its like changing your oil
it's more important that you check it and change it when needed compared to worrying about what exact brand or type you use...
if you check your filter often and change when needed, almost anything will work fine m
With 3 dogs it could be lots of dog hair. If this is the case it would probably be beter if you switched to a less expensive filter and changed it once a month.
I guess that if Florida you run the unit most of the year. I am in the middle of NC and have a heat pump so it runs much of the year. No animals in the house and the 1 inch filter changed every two months seems to filter it out very well. Not too dirty and the coils were cleaned after several years by an AC repair man. He said they did not really need it, but was part of the service.
replying to Ralph Mowery, Allie wrote: Thanks Ralph. Talked a specialist/ac company she said same thing. She said there's no reason to have such a big honking filter..more money for these filter companies. That I could tape a 1" filter to the unit/handler where air draws it,,change every month. Plus, my unit must be freezing up from the dirty filter causing water leaking in house. Yes, drain outside is free.it has to be that filter.
The pleated paper filter is far more effective in taking out small particles. I ended up with both. My air handler is in a closet with a louvered door. I used "cut to fit" media on the door to stop the big stuff and a "space guard" on the intake for the rest of it. I can take the door media out in the yard and wash it with a hose and it seems to stop most of the stuff. The paper filters last at least a year. I have a gauge on the air handler that tells me when it is degraded.
I live in a dusty climate and when using the standard cheap filters the dust would go through them and collect on the cold wet coils (inside the unit). Eventually the dust would wash down and clog the pan's drain exit hole (still inside the unit) while the drain pipe itself appeared clear. This resulted in the pan overflowing and leaking into the garage and house. I solved the problem by using an allergenic filter. I get them at Target for $12.95. (My filter is 20x30x1 and I generally get 3 months which is what's recommended on the filter.)
That's what some people apparently don't realize. There are filter specs on what particle size they will filter out. The 5" filters will remove smaller particles from the air. The downside is that if you have dirty air, they will need replacing sooner. Sure, you can replace them with a cheap
2" or even 1" filter, but then you won't get the same filtration. It's up to everyone what they want, less frequent filter changes or clean air. They just need to check the specs. I bet the cheap filters don't even have specs. Those 1" fiberglass ones never trapped much of anything, as far as I can tell.replying to makolber, Allie wrote: Thank you, I agree. I'm changing a $40 filter every 4 weeks. I can just as easy change a 1" one in a month. I found a " air sponge " filter I like. With an aluminum frame. Filter factory.com. going to try it. Can return if doesn't work.
replying to Arthur Conan Doyle, Allie wrote: Found a merv 8, air sponge filter going to try. Has to be better than these 5" expensive things. Its not normal that it should freeze up unit cause filter is dirty. Only after a month.
replying to trader_4, Allie wrote: An ac company that has many years experience. Check out their site. Filter factory.com
There are usually tow common reasons for the unit to freeze. Low air flow and low refrigerant (Freon to most people). While it seems backwards, when your unit runs low on refrigerant the coils actually get colder and if cold enough the water that condenses on the coils will freeze up and restrict the air flow even more.
Look for ice on the coils and see if there is any. If not and just water, you have some kind of drain problem. The aircondition unit acts like a big dehumidifier if working and sized correctly and lowers the humidity in the house so you feel more comfortable.
replying to gfretwell, Allie wrote: I had two filters also, at the outside grate and the 5" filter. Ac man said not to have the grate one. Will effect the air flow. I also looked into the "media" filters. I may get those. I also like the air sponge ones that fit in a metal frame.
replying to Ralph Mowery, Allie wrote: I think in my case it's the low air flow, again, that dirty filter. I don't mind changing it every month of Theyre not $40 each.
replying to trader_4, Allie wrote: Trouble is, this is a brand new unit. I never had to replace filters that were this dirty after one month. The old unit never froze up or leaked due to bad filter. I'll try med prices $10 to $15 filters..not the $1 ones..
The media I have on the louver door is over 12 square feet. That is not doing much to the air flow. It does catch a lot of stuff that is not making it to the pleated filter, it also keeps the closet a whole lot cleaner.
I buy my space guard filters on line (generic) and they are about $16
Put a crap filter, like those cheap 1" fiberglass ones, in a dirty air stream, with particles from large down to smoke size. Take a Merv 14 and put it into the same dirty air stream. The MERV will dirty up quickly, the fiberglass crap one could last orders of magnitude longer, because it's not catching much. And a decent MERV 14 filter will have the deep pleats so that it can take more dirt, while still maintaining a low pressure delta.
I want to switch to a 4 or 5" system so that I can maintain a higher flow volume getting through the system.
replying to Allie, Ivan Z wrote:
replying to chuckk, johnny wrote: I have the same thing - a 20x25x5 slot, but those filters are very expensive. I found a better deal on filters 20x25x4 (1 inch smaller). I plan on just using these. When the furnace/airconditioner starts up, I expect it will just suck it into place (since there is 1 inch of "play"). Alternatively I might build a small 1 inch shim to stick in there. The different websites make it sound like rocket science, but I bet this will work just fine
replying to scott21230, johnny wrote: I think that is a perfectly good idea. On the other and you may not even need it. When the system kicks on, the air pressure will just suck it into place. I wouldn't worry about it.
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