn’t tightened the drill enough. When I finally got all the screws in, the plastic bit was crooked which made the glide not level, so now the drawer won’t close all the way. My next home maintenance failure was my attempt to put the air intake cover back on after I painted the hallway wall. The screws would no longer hold in the dry wall and I realized I would need to attempt a wall patch or mudding or some such home improvement task that I was ignorant of. Instead, I decided that if I slid it over just a hair, I could get 3 of the 6 screws to hold so that it won’t fall off the wall. I attempted to put a small piece of rolled up duct tape behind the top corner in an attempt to fool the eye, but that didn’t hold. So, the top is hanging out from the wall. When I put the air intake cover back on, the duct was filthy, so I was jarred into thinking about past furnace filter conversations. I then decided that it was best to get down to the basement and change it immediately before I called home again, so that I would have something new to say during the usual furnace filter conversation. Thankfully, the heat pump has a panel clearly marked filter. I unscrewed the panel and was shocked and dismayed by what I saw. The furnace filter was in pieces because it’s paper had gotten so full of dust and dirt. After I extracted all the pieces I could locate, I looked at the new filter. It had helpful little arrows and a single sentence “place arrows in the direction of the air flow”. Ignorant question #2 - Exactly which way does air flow through a furnace?
As I am the one who usually changes the furnance filter here. I assume that the air flows from the house to the filter so I put the arrows toward the furnance. I hope this is right. Mom
Your Grandmother always fixed screw holes that were too big by wrapping tin foil around the screws before putting them back. It always worked. She also used tin foil on the rabbit ears on the tv. We had better reception than anyone. She also left kitchen drawers out on the counter or table(:) Your doing a great job. I am proud of you.
I do have some of those drywall plugs in the basement. You can screw one of the plugs into the existing hole in the drywall. Then you are able to screw a regular screw straight into the plug.
Of course, it should be mentioned that I was more than happy to pay Joel, Shane and Matthew to fix the things I couldn’t fix!
Point the arrows toward the furnace blower (where the noise comes from). The furnace pulls air from the house and the filter “cleans” the air before it gets to the blower. The orignial purpose of filters was to protect the blower from dust and debris. Now they are designed to protect people from dust, allergens and even bacteria.
As for changing - or remembering when - you might try a reminder service or one that sends the filters to you every three months - http://www.filtersontime.com - and probably others out there.
Young lady, in this Family that’s Furnace Filter with capital “Fs” (he left two in the closet for me the first time he was here). It’s always the little fixes (like your kitchen drawer) that do me in. I say, it’s time to buy new cabinets.
But hey, at least you don’t have the extra burden of the Y chromosome. Try being mechanically illiterate and a man (if I can even call myself that).
PS — Never attempt plumbing. I mean it. Never.
Drywall!!! Weird Americans. On the right side of the world we call it plasterboard, (you know board made of plaster) I hope ALL your walls are dry, or is it because you have to keep it dry or it turns to mush. Love you guys.
Actually, where I am now, most of the walls are made from mud. The hope here is that they do stay relatively dry! About 20 miles away from here is the Mosul Dam. This dam is under constant threat of catastrophic failure. Check out this article about the dam:
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/article2843961.ece
My office, MAO, just so happens to be situated in a floodplain! We’re currently having a new site built on higher ground and will be in it by the end of November. Pray that the rains will hold until then.
I love that the furnance filter blog is the most poplar. If Jewels is Juliet A Huge Hi from Howard and I to you and Michael!
Yes Kathy it’s me
Thanks Heaps and hugs to you too
Oh, and yes we did end up leading the life group. Dale and Mugs were very surprised when I mentioned you asked us months before they did:)
Jewels
I have to concur with Rob’s assessment of his attempt at home-improvement projects.
I own the power tools in this family.