Home Air filter?

audio1der · Apr 29, 2004

We all love to chat about car filters- what about our homes, where we spend the majority of our time??
I'm looking at buying an electrostatic filter [not the whole shebang, just the filter element]
for the Trane furnace in my brand-new house.
I want excellent filtration because we're in a new (read: dusty) subdivision, and I'm allergic to the fiance's cat.
Any input?

jetfishn · Apr 29, 2004

Hi, we purchased a couple high end filters and are happy with them, we are in a very dusty area with lots of farming and industrial stuff in the air. They are Filterete brand by 3M ultra allergen model. Lowe's.

XS650 · Apr 29, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by jetfishn:
Hi, we purchased a couple high end filters and are happy with them, we are in a very dusty area with lots of farming and industrial stuff in the air. They are Filterete brand by 3M ultra allergen model. Lowe's.

I'm using those too. They do a good job.

I have seriously con$idered a powered electro$tatic filter but decided again$t it. We have windows open a few hours a day or all night about 7 months out of the year. No sense paying for the utimate in filtation when your windows are open a lot.

[ April 29, 2004, 03:19 PM: Message edited by: XS650 ]

cryptokid · Apr 29, 2004

i got a fram circular filter adapted with a shroud to a quiet 120mm computer fan.

seemt to get real nasty so i think its working.

XS650 · Apr 29, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by cryptokid:
i got a fram circular filter adapted with a shroud to a quiet 120mm computer fan.

seemt to get real nasty so i think its working.

Sounds like a good idea, computers can get pretty dusty inside after couple of years. The air intake on mine is right at floor level and we have a cat. I was thinking about cutting a bigger hole in the front and putting a piece of furnace filter in it, but now I may adapt a round automotive air filter with a flat plate aluminum top.

cryptokid · Apr 29, 2004

i didnt mean i use it as a computer filter. i just happen to be using a computer fan and have it as a filter for my bedroom. the filter and fan are under my bed.

my computer does actually have a furnice filter on the 92mm intake though.

tom slick · Apr 29, 2004

even if you don't want to pay for the $12-15 3M filters, use pleated air filters instead of the fiberglass "hair" style. the pleated filter better and last longer. you only need to change them every 3 mo instead of every mo. a better filter is not only healthier for you but keeps your equipment cleaner which means le$$ maintenance. if you buy them from the local HVAC shop they'll be about $6 each.
if anyone wants to PM me i have an excellent site/bbs for HVAC issues. unless we are now allowed to post other bbs addresses now.

porterdog · Apr 29, 2004

Another vote for the purple Filtrete. My GF and I moved into a house a year ago January that had been occupied by a couple smokers. After waking up congested with a sore throat a couple days in a row I a) turned off the furnace and opened all the windows for several hours, b) installed the purple filtrete and set the furnace fan to run 24/7. Made a HUGE difference in just a couple days. (and boy did that first filter get nasty)

Robert

T-Keith · Apr 29, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by audio1der:
We all love to chat about car filters- what about our homes, where we spend the majority of our time??

Speak for yourself, I'm pretty sure I spend more time at work and in my car.

-T

soup · Apr 29, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by audio1der:
We all love to chat about car filters- what about our homes, where we spend the majority of our time??
I'm looking at buying an electrostatic filter [not the whole shebang, just the filter element]
for the Trane furnace in my brand-new house.
I want excellent filtration because we're in a new (read: dusty) subdivision, and I'm allergic to the fiance's cat.
Any input?

Your best bet is to go with a "whole house" electrostatic unit, mounted in your HVAC systems return line. This will clean all the air circulated by the unit. Also for best utiliziation/efficiency, see if your unit can be wired to run on low fan speed continiously and normal speed when the system is calling for heat or cooling. Those so called electrostatic replaceable filters loose their efficiency after the first hour or so of use. similar to a battery loosing it's charge sitting on the shelf.

Virtuoso · May 4, 2004

I haven't wanted to cough up the cheese for one of the purple filtrete models (like $15), but I do use the pleated filters (middle of the line if you will). At ~$6, it's much cheaper, and still filters a lot better than the fibreglass cheapies.

In fact they're loaded with crap even just after a month, and I live in a ~900sqft apartment.

doctorr · May 22, 2004

Consumer Reports did an air filter test, couple of years back - (not including powered 'electro' types)

Their gist was that the 3M products worked best, the higher rated ones filtered smaller particles, and logically, plugged up sooner.

The point I noted was the AAF brand (hyped to have 'electrostatic fibres' in them) only filtered about as well as a cheapo fibreglass, yet they cost about as much as the 3M, and claim all sorts of high particulate removal and long life.

Junk.
.
.
.
doc

sbc350gearhead · May 23, 2004

I have a spacegard unit......and it is terrible! The filters are almost 40 bucks a pop, and have to be replaced every 6 months........and they are a pain in the but to install.

EricZoom · May 25, 2004

I have one of the WEB electrostatic filters in my A/C-Heat air handler units and it seems to work OK.I still think it works much better then my old fiberglass filter.

Lumberg · May 28, 2004

electrostatic filters are bunko. as soon as they develop a thin layer of dust on the plates, the filtering efficiency drops like a rock.

also note you are not filtering all the air, just the air which happens to get close enough to the plates.

3M Filtretes offer the best flow:filtration ratio but are somewhat restrictive.

Lumberg · May 28, 2004

just wanted to add:

http://hvac-talk.com/vbb/showthread.php?threadid=43757

http://www.cerias.purdue.edu/homes/pmeunier/filters/filters.html

Synopsis:

If you really want the best, the thick 4-5" type sbcgearhead talks about is it. Filtretes are $12 a pop, at once a month, you're looking at $70 every six months, plus 6x the labor. I personally don't have enough space next to the furnace to mount them. So I do Filtrete. You can order them in quantity online. Check filtrete.com for vendors.

Pressure drop is an important aspect of filters because they restrict airflow. I once tried to build a u-bend manometer but it didnt' quite work out. Anyways my Filtrete shows a slightly larger than acceptable level of restriction. The only option is to upgrade my blower, which I may do. For now I just live with it.

brianl703 · Jun 3, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by Lumberg:
Anyways my Filtrete shows a slightly larger than acceptable level of restriction. The only option is to upgrade my blower, which I may do. For now I just live with it.

If you've got a furnace you might want to consider whether the heat rise (difference between incoming and outgoing air temperature) though the heat exchanger is within acceptable limits with more efficient filter.

If the heat rise is too high, the life of the heat exchanger will be shortened.

porterdog · Jun 3, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by brianl703:

quote:

Originally posted by Lumberg:
Anyways my Filtrete shows a slightly larger than acceptable level of restriction. The only option is to upgrade my blower, which I may do. For now I just live with it.

Click to expand...

If you've got a furnace you might want to consider whether the heat rise (difference between incoming and outgoing air temperature) though the heat exchanger is within acceptable limits with more efficient filter.

If the heat rise is too high, the life of the heat exchanger will be shortened.

I think you mean if the heat rise is too low, right? Small change in air temp would mean that too much heat is staying in the exchanger, no?

What should it be? Seems like an easy enough test to perform....

Thanks!
Robert

XS650 · Jun 3, 2004

quote:

Originally posted by porterdog:
I think you mean if the heat rise is too low, right? Small change in air temp would mean that too much heat is staying in the exchanger, no?

What should it be? Seems like an easy enough test to perform....

Thanks!
Robert

Heat rise too high is a problem. It happens when there is too little air flow from an overly restrictive air filter, among other thing.

The air moves slower, so gets heated more by the heat exchanger.

On an air conditioner, a temp drop that is too large means the same thing.

msparks · Jun 3, 2004

I have the cleanable electrostatic ones. They are a pain, as you have to clean them, which means more work.

I took them out and am now just using the premium pleated paper one. They work good and I don't notice any more (or any less) dust.

Home Air filter?

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