The Air Filters in your home play an important part in making sure the air you breathe stays clean and healthy. The air brought into your home is not always the cleanest: there may be pathogens, contagions, dust, dirt, sand, mold, bacteria, viruses, allergens, or pollutants in it. The Filters clean up incoming airflow by capturing these dirty particles in a tight mesh weaving. The weaving is used to prevent entry to irritants, while at the same time letting the air pass through without obstruction. This process is quick and easy, but changes depending on the type of air filters installed.

Air Filters in Your Systems

The air filters you are able to choose from come in a range of sizes and ratings. The MERV, or Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value, is used to rate the filters and show you their capabilities. The higher the MERV rating, the more capable they are at cleaning up incoming airflow. However, when the MERV rating is too high, then it becomes an issue since the mesh weaving is too tight. Higher MERV rated filters are preferably put into systems with heavier duty systems to push the airflow through.

You will also need to pick out the right size air filters for your system in order to fit them in comfortably. The size of the air filters can be seen on their cardboard edge, the best air filters will match this number and allow airflow to comfortably travel through. Picking the best air filter is not enough, though. You will also need to maintain your filters by replacing them periodically. Otherwise, leaving the dirty air filter in a system will cause problems over time.

Dirty Air Filters

If they are doing their job right, your air filters will become dirtier over time as they continue to absorb and capture irritants. This means that they become captured in the dirty particles and unable to properly process airflow. This leads to situations where the air inside of your home will become dry and stagnant without any fresh air coming in. Any particles already inside your home will also become unable to filter out, which is an issue with resident pets and smokers. The system itself will also have problems since it will try to push airflow through the dirty air filters.

When the air system in your home tries to push airflow through the dirty air filters, this causes a strain that becomes problematic over time. The dirtier the filter, the more effort the system needs to put into pushing the airflow forward. This causes the system to use more energy, raising electrical billing for your home over time. Your system will also become more strained and may become mechanically damaged if the air filters are not replaced regularly. The best air filters keep the air coming in nice and clean, but they need to be maintained in order to keep the fresh air coming.