The air filter is a small but crucial component of your HVAC system. Depending on the type you use, air filters can capture various pollutants in the air, including pet dander and dust, viruses, bacteria and fungi. They help protect your heating and cooling equipment from buildup of airborne debris, and they help keep that debris out of the air you breathe indoors.

The MERV rating system can help you determine which air filter to use. MERV, or Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value, is the measure of effectiveness for air filters. The MERV rating takes into consideration how well a filter captures particles of various sizes. The MERV ranges from 1 to 20, with 20 being for filters than can trap the tiniest particles — these filters are used in “clean rooms” used in manufacturing or scientific research. A filter with a MERV rating of 16 is considered safe for a general-surgery room.

Most low-cost furnace filters have MERVs from 1 to 4, while higher quality filters for homes have MERVs from about 9 to 12. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency:

• Filters with a MERV of 1 to 4 offer medium efficiency on larger airborne particles but low efficiency on small particles. That means they probably don’t capture viruses, bacteria, some mold spores, many pet allergens and some dust mites.
• Filters rated 5 to 13 are reasonably efficient at removing small to large airborne particles.
• Filters rated 14 to 16 are very efficient but shouldn’t be mistaken for HEPA filters, which have MERV values of 17 to 20. True HEPA filters are normally not installed in residential HVAC systems, which are often unable to accommodate such filters.

If you have questions about selecting the best air filter for your home’s heating and cooling system, please contact the experts at Conditioned Air. Serving the Naples and Ft. Myers areas, we’re always glad to help.

Our goal is to help educate our customers about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about air filters and other HVAC topics, click here to download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Conditioned Air services Southwest Florida including cities Marco Island, Ft. Myers or anywhere in between.  To get started, check out our website or see our special offers.