In this instructional video, Derek Cole walks viewers through indoor air quality (IEQ) products, focusing on HVAC air filters. He cites Energy Star’s recommendation that proper filtration is crucial for system efficiency and clarifies common confusion about which filter to use at home. He first reviews the cheapest big‑box fiberglass filters (roughly MERV 1–2), noting they only catch large debris and quickly become dirty, which hampers airflow and can cause the unit to freeze up. He then presents the MERV 8 filter his company supplies to club members, describing it as a middle‑of‑the‑road option that balances particle capture with acceptable airflow, despite recent supply‑chain challenges. Finally, he highlights a polarized media air cleaner—an electrostatic device that fits a standard 1‑inch filter grille, uses a 24‑V charge to attract particles, and maintains good airflow without duct modifications. He advises replacing filters twice a year, invites questions, and promotes the free Healthy Home Challenge (simons1hr.com) covering filtration, UV, ozone, and more.
Chapters
Hey, what's up everyone? Derek Cole here, and this week with the technicians we went over some IEQ products, indoor air quality products, and we talk about air filters a lot, and this is one of the things I want to show you because we talk about it quite a bit, but I'll show you quite a bit about air filters. According to Energy Star, it's one of the most important things you can do for your system to make sure it's running efficiently. So I wanted to cover it because there's a lot of confusion about which air filter should I have in my house. So I want to give you a few examples of what we talked about and explain to you. So this right here is probably the cheapest filter you can buy at the big box store. It's not really doing much of anything except stopping the big items like sandwich bags and cat toys and anything that comes in contact with it, but it's not really filtering the particles you want to get rid of in your home. So most of the particles you want to actually get rid of in your home are the ones you can't see, and the ones you can't see are the ones you want to take care of. So if you see dust on your cabinets or dust on your TV Well, we're not trying to filter that because it's so heavy it's sitting there. You actually want to filter what's in the air. Uh, so this filter right here, it does pretty good once it gets really, really dirty. So the dirtier it gets, the better it is at filtration because all this is starting to load up with dirt. So now it's having a hard time for the particles to get through. Uh, but as it gets dirty, the problem is airflow. Airflow is challenged, so you have a unit that freezes up, uh, because you're not getting proper airflow. So this is, you know, probably like a MERV 1 or MERV 2 filter. It's not very good, uh, usually for your system. It's not very good, so I would probably stay away from that one. Now the one we actually provide our club members is a MERV 8, and this, this filter right here. Now, due to supply chain challenges, uh, because of COVID and everything else, we've had some trouble getting these made for us. But, uh, this is the standard we usually give our club members on that maintenance twice a year. So when we do that, this is a MERV 8 filter. A MERV 8 filter is a good middle-of-the-road not too cheap, not too expensive filter for your home. So this is— it does a good job of stopping particles, but it also does a good job of relating airflow through the system. So this is a Mervay filter. It's a good quality, sturdy filter, and it's a good way to, to take care of your equipment. Now, one of our favorites is this one right here, which is a polarized media air cleaner. It's actually an air cleaner and not a filter, but it still fits in the 1-inch filter grille right here. See that? So it still fits your 1-inch filter grille. So the challenge is, over the years, has been people want air cleaning, but they had to do it with duct modifications or an air cleaner in their duct system. All that had to be modified. But with this, you can actually put it in the filter grill, so you don't have to modify any door. You put it in the filter grill, and it has an electronic charge, so 24 volts right here. So it's going to polarize this whole media, and it's going to attract the particles and stick them to it. So it allows for good particle filtration, but it also allows for better airflow. So that's a few of the things we've covered this week with our techs. I wanted to share with you, um, if you guys have any questions, feel free to contact us, or you can always check out the Healthy Home Challenge. Uh, just go to simmons1hr.com, the Healthy Home Challenge, free 5-day access. You get 5 videos. We cover filtration, UV, air cleaning, ozone, we cover all that, and all that's free for you to, uh, to look at.
