Furnace Filter Replacement
Did you know that the EPA lists indoor air as one of the top environmental risks to public health? And did you know that one of the best whole house air cleaners is not an expensive electrostatic furnace filter, but a passive paper media whole house furnace filter made by AprilAire called the Whole-House Air Cleaner. It was formerly called Space-Gard but is still commonly known by that name.I have one of these units in my home and am very happy with its performance. Actually, its performance improves as it gets used more and more!
The effectiveness of furnace filters are measured in a rating called MERV. MERV stands for Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value and is a measure of how effective the filter is in stopping dust and contaminants, including viruses, from passing through its media. Home filters range from 1 to about 12 with 1 being near useless (filters particles above 10 microns) and 12 being excellent (filters to 1 to 3 microns).
The AprilAire filter is rated at about a MERV 10-11. It reaches about 99% filtration as it nears its replacement period. That's right, instead of getting worse as it gets used, it gets better. And the other nice thing is that unlike common 1" paper or fiberglass filters rated at only 1 MERV to 4 MERV and require replacement up to once a month, the AprilAire unit is good for 1 to 2 entire years before needing replacement.
So given the popularity of this filter, I thought I'd show you how to install it since it's a little tricky. But once you know the secret, it's a snap, and a breath of clean fresh air!
Comments
If you really want the best air filtration available the best way to go is whole house air filtration. The CleanEffects from Trane can remove ultrafine particles below .o5 microns. This would include some viruses and flu.
The filter also is the most economical as it does not impede airflow.
Anyone that suffers from allergies should get a Trane CleanEffects installed on their Heating and Cooling system.
Sorry there, a few misrepresentations in that post and some omissions.
First of all the CleanEffects is an electronic filter not a passive whole house filter and at about $1,500 costs significantly more to purchase and install than passive rigid frame box filters like the AprilAire. The AprilAire is also a whole house filtration system as are others like it.
The Trane CleanEffects does NOT filter to 0.05 microns but only to 0.1 microns.
The CleanEffects filter also requires A LOT MORE MAINTENANCE including cleaning the pre-filters every 2 months, collection cells every 6 months and cleaning the electrostatic plates every year by a professional service technician. Let’s see that’s a total of 9 servicing activities per year. Also, you have to vacuum and rinse out this filter so all the pollutants will get transferred to your vacuum cleaner bag and can reenter the home unless of course you vacuum and rinse outside the home (which they actually recommend for the reason I stated but which few people would do especially in winter). They also state sensitive persons “should wear appropriate respiratory protection while cleaning the filter.”
In addition, if you do not clean the filters regularly you void the warranty and the Trane manual states you run the risk of fire, something with which I would not want to be concerned. As a matter of fact Trane CleanEffects units were recalled for fire hazard in August 2007.
Also, TRANE does not list a MERV rating for the filter, an industry standard and understood by consumers (ASHRAE Standard 52.2 Test Procedure), but instead uses a CADR rating for marketing purposes.
Anyway, you get the idea. CleanEffects has its market niche but is no panacea.
I have an Aprilaire 2200 unit that is installed horizontally. I have noticed that there is a MERV 13 upgrade kit available, but the pictures and installation video show it being installed on vertically placed filter units. It’s designed to be used without spacers, with gravity and attached side ribbons doing the spacing. Can I use it with the spacers in a horizontal orientation? Also, I have seen a MERV 16 replacement filter made by Lennox (#5424)for the Aprilaire 2200. It costs around five times the MERV 10-11 units for the 2200. Would the filtration performance be that much better? My wife and daughter have allergies, and we have pets.