Are Expensive Air Filters Better Than Cheap Ones?

Want a cleaner house? Want your indoor air quality to improve? One of the easiest ways to do that is by replacing your air filters more.

If you’ve ever looked around at air filters at your local home improvement store, you know there’s a wide price range. Should you buy an expensive air filter? Of will the cheaper one do?

As an HVAC company, here’s our take.

What an air filter does

The air filter is in place to help capture particles from blowing through your ventilation system, and out into your air supply. This helps keep your air supply cleaner by removing things like dust, pollen, and other allergens that can make you sick. Air filters are important for everyone, but especially those that have respiratory ailments.

As a homeowner, the main reason to replace your air filter regularly is to:

• Control indoor air pollutants
• Remove bacteria from the air supply
• Protect your HVAC system from dust and other debris
• Improve the air quality of your home

What air filters should you choose?

When you look at air filters, you’ll notice there are many different choices. You’ll find reusable, washable, electronic, HEPA, and more, with a variety of options that make it seem like it’s worth the investment.

Let’s start with thickness. A thicker air filter will, in general, provide a longer life without clogging. That means a 1 inch filter will clog faster than one that is 5 inches.

You’ll also find updated air filters that claim to be technology driven and capture more particles. Electronic air filters are really electrostatic, which uses static electricity to capture particles. These air filters are washable and claim to be more economical because you can reuse them. They are reusable, but are only as good as the filters themselves.

HEPA filters are high efficiency particulate air filters that are woven tighter and stop particle as small as .3 micrometers from getting through. They are one of the most expensive air filters on the market, but will in turn keep your air supply cleaner.

Which air filter is best for you ultimately depends on your HVAC system. Each manufacturer recommends which air filter works best for the system. You can check with your owners manual, or do a quick search online. We can also make recommendations when we perform our annual maintenance visit to ensure your HVAC system is working as it should.

What air filter does your system use?