Quote:
Originally Posted by Daox
How important is it to filter household air?
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I suppose it depends a lot on your region and the dust generated in your own house. Here in GA the pollen is presently falling like volcano ash. We also seem to generate a lot of lint (year round) even though the dryer is properly vented and runs less than an hour a week.
Some years ago I bought a Honeywell standalone HEPA filtration device. I expected it to require cleaning at least once a week. It ran about a year before burning out and never once needed cleaning. The fans in my computers, however, have to be cleaned at least once a month.
As elcam84 stated above, a house like mine will plug up the evap coils in short order without a filter. Whatever gets past the air filter plugs up the condensate drain.
I am slowly re-routing my intake and outlet ducts in preparation for the new heat pump. Once installed I intend to run the fan continuously several hours a day, hoping to reduce the pollen, lint, and dust. In my case, at least, filtration is absolutely necessary.
Considering the price of Filtrete disposables, I have no problem paying $40 apiece for K&N filters. They might actually work quite well for HVAC filtration. I just wish they were sold based on test data instead of endorsements from racing celebrities that don't even use them.