Air Cleaner Questions
What is the best air cleaner?
Compared to the 1” spun-fiberglass filters, they are all good. But all air cleaners have a distinct set of advantages and it is now a matter of choosing between a lot of good options, and deciding what meets your needs the best.
Media type air cleaner: these are offered with all Bryant furnaces except the basic models and other manufacturers sell them as an optional add-on component. These are usually about 4” thick and are made out of a pleated material. The advantages are that they are much more effective than conventional filters. They also use no power and therefore, never break down. They do need to be replaced at least once a year, at a cost comparable to a case of conventional filters. Click here for more info on Bryant’s EZ-Flex filter.
Electronic Air Cleaners: Honeywell was the first and most recognized manufacturer of EACs, although there are many brands available now. These work by passing the air entering your furnace through a set of electro-statically charged cells.
These cells act like a wool sweater on a dry winter day, everything sticks to them all the way down to particles as small as .01 micron; that includes smoke and even some viruses.
The EAC uses a very small amount of electricity to operate, less than that of a 60 watt bulb. The cells in an EAC need to be removed and cleaned periodically & some of the newer models even have an indicator light to let you know when this needs to be done. Visit Honeywell’s site for more information on all of their IAQ products.
Hybrid air cleaners: These are a combination of a media type and electronic air cleaner. They are probably the most effective air cleaner you can have, short of a HEPA whole-house unit. Visit Bryant’s website for information on their unit: Bryant Purifier.
HEPA air cleaners: These air cleaners are the very top of the line air cleaner. They generally are a stand alone unit tied into your house ductwork. They are 99.9% effective in removing airborne particles. They are more costly than the other units listed above, and while they are fairly simple (a large bank of highly effective filters), they are also more costly to maintain. Visit Westinghouse’s website for more information on their HEPA unit: Westinghouse HEPA.
For more information on indoor air quality and filtration you can go to the EPA website: EPA.gov and to the INDA website for a good explanation of the various rating systems used with media type filters: INDA.org
Compared to the 1” spun-fiberglass filters, they are all good. But all air cleaners have a distinct set of advantages and it is now a matter of choosing between a lot of good options, and deciding what meets your needs the best.
Media type air cleaner: these are offered with all Bryant furnaces except the basic models and other manufacturers sell them as an optional add-on component. These are usually about 4” thick and are made out of a pleated material. The advantages are that they are much more effective than conventional filters. They also use no power and therefore, never break down. They do need to be replaced at least once a year, at a cost comparable to a case of conventional filters. Click here for more info on Bryant’s EZ-Flex filter.
Electronic Air Cleaners: Honeywell was the first and most recognized manufacturer of EACs, although there are many brands available now. These work by passing the air entering your furnace through a set of electro-statically charged cells.
These cells act like a wool sweater on a dry winter day, everything sticks to them all the way down to particles as small as .01 micron; that includes smoke and even some viruses.
The EAC uses a very small amount of electricity to operate, less than that of a 60 watt bulb. The cells in an EAC need to be removed and cleaned periodically & some of the newer models even have an indicator light to let you know when this needs to be done. Visit Honeywell’s site for more information on all of their IAQ products.
Hybrid air cleaners: These are a combination of a media type and electronic air cleaner. They are probably the most effective air cleaner you can have, short of a HEPA whole-house unit. Visit Bryant’s website for information on their unit: Bryant Purifier.
HEPA air cleaners: These air cleaners are the very top of the line air cleaner. They generally are a stand alone unit tied into your house ductwork. They are 99.9% effective in removing airborne particles. They are more costly than the other units listed above, and while they are fairly simple (a large bank of highly effective filters), they are also more costly to maintain. Visit Westinghouse’s website for more information on their HEPA unit: Westinghouse HEPA.
For more information on indoor air quality and filtration you can go to the EPA website: EPA.gov and to the INDA website for a good explanation of the various rating systems used with media type filters: INDA.org