Derek Cole explains how to pick HVAC filters and why cheap ones fail. He describes a salt test that shows filter porosity, and warns that overly restrictive filters can freeze your unit or let air bypass around the edges.
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The better filter is helping, but you can go a little too far and get too good of a filter and then you have an airflow problem, which will cause the unit to freeze and cause some of the issues. So it kind of depends on your situation. When our techs go out to the house, they can recommend what's better for you, but I would. Yes, you need a better filter than the 69 cent Home Depot see through filter. I mean, if you can, if you can lay it on your table, take salt, pour it over it, and the salt gets through. That's not a good filter. That makes sense because you're trying. I mean, the big filter is stopping or the cheap filter is stopping things like sandwiches and chickens, any kind of furry pits from coming through, but it's not stopping the small particles that you need to be stopping. And that is 98% of your problem is the small ones, not the big ones. So that's what you need to be focused on. So the better filter is better for you, but you do have to walk a fine line of restricting airflow and stopping the particles. Now, there are air cleaners on the market. They can handle both. We have them, but you just have to be careful about not. I'll tell you a good sign. So when you put the filter in the return and the unit's running, if it starts to cave in a little bit and the corners cave in a little bit, the filter is too much for that unit. It is too tight because now you're caving it in a little bit and the air is still going around the corners. So, I mean, you defeat the purpose. It's not, it's not going into the filter anymore. It's going around the filter to get to where it's going. So, you know, you should give a gentle little tug to get it out. You shouldn't have that much force to get it out.
