For an always-on fire season, your heat pumps (and filters) always need a clean
By
Trent Wolbe
Wow, the world is crazy right now! We want to acknowledge that our eyes are on Southern California as wind-whipped fires continue to burn uncontrolled. Too many of our friends and family have lost their homes, or even their entire town. It is simply a mess.
When everything seems to be on fire, we find it helps to focus on the things that you can do in your own situation to make things a little better. Surprisingly, one of those things is making sure your air filters and heat pumps are clean - no matter where you are, but especially in places ravaged by ash raining from the sky.
Every heat pump, heat pump water heater, and air filter is different, so check your manufacturer’s recommendations - and of course, this is all just guidance for you on a home DIY level. But in general:
- Clean outdoor heat pumps. Whether you have a ductless mini split, a Harvest system, or other air-sourced heat pump with an outdoor unit, this is a quick and easy (and maybe even fun?) job. You can do this with a quick low-pressure hose-down, and by clearing out any brush, grass, or objects that may have accumulated nearby.
- Change heat pump water heater filters. To be very honest, I didn’t know a ton about integrated air-to-water heat pumps when mine was installed 7 years ago, so I was bewildered why my heat pump was running all the time.
Learn from my mistakes, and know that there’s a cleanable air filter inside most air-to-water heat pumps, like the Rheem Proterra, A.O. Smith Signature Series, or a Bradford White Aerotherm. The secret: many of them are located on top of the tank, so you’ll need a stepstool unless you’re a very tall person. Quick vid:
- Change the filters in plug-in air purifiers. If you’re like me, and you spent a considerable amount of time investigating and buying an indoor air filter from a brand like like Coway, Levoit, or Blueair during the 2020 wildfires, it may have been a long time since you’ve changed them. Bad for you, bad for the purifier. Let’s fix that.
Even if you don’t need to do this, the guy in this video is a real character, so there’s that.
- Change the filter in your whole-home HVAC system. You should check it around every six months. Again, every system is different, so make sure and consult with your manufacturer’s advice on acceptable filters and processes, but here’s a quick look at how easy it is. Basically: check your filter. If it looks dirty, buy a new filter, pull out the old one, and put in the new one.
- Ensure your non-ducted heat pump water heater has room to breathe. This isn’t a filter job, and it’s not related to Harvest, but it’s something I tell everyone: make sure your integrated heat pump water heater has a place to shoot the cold air that comes out of it.
Many heat pump water heaters that were installed in the early days of their American adoption - like before 2020 - were installed without proper outlet ducting.
That means your water heater probably shoots cold air into your house, and maybe into an enclosed space. And colder surroundings mean your heat pump is works overtime to pull heat out of the air, which uses more energy.
If you can, make sure the outlet of your heat pump water heater (the thing that shoots out cold air) is shooting outside your home with ducting - a contractor can help with that.
This video isn’t a “how-to,” but this portion of the video is a good overview of the concept.
During an active fire event, it might even be useful to do all of these a few times - and then, again, when the smoke has subsided.
By keeping your filters and heat pumps clean, you’ll make sure your own home is as comfortable as possible - great for you, and the energy efficiency boost you’ll get is better for all of us on this crazy planet.
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