Change your filters

Image by Rob Ireton via Flickr

Here is a friendly reminder to clean your filters after sanding.

As you may remember, I had been working on our living room floor (here).  I was sanding and sanding and then I was painting and moving furniture to get the room done.   But there was one thing I forgot to do.  And that was change the filter in the HVAC unit.  Oops.

Fast forward a week or so and cue the heat wave that hit the east coast.  Slowly, our air conditioner, lost its capacity to cool.  I thought we were low on coolant.  Then, I noticed a wet spot on the basement floor.  I freaked out and quickly did a web search, hoping it was a quick and inexpensive fix.  And luckily it was.  A quick look at the filter confirmed it.  Our filter was clogged with wood filler wood dust, creating a sticky glue like gunk, yuck.

Yes, yes, I know, and we do change the filter on a regular basis.   My husband even has a reminder on his calendar.  But we completely forgot that the sanding would reek havoc on the filter.

Lesson learned.  Just passing on the reminder.  Change your filter after any large sanding project.