K&N now makes reusable furnace filters - Page 2

CrankyDoug · 03-25-19, 10:50 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daox

How important is it to filter household air?

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.

CrankyDoug · 03-25-19, 05:54 PM

Just spent an hour at walmart looking at air filters. Andy, I concur that some of the cheap pleated filters have holes in them. In fact, the filter media has an array of holes punched through it, possibly with a hot pin that helps bind the material together.

The $4 filter had the same media as the $9 filter. The $9 filter has slightly more pleats and a nicer looking but equally flimsy cardboard frame.

I didn't see any K&N HVAC filters but they did have K&N vehicle cabin filters. They have a cotton flock-type media tufted into a metal screen. It is quite similar to the media used for chainsaw filters - good for sawdust, useless for fine particulates. The only performance information on the box was a long string of superlatives. I have to give them some credit. At least they didn't use words like Quantum or Unique Molecular Bonding.

I came home with two $4 filters.

My last employer had several filter separators that used socks. They did a good job of keeping fine TiO2, silica, and calcium carbonate dust in check. I considered building something similar for the house but the smallest of these was bigger than a refrigerator. The socks were about $60 each and were 8 inch diameter by six feet long. The pleated bag type had cartridges as small as 20 inches square. Unfortunately these cartridges were several hundred dollars each. They can be cleaned with compressed air but not washed. Thus, they were a good place to start a mold colony.

My quest to find a cost effective HVAC air filter continues.

ME_Andy · 03-26-19, 11:50 PM

True Blue is the particular brand that looks questionable to me.

03-25-19, 05:54 PM	#2
CrankyDoug Apprentice EcoRenovator Join Date: Jul 2016 Location: Georgia Posts: 100 Thanks: 6 Thanked 14 Times in 11 Posts	Just spent an hour at walmart looking at air filters. Andy, I concur that some of the cheap pleated filters have holes in them. In fact, the filter media has an array of holes punched through it, possibly with a hot pin that helps bind the material together. The $4 filter had the same media as the $9 filter. The $9 filter has slightly more pleats and a nicer looking but equally flimsy cardboard frame. I didn't see any K&N HVAC filters but they did have K&N vehicle cabin filters. They have a cotton flock-type media tufted into a metal screen. It is quite similar to the media used for chainsaw filters - good for sawdust, useless for fine particulates. The only performance information on the box was a long string of superlatives. I have to give them some credit. At least they didn't use words like Quantum or Unique Molecular Bonding. I came home with two $4 filters. My last employer had several filter separators that used socks. They did a good job of keeping fine TiO2, silica, and calcium carbonate dust in check. I considered building something similar for the house but the smallest of these was bigger than a refrigerator. The socks were about $60 each and were 8 inch diameter by six feet long. The pleated bag type had cartridges as small as 20 inches square. Unfortunately these cartridges were several hundred dollars each. They can be cleaned with compressed air but not washed. Thus, they were a good place to start a mold colony. My quest to find a cost effective HVAC air filter continues.

03-26-19, 11:50 PM	#3
ME_Andy Helper EcoRenovator Join Date: Dec 2015 Location: New Mexico/Texas Posts: 66 Thanks: 22 Thanked 11 Times in 10 Posts	True Blue is the particular brand that looks questionable to me.