How Often to Change Every Filter in Your House
A walk through every filter in a typical house, what actually governs each interval, why annually is usually the wrong answer, and the size trick worth doing once.
Home systems · HS-03
A free printable HVAC service log for air conditioning, heat pumps and ducted heating — professional servicing plus filter changes and owner checks.
2 pages. Choose your paper size — both versions are laid out identically, so neither one gets shrunk to fit.
Print it and write on it
Fill it in type and save
The fillable versions have real form fields — open them in any PDF reader, type into them and save. Printing help.
Separate the annual professional service from the filter changes you do yourself, and keep both on one sheet.
Homeowners with air conditioning, a heat pump or ducted heating.
2 pages, in this order:
Printed under the title: Service and filter record for air conditioning, heat pumps and ducted heating. Filters are the job people skip and the one that costs them the compressor.
Write-on lines: Property / zone · System make & model · Indoor unit serial · Outdoor unit serial · Installed · Filter size · Filter interval · Refrigerant type
Table, 9 rows: Date · Engineer / company · Work carried out · Readings · Next due
Table, 4 rows: Date · Filter changed · Coils / condenser cleared · Condensate drain clear · Notes
Ruled lines: Notes and anything specific to yours
It depends on the filter type, the system and the household — pets, dust and running hours all shorten it. Your manufacturer gives an interval; record it in the identification block and then track what actually happens.
A walk through every filter in a typical house, what actually governs each interval, why annually is usually the wrong answer, and the size trick worth doing once.
Stop measuring a clogged filter in a dark loft. Write the size down the first time, then reorder without taking the old one out.
Keep the proof of annual servicing that boiler warranties commonly ask for, and an index of which engineer did what.
The same subject, with a version you can fill in on screen.
Electricity used by the heat pump between readings.
The on and off periods for each room on weekdays and at weekends.
Which unit was serviced, by make, model, serial and location.
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