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Last Updated: Monday, January 15th, 2001, Created: Monday, January 15th, 2001
A minimum filter is designed to protect the furnace fan from large dust balls -- not to protect your health.
You can start upgrading from there. One of the best of the 1 inch filters is called Filtrete from 3M. It's an electrostatic filter that becomes charged as the air passes over it. The Filtrete tends to catch rather small dust particles, even pollen.
The best of the large 4 inch filters is an electronic air cleaner, assuming, of course, that you do your maintenance to keep it sparkling clean. That can be hard to do since most soaps leave a bit of a film, which reduces the effectiveness of the filter. When it's dirty, it's the least effective of all the filters. The dust just goes right through. Click here for details on Cleaning Electronic Air Filters.
Some people would rather not clean their electronic air filters, so they buy media filters that are 4 inches thick to replace the electronic system. This gives you pretty good filtration because the pleated filter design has a very large surface area. And you can get various quality filters right up to HEPA or hospital grade.
Just remember that if you run the furnace with a clogged filter, you're sending much of your heat up the chimney because the air can't get through the filter fast enough to carry the heat into the house.
Keywords: Air Quality, Environmental, Filters, Furnace
Article 1057