Seeking Opinions on air return filters and air vent filters

[No Way]

I see many of these being sold at Home Depot and other home improvement centers and was wondering whether using these filters would put too much stress or strain on the air circulation fan, the furnace and the central A/C system at all? I'm talking about the vents only inside the house and not the ones outside.

I'm thinking that these systems are designed with being able to perform without any obstructions in the vents and while these filters are supposed to let sufficient air through, if I place them in very vent in my house, perhaps that might impose too much strain on the circulation fan, the furnace and the central A/C?

Thoughts? Thanks for your time and courtesy.

[Art]

Just put a filtrete filter in your return.

[Joe]

You can't suspend the laws of physics. Every impediment to the the air flow slows it down and imbalances the system. Your AC or heat may be fine with a slower air flow, but you will also come up aganst the law of diminishing returns as regards efficiency, longevity and operating cost. If there is no obvious need for change, let it ride. HTH

Joe

[Edwin Pawlowski]

Given the velocity of the return compared to the feed, I doubt you'd catch much at all. If the regular filters are doing their job, return filters are not needed. An filter will offer some restriction. I'd not do it.

[<kjpro]

Fastest way to kill a system!!

[geothermaljones]

As long as you replace/clean them monthly,they shouldn&#39;t add too much static to the system... If you have a decent pleated filter in the return, they&#39;re probably a waste of money. Go out & buy a case of decent filters & swap in a new one every time the utility bill shows up. Filtrete has the brand name & the price too. I pick up a case of near identical Z-pleats at the wholesale house & the cost under 3 Bucks per... I had a guy tell me to spray the filter with Pledge furniture polish for better filtration, but I&#39;m not sold on that idea.

goodluck geothermaljones st.paul,mn.

[<kjpro]

Problem is, most return ducting won&#39;t allow a customer to drop in a pleated filter and still have the required CFM&#39;s for the system to operate efficiently and without shortening the life of the equipment.

[BillGill]

I&#39;m afraid I don&#39;t understand the problem here. Most filters are in the return air plenum. Most modern systems are designed for pleated filters. So why would there be a problem with putting pleated filters in the return?

With my old system I kept on using the old fashioned (and cheap) fiberglass filters, but it was designed for them and I didn&#39;t want to take a chance on messing up the system.

Bill Gill

[Art]

I have 3 systems in my house. All have best Filtrete filter. All are nine years old without any repairs. My parents townhome is 4 years old system. Use filtrete filters..... no problems either.

[Noon-Air]

KJ forgot to add the caveat of the systems RA and filter area being sized correctly for the higher airflow restriction of the Filtrete "Ultra-Allergen" filters.

[Noon-Air]

The problem is the "lowest bidder" and not having the ductwork re-designed for the new high-efficienty systems and the higher effency(more restriction in the air flow) filters.

[Zephyr]

Currently;

If you read the equipment engineering data, you&#39;ll be surprised to find the maximum ESP you can have in a HVAC system [including the cooling coil] is

1/2" [0.5"] w.c. Not much left over if you use a pleated filter. Check the spec.&#39;s. A standard [dirty] 1" filter is 0.3". The cooling coil [wet] is 0.25"w.c. to 0.29"w.c. Sometimes to get the correct air with a pleated filter usually requires stepping up the air handler size one size larger [if possible.]

[No Way]

On Wed, 6 Jun 2007 17:11:55 -0700, "Zephyr" wrote:

>

[Noon-Air]

Just use the correct size of return and filter. Check the IMC... The code book requirements specifications come out to just a little less than 1 square foot per 12,000btu for A/C (works for heat pumps too). I use 1 sqft per ton as a minimum. FWIW, I will go for a lot better IAQ with the pleated filters and never have to clean the evap or blower, instead of using the cheap blue fiberglass filters that don&#39;t catch anything but large rocks and small critters.

[Cindy Hamilton]

They don&#39;t always even do that. We had a mouse make its way through the return, chew a hole in the cheap blue fiberglass (or maybe pull it aside), and crawl through.

He ended up in the blower and was stretched around the squirrel cage when my husband found him. He&#39;s got the pictures, but they are too intense for some viewers.

Cindy Hamilton

[Zephyr]

Nooney;

Have you ever hood tested the return on your systems using the 1 square foot per ton theory?

[Noon-Air]

Nope, but after I read the code books, I did stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night

[Stormin Mormon]

The one time I pulled a cat out of the furnace, the blue filter didn&#39;t stop a cat. Five months old, I think it was. Got in through a hole in the return air. I remember the look on the cat&#39;s face when I shined my mini mag in on it. "Well, do something!"