Most of us don’t
alter the air filters in our dwelling furnace / HVAC system as frequently as
we’re supposed to. (I know I don’t.)
Generally, most 1” furnace filters should
be changed at least every 2 to 3 months. Larger, pleated cartridge-type furnace
filters (3″ to 5″) can continue up to 12 months between changes. Source Instead,
we go several months at a time and just replace them whenever we begin to find
dust piling up on furniture quicker than ever, or we happen to detect dust
gathering on the furnace vents themselves! (Am I right?)
Nevertheless, proper house air filtration
demands which you change the air filters in your house on a regular basis,
before you start to see signs that’s it’s been awhile since you last changed
them.
In addition to that, most people don’t
actually comprehend the differences between the more economical air filters and
higher-quality ones. For years, I used those affordable $1.98 fiberglass air
filters for all the air ports in our home. (You know, those bright blue ones
which are encased in a flimsy cardboard framework.)
If I just knew then what I know now!…
Not only can house air filtration be a
matter of life and death for people who suffer from a large number of
respiratory illnesses, but even those considered normal and healthy can profit
from cleaner, dust-free, and allergen-free air.
By removing pollutants from the atmosphere
(both chemical and environmental ones), your family will have the ability to
breathe cleaner air on a daily basis and your electricity bills will be lower
too — because your HVAC unit won’t need to work so challenging.
Here’s everything you have to know about
house air filtration, plus suggestions for choosing the best air
filter for home
House Air Filter Evaluations
Mechanical air filters are the most common
type of house air filters used in residential HVAC systems.
These filters use synthetic fibers to trap
small particles, debris, and dust, among other things — preventing those things
from circulating in the air and getting into our lungs.
The effectiveness of a mechanical air
filter is quantified in MERV evaluations (Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value).
Generally, the more affordable the filter is, the lower the MERV number is.
Quite simply, you get what you buy. Air filters with lower MERV ratings have to
be replaced more often.
Mechanical air filters remove dust by
getting it on the filter medium, the stuff which makes up the filter element. A
mechanical air filter is any kind of dry media filter. All the throwaway air
filters used in HVAC systems and Air Handlers are mechanical air filters. Any
man made or natural fiber filter is a mechanical air filter. This consists of
HEPA air filters too.
Kinds Of Mechanical Air Filters
Mechanical air filters include the
following:
Fiberglass air filters have become thin and
they've an easy flat panel surface for trapping particles in the atmosphere.
They were initially developed to protect your heat and air conditioning
equipment, to not enhance your indoor air quality. They are able to frequently
be bought for less than $1 apiece. Sadly, they remove less than 10% of the
atmosphere pollutants out of your house. They've a MERV rating between 1 and 4.
View this short video on the need for great
filters. You'll see how small the low-cost air filters actually keep out.
Pleated air filters remove up to 45% of the
atmosphere pollutants out of your house. How many pleats per foot affect their
overall efficacy. They typically cost around $10 each. They've a MERV rating of
10 to 13.
The filter with more pleats per foot across
the face will let you have better airflow throughout your house. The more air
that flows through your house, the more frequently it's passed and
re-circulated through the filter. The outcome is cleaner air due to the higher
frequency of air passes through the filter. For instance, if you could find a
means to install a hospital score operating room filter at home unit, it'd
do you much good because your fan and motor doesn’t have enough power to push
enough air through it. An excellent quality filter with a high MERV 11
evaluation can in fact make you with dirtier air than using a low-cost 1 dollar
filter if the MERV 11 filter doesn’t have enough pleats per foot. Less pleats
per foot is a cheap and dirty manner for filter sellers to fool buyers into believing
they've been getting an improved deal. Insist on MERV 11 filters that have the
very least of 18 pleats per foot! Source.
High efficiency air filters are the most
practical air filters for most residential HVAC systems, removing up to 85% of
the atmosphere pollutants out of your house. They've a MERV rating between 14
and 16.
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These filters can trap tiny particles of
dust, pollen, mould, and other irritants. A few of these filters operate much
like the atmosphere and oil filters in your automobile. They're made using
pleated filter paper. Other filters are created using fine artificial polyester
fibers. Higher efficiency air filters will often be coated with chemicals that
can kill miniature microbes including bacteria and mould. There are several
advantages to using these higher efficiency air filters. Not only will your
heating and cooling equipment perform better, your operating costs may well be
lower. The air you breathe will be cleaner, as will your furniture and drapes.
That $60 service call could have purchased 10 filters that will have continued
through five cooling seasons! Source.
True HEPA (or High Efficiency Particulate
Air) filters provide the best filtration to your house by removing up to 98% of
air pollutants out of your house. They've a MERV rating between 17 and 20.
Nevertheless, they are able to simply be used in an entire house filtration
system or a standalone air purifier.
Sadly, HEPA filters limit an excessive
amount of atmosphere to be used as a conventional furnace filter. A HEPA filter
is incredibly efficient, but a considerable quantity of air pressure will
become necessary to push air through a HEPA filter. An average HVAC system
WOn't be equipped to supply enough air pressure to use a HEPA filter (which
essentially means that no air would blow from the registers). To be able to use
a HEPA filter for whole house filtration, you should install another HEPA
filtration system. A system such as this will pull some of the atmosphere from
the routine air flow through your furnace, and after that foster the atmosphere
and pass it through a HEPA filter. The incredibly filtered air is subsequently
returned back into the regular air flow. Source
Microns = The Size Of Particles Captured
If you’re wondering whether it is possible
to remove the dependence on dusting by selecting air filters with better micron
evaluations, the truth is that better quality air filters wil dramatically
reduce the importance of dusting, but they won’t remove it.
Dust in the atmosphere includes
particulates that range in size from quite small (0.001 micron) to quite large
(100 microns).
So, while the smaller dust particles in
your home may be captured by the air filters, sadly, due of the weight of the
larger dust particles in the air, they'll settle in your furniture long before
they could reach your air filter.
More economical fiberglass filters are
better at trapping larger particles (up to 10 microns), but not smaller
particles.
Better high efficiency air filters are
better at trapping smaller particles (down to .3 microns), but not the bigger
particles. The smaller ones are often the most dangerous.
To help put this into perspective, a hair
out of your head is about 60-75 microns in diameter. Particles under 35 microns
aren't observable to the naked eye. You can’t see most of the contaminants in
the air. Pollen particles can range from 10 to 100 microns in size; dust from
0.5 to 5 microns; human dander, 10 microns or higher; etc. Most dangerous
particles are less than 5 microns in size.