Consider Furnace Air Flow When Choosing an Air Filter

There are all kinds of things you need to think about when you're choosing an air filter for your heating system here in Oklahoma City. We'll be covering many of them in future blog posts, but we'd like to start by explaining the basics behind the effectiveness and efficiency of different types of filters.

There are two main things you need to consider when you're choosing an air filter: the amount of particles it removes from the air and how resistant it is to furnace air flow.

Air filters and particle control

The main purpose of an air filter is to block dust, dirt and other particles from entering your furnace and being distributed into your home's air.

Without a filter, all of those particles would gather in your furnace and cause it to run less efficiently. This would lead to higher energy bills and damage to your unit. Those particles would also be distributed into your home's air, which will aggravate allergies and can make people sick by breathing in contaminated air.

Some filters, such as pleated filters, are more efficient at collecting particles than others because they have smaller holes in them, which makes it harder for particles to pass through the filter.

In theory, the best air filter for collecting particles would be a piece of plywood, because there is no chance that particles of any size could flow through a piece of wood. But there's a problem with that, because there's no chance any air could pass through the wood either, so your unit would have no air flow.

Air filters and furnace air flow

For better air flow, then, it's best to turn to a filter that has larger holes in it that allow air to pass through, such as a standard store-bought filter.

In theory, the best air filter for air flow would be something like chicken wire where as much air as possible could flow through your unit. But there's a problem with that, too. Even though this allows for great air flow, it can’t collect any particles.

Meeting somewhere in the middle

The best thing to do, then, is to choose a filter that has a happy medium between good particle collection and better air flow. You want your filter to capture those contaminated particles and keep your air clean, but you also want to let air flow through so that your unit doesn't have to work as hard and you can keep your energy bills down.

If you'd like help choosing the best filter for your home, contact Comfort Incorporated, your Oklahoma City heating and air conditioning company.