Good furnace filters don't fit, and cheap ones are hard to find; Amazon plays tricks

[micky]

Good furnace filters don't fit, and cheap ones are hard to find;

Prosperity can be a problem.

It's hard to find the cheap furnace filters I used for a long time. I blame prosperity. All Home Depot and almost all Amazon has are nicer, with FPR ratings and a cardboard frame with wire reinforcing of the pleats, and they are just a little thicker than what I've been using and they won't fit in the furnace filter slot. (Mine has some small deformation or obstruction, but it was never a problem with cheap ones.) Amazon also has a barebones blue filter for $12 with no frame at all that might be too pliable to shove 24" down the slot, but so far I have no choice. I have to buy one.

Ah, Lowes, 3-pack for $12. Even though they are pleated and have a cardboard frame, they are so cheap they might fit.

filters don't seem to get dirty anyhow.

Meanwhile, Amazon is again playing games. If I need an O2 sensor for my Toyota, they have two by the same brand, Denso, which I think is made by Toyota, that are $52.25 and 52.57 respectively, 32 cents differencee, but this one they claim is marked down 61% from 164.49. What a deal.

this one is the regular price somehow they are the same price minus 32 cents.

Both are sold and shipped by Amazon.

[0scar]

You should get an N-95 filter just in case there's a Fauci-1984 virus floating around your house. ;-)

[hubops]

Look for and clear the obstruction ! That would allow you to use the decent filters. I'd guess a screw or sheet metal lip or something else that is fairly easy to resolve. Even a slight wow in the filter slot could be carefully straightened. From experience - a poor filter will eventually - over the years

- shorten the life & efficiency of the furnace - by allowing dust to pass and build up in the heat exchanger. Then - all the pennies that you saved on filters end-up costing you 5 grand for a new furnace. I look for the good quality filters at the Habitat Re-Store < eg 3M > and stock-up with a ~ 2 year supply. John T.

[Cindy Hamilton]

You're fixing the wrong problem. Fix the slot so you can use standard filters.

This stuff?

That's supposed to be used with a separate frame:

We use the polyester media as a pre-filter for the big HEPA filter.

[Retirednoguilt]

I been buying humidifier filters from FiltersFast.com for years and been very satisfied with their products and prices. (I'm just a customer and have no financial interest in the company.)

[invalid unparseable]

micky needs fixing upstairs.

[micky]

Can't do it. It runs maybe the whole width of the intake duct. Something is a little crushed, from when they first installed it. Didn't matter, probably wasn't even noticed at the time, 44 years ago when filters were cheaper and 1/16" thinner.

Plus it's floor level with only 18" between the furnace and the dresser that holds up the work bench.

I need a new furnace anyhow. This one is 44 years old. I have to make room in the basement for them to have room to work.

[micky]

As I said to John, can't do it.

That's it. They also have them pre-cut to my size.

Aha, so I was right, they're not meant to be pushed in 24 inches without folding or buckling. An aluminum frame would be even more resistant to squeezign past the obstruction.

Even the ones I always used had a cardboard frame. Even though it was label "x1", it was 1/16 to 1/8" thinner than the ones I just bought. Next time I'm near Lowes I will look at these and hope they fit.

[micky]

Their questions were helpful:

Filtrete is who makes the cheap ones at Lowes. But maybe their cheap ones aren't electrostatically charged . Right. One of their pictures shows they capture only lint and household dust. Their more expensive one also lists dust mite debris, mold spores, polllen, pet dander, smoke, smog particles.

I don't have a pet, and no one here smokes, and Baltimore doesn't have smog, I probably do have mold but I don't think it bothers me. (I'll mention it to my doctor.) I mite have dust mites.

OTOH, the cheap ones look the same, as big, as the better ones. They may not fit either. I'm glad I didnt't hrough away the old one that does fit. I will take it to the store with me.

Good to know.

I'm in favor of that, but as to air quality, I leave my windows open 6 months of the year anyhow. Plus I don't have allergies. So I don't think I nead or could get air quality imporovement.

I hope the ones from Lowes are thin enough.

Thanks everyone.

[trader_4]

When you get a new furnace get either a 5" wide filter housing added or an electronic filter. The ones included on the furnace aren't worth spit.

[micky]

BTW Grainger is a good idea. It is my next step after Lowes. It has MERV 7 quality filters for $7.

"MERV 7 general-purpose air filters capture particles in the 3 to

10-micron range such as dusting aids and cement dust. They are commonly used as pre-filters for higher-rated filters or as the final filter in a low-dust environment"

Mininimum order of 12 if you have them shipped, but I can go there.

I decided to go to Lowes ASAP.

I looked at the remains of the cheap one that fits, and it's the very same thickness at the edge as the new good one that doesn't fit**, 7/8" I think. **I ruined one. But while the edge of the good one is shaped like __ |_ the cheap one is shaped like

__ |/ more or less. It tapers in like a soup bowl right from the edge, and that's got to be why it fits. Even it wasn't that easy to get in either. I had to jiggle it past some obsctrucion.

But the new Filtrete Basic ones seem just like the old cheap ones.

IOW, SUCCESS!!!!

3 for $12.

BTW, Lowes seemed to have more things than Home Depot. Maybe this wwas a bigger than average Lowes store. It seemed bigger than the HDepot near me, and the two Lowes nearest to me didn't ever stock these cheap ones.