Derek Cole explains MERV ratings and how they affect your air filter's performance. MERV13 can restrict airflow or get sucked into returns, while cheap filters let particles through. MERV8 works as a practical middle ground for most home systems.
Questions this episode answers
2022-01-08
MERV8
Five days (free access)
Chapters
Foreign.
I'm Derek Cole, host of the Derek Cole Podcast and we believe in taking the time to explain how things work for your air at home or your business. And we also believe you deserve clean air in that home. And that is why we founded the Healthy Home Challenge. It's a five day online video series with daily emails, worksheets and even quick action steps you can take to protect you, your family and your co workers. If you haven't joined us yet, you can sign up. It's free to free five day access. You can go to Simmons One Hour Comm. You'll see a link to learn more about indoor air. You've probably known for a while that you need better indoor air at home or at work. After all, we spend 90% of our time indoors these days. Your breakthrough awaits at Simmons One Hour Comm. Now let's get into today's episode. Please listen closely and maybe even take some notes so you can remember these insights of home comfort and energy savings. And share this episode with three of your friends. Because we all need to share better ways to be more comfortable at home. Be sure to tag me or DM me on Instagram Derek Mcole so I can say hi. Thanks again for listening and let's begin. Always a very good question. Because these days you're going down the.
Aisles of Walmart or Home Depot or Lowe's and you see all these filters and the aisles, you're like, there's a lot of choices on filters. What does it mean? What should I do? It's also one of those situation. Well, well, I mean, the, the answer is it depends. Unfortunately, the answer is it depends. It depends on your duct system and.
What kind of filter it can handle. Filters are rated by what we call not we, what it's called a MERV rating. Basically, the higher the number, the more efficient the filter is at collecting smaller particles. So obviously a MERV6 isn't as good as the MERV13.
Right?
See what I'm saying?
But the sacrifice with these, with increased.
Filtration, with the higher number MERV rating.
The sacrifices, airflow, that's always the balance. And that challenge you're going to get into is, yes, I want to get the particles, but I also want to have airflow. My system needs to breathe. My system cannot breathe. If, if the filter is too good.
Too high of a MERV ready filter for my system, you know, I'm trying to go with a MERV 13 and you know, every time I put it in, the unit comes on.
I look back at my filter and.
It'S sucking it in. It's like caving it. That's not good either. So there's always a give and take with airflow with trying to get the particles. What we provide here for our club.
Members is what's called a MERV8 filter.
To me, it's a good middle of the road.
You know, not too, not too tight as to mess up a duct system, but also not so poor that lets just anything fly through the filter. It kind of, you know, it's kind of the middle of the road, but it's what we provide our club members.
Of course you can use something different.
Than that, but it's a, there's, you gotta watch that. There's always the give and take. You know, if you have a sealed duct system, obviously you don't want a.
You know, the highest Mervidi filter ever.
Because you're going to have an airflow challenge.
If you have a poor duct system.
And it's not sealed and you go.
With the higher Merv ready filter, it's.
Going to, you know, not suck it in, not be so tight.
But the problem is it's a poor duct system. So air is coming through the filter. Air is coming in the crawl space from the crawl space from the house, from the attic. You know, it's coming from every direction. Whereas you want the airflow to come through that filter so you can control.
What'S getting back to unit. And you want to be clean, crisp.
Air coming back to the unit, not dirty, cross bake it. Crawl space, attic house, outside.
All this kind of air that is not filtered before it gets to the unit, you don't want that challenge.
So that's why I say there's, there's.
Always a give and take between which, which one you can go with. But when the technician comes your home, they can definitely look at it and see which one's the best fit for you.
But which air filter?
It's a good question. There's a lot of options. Typically I've seen the extremes, I've seen folks go with air filter. That's too much for the unit. It's too, it's too hot. It's an algae rated merv, you know, 13 filter. Well, every time the unit comes down that the filter is getting sucked into the return and it's not helping him because it's getting sucked in. And the air that you're trying to filter is going through the four corners because being sucked in. So that's a challenge. And then the, on the other spectrum are the folks that, you know, get the basics. You know, the dollar or 80 cent filter at a Walmart or Home Depot and it's too loose. It lets too much fight there. It doesn't filter anything.
I've always said a good rule of.
Thumb is, you know, to lay that.
Filter on the counter, pour salt over.
The filter and see and pick up the filter and see if salt made it through the filter. If it didn't, let's go with it. If it did, it's not good. You, you don't want to put that in your system. So again, always a give and take. But here we provide a MERV8 plated.
In the middle of the road, not.
Too strong, not too light kind of a filter.
And I believe that's a good, a good middle of the road.
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