Forced Air/Return air filters Advice please...

[The Henchman]

I have a 120 000 btu mid effcient furnance, mid 90s. Also a central air tied into this as well.

The original return air filter box is an old electro-air electronic filter that no longer works. The electric contacts are burnt out on the housing and the cartigages. I'm debating about having to replace this with a new electric filter or a paper type filter using those 4" wide filters. Right now I cannot adapt any current paper filters into this old housing because it's 3/8" shorter than modern housings and the filter get crushed or distorted when inserted.

The one main criteria is I have two big dogs in the house.

Anyone got any advice? Thankee.

[Jim Elbrecht]

I have used these for [20?] years and have been real happy with them. I replaced the furnace a couple years ago so I had to buy new ones to fit- but there was another 20 years in the old set. I like to have

2 so I can just swap one out and wash & dry the dirty one at my leisure.

They are about $70 each-- but do a better job than any paper filter I've ever seen- and they last forever. . . really.

Jim

[trader4]

If you can't find filters that will fit then it would seem you're going to have to swap out the whole electronic air cleaner assembly. That could be easy or a PIA. It all depends on if you can find one with the correct dimensions to mate back up with the furnace and duct. If you can, it's simple to do.

Remaining choice is whether to go with another electrostatic one or with a media type. Either are available online. The media ones can be had for $150-200. Electrostatic are about 3X that. Also factor in that the media filters are not cheap, they go for about $35-45 or so. Also, with the media type, you need to decide what MERV rating you want. While it's tempting to go with the highest MERV, look at the airflow specs. The higher MERV will offer more resistance, all other things being equal. Depending on the current flow and blower, you don't want to offer too much backpressure or you could burn out the blower

I recently went with the media type. But then I don't have the dogs and only need to replace hopefully once a year. But I may need to replace more often. I previousy just had the cheap 1" type and they did not get dirty very fast. However the media trap more, so waiting to see.

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, In my case I had the EAC power supply fixed and had to get one element. One was still good.You can try