subject: Air Conditioning Filter Options - Are They All The Same? [print this page] Shockingly many individuals think soShockingly many individuals think so. There more to the filter you use in your furnace or air handler that effects your indoor air quality as well as your wallet.
If your employing a spun fiberglass filter you can see thru, your throwing away your money. This sort of filter only captures the big particles it does not capture the smaller particles. So what good is it actually doing for the air you breathe. Truthfully not very much.
A filter wants to catch as much as is possible to boost the air you breathe. If you have allergies, asthma, or other respiring issues this is crucial to your quality of life. A less expensive filter permits the smaller particles to pass thru the filter and to enter the furnace reaching the evaporator coil, the airstream, and the air you breathe. Finally the coil can become plugged with those particles reducing air flow and providing a surface for mold to grow and flourish. Who would like to breathe that?
If that is not sufficient, what about the price to you for upkeep? A dirty coil decreases air flow, makes the evaporator fan work harder, and it makes out to your condenser by raising your line pressure and working your compressor harder. This all cost more in operating cost. Not to mention the price of removing the evaporator coil and cleaning it. This may cost anywhere from $375.00 - $550.00. Who can afford that nowadays?
This is not to say the filter you use will stop you from ever having to scrub your coil. It'll definitely help you stop any of these issues and improve the air you breathe. You do not have to spend a tidy sum on a filter or filters to enhance the air you breathe. There are plenty of filter decisions out there. You just need to make a smart choice as regards what your desires are and what filter best serves you.
A couple of filter choices available are polyester foam filters and extended surface pleated filters.
The polyester froth panel filter is a good selection they're cheap and do an a more satisfactory job of stopping and picking up contaminants than a fiberglass filter. They can be found in a bulk roll, cut to size, without or with a tackifier and in a standard card frame.
A wiser choice is the extended surface surface pleated filters. They're designed with less resistance to air flow than panel filters. Their design also extends service life and decreases upkeep cost. Many are electrostatic and bacteria resistant.
The top choice is a filter thicker than the standard 1" filter. The issue with these filters your average air conditioning system isn't set up for these filters. They've been used just about exclusively in commercial systems. What's been available for home systems need a field installed filter housing. Which can on occasion be pricey to install or integrate into many applications. The benefit to these filters is longer service life ( one filter last six to twelve months ), low pressure drop, bigger surface capacity to capture more particles, and electrostatic and bacteria resistant.
Luckily, many makers are seeing a benefit of these filters in the residential market. You can now get a five" pleated filter built to fit your present return air grille. These filters go one step further by adding a froth a froth gasket to stop air by-pass so you get maximum air filtration through your filter.
I hope this manuscript informed you on the differing kinds of filters open to you so helping your selection of filter less complicated.
