How to Choose an Air Filter

If you take the time to look over the other blogs on our website, you will no doubt encounter the same advice over and over again: Replace your air filter. It is a critical piece of maintenance for every home HVAC system that can substantially affect the operation of your unit. So, now that you have decided to heed the warning and head out to buy a new air filter, just what kinds of air filters are there for you to purchase? Glad you asked; let’s take a look.

Disposable or Reusable

There are to very basic types of filters: ones that you throw away when they are dirty and ones that you can take out and clean. While disposable ones are often much cheaper than reusable ones, you may have to replace your disposable ones much more often. If don’t want to have to take your filter out and clean it, however, disposable filters are a viable option. It all depends on the amount of time (and money) you want to spend on your air filter.

Fiberglass Filters

These are the most basic type of filter you can buy and this is reflected in the price of them. Fiberglass filters are there to keep the most intrusive bits of dirt and debris out of your HVAC system. They generally will not filter out dust, dander or pollen. They are well suited to homes that do not have pets or regular smokers. If you consider your home a high traffic home, then a fiberglass filter may not be for you.

Pleated Filters

These are typically available in disposable form only, simply because it is very hard to get all the dust out of the pleats. A pleated filter is simply a folded polyester sheet that is capable of capturing smaller particles than a fiberglass filter. Pleated filters are fully capable of filtering out particulates like pet dander, dust and, with more expensive models, even mold or mildew. They are a great disposable option for heavy filtering duty, but are a bit more expensive than fiberglass.

High Efficiency or HEPA Filters

These systems offer the most filtering power. Quite often these will be units that exist externally to your HVAC system that may even have their own power and monitoring systems. These filters will have multiple stages, one to catch large debris while smaller chambers are there to filter and clean even the smallest particulates out of the air. Typically these systems will have alarms or indicators that will tell you when you need to remove parts and clean them. They are usually not compatible with disposable filters and need higher end permanent filters to operate.

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