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My dad worked in AC his whole life. Do not put a constrictive filter on your ac. He even recommends the cheap ugly ones as they are the least restrictive. The A

My dad worked in AC his whole life. Do not put a constrictive filter on your ac. He even recommends the cheap ugly ones as they are the least restrictive. The AC is not meant to filter air. The only reason it has filters is to keep large particles out of the evaporator coils.

flybrand 4y ago
100% - lower merv filters, changed out more often, are the way to go.
Johnny555 4y ago
When I upgraded my HVAC system, the installer recommended an AprilAire filter box, I uses a 4" high pleated filter, each MERV-13 filter has around 16 pleats, so if you unfolded it, it'd be around 10 feet long. Comes with full warranty from the manufacturer, so I don't think it's going to shorten the lifetype of the system. I wouldn't put a regular flat MERV-13 in an existing HVAC system, but the pleated ones have so much more surface area that they seem safer.
kube-system 4y ago
You don't want to restict the total amount of flow, but with more media area you can have a tighter filter media with the same (or even better!) total flow. A thicker filter and/or one with more pleats can filter better and be less restrictive at the same time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkjRKIRva58&t=454s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkjRKIRva58&t=454s
jjeaff 4y ago
It "may" reduce efficiency, but as long as you don't restrict airflow too much, it seems unlikely to damage anything. It's not like restricted airflow puts stress on the AC blower. In fact, less airflow creates more of a vacuum and causes the fan to draw less energy. The one thing it can do is cause your equipment to run longer (because of the lower efficiency) thus wearing things out quicker. But, most HVAC systems are not nearly as "fine tuned" to the size of your house as many might think. Most traditional HVAC systems basically have 2-3 speed settings for the fan depending on home size. There is a lot of play between those rough settings where a bit more filtration is not going to put it out of recommended ranges. I have a very high Merv rating filter on mine plus a charcoal filter, but I change it out every 3 months or so. Compared to the standard, cheap, barely there filters, the run time and energy usage difference is not enough to notice.

flybrand 4y ago

100% - lower merv filters, changed out more often, are the way to go.

Johnny555 4y ago

When I upgraded my HVAC system, the installer recommended an AprilAire filter box, I uses a 4" high pleated filter, each MERV-13 filter has around 16 pleats, so if you unfolded it, it'd be around 10 feet long. Comes with full warranty from the manufacturer, so I don't think it's going to shorten the lifetype of the system. I wouldn't put a regular flat MERV-13 in an existing HVAC system, but the pleated ones have so much more surface area that they seem safer.

kube-system 4y ago

You don't want to restict the total amount of flow, but with more media area you can have a tighter filter media with the same (or even better!) total flow. A thicker filter and/or one with more pleats can filter better and be less restrictive at the same time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkjRKIRva58&t=454s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkjRKIRva58&t=454s

jjeaff 4y ago

It "may" reduce efficiency, but as long as you don't restrict airflow too much, it seems unlikely to damage anything. It's not like restricted airflow puts stress on the AC blower. In fact, less airflow creates more of a vacuum and causes the fan to draw less energy. The one thing it can do is cause your equipment to run longer (because of the lower efficiency) thus wearing things out quicker. But, most HVAC systems are not nearly as "fine tuned" to the size of your house as many might think. Most traditional HVAC systems basically have 2-3 speed settings for the fan depending on home size. There is a lot of play between those rough settings where a bit more filtration is not going to put it out of recommended ranges. I have a very high Merv rating filter on mine plus a charcoal filter, but I change it out every 3 months or so. Compared to the standard, cheap, barely there filters, the run time and energy usage difference is not enough to notice.