How does it Work?
What In the World Is an Air Handler?
- Pick Your Filters
- Coose the Quality
- Tell Us How Often
- Start Service and Relax
Everything you want to know about your HVAC Air Handler and air filters
Here's our basement furnace. The air handler sits on the floor under the heating coil (not pictured). The air handler is basically a fan inside a box. It's function is two-fold. It pulls in air from the house through the returns throughout the house and into the air intake duct and then blows that air across the heating coil and back into the house as warm air. The filter is positioned between the air intake duct and the air handler to capture dust, dirt and other particles before they enter the air handler. This keeps the fan, coil, and other working parts of the furnace clean. The filter will usually have an arrow showing the direction of the air flow recommended for the filter. You should align the filter so that the air flow indicator on the filter is in line with the actual air flow from the air intake duct to the air handler.
Below is the air handler for the attic heat pump.
This unit is not all that different from the basement furnace...it is essentially a furnace air handler turned on it's side. Space is the controlling factor here, and the ceiling is not high enough to have the unit upright. Since the function are basically the same, the air flow is also basically the same. In this case, the air is pulled into the air handler through the air intake duct on the left and through the air filter. The air filter is held in place by a cover (seen here lying on the floor).
Ask Merv for information to help you select your replacement air filters.
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