Best Air Filter Buying Guide

24 Jun.,2024

 

Best Air Filter Buying Guide

Running your furnace, central air, or heat pump probably constitutes a big part of your utility bill. But it&#;s a small, often inexpensive part&#;the air filter&#;that keeps these heating and cooling systems humming along. And it also plays a role in maintaining good air quality inside your home.

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For these reasons&#;and because every forced-air heating and cooling system uses at least one filter&#;it&#;s important to know how and when to replace it. 

Some background: Forced-air heating, ventilating, and cooling (HVAC) systems work on a loop. They &#;inhale&#; through return vents in your living space, pulling air through ductwork and across your heating or cooling source (either a furnace&#;s burners, or an AC or heat pump&#;s coil). Then they &#;exhale&#; through supply ducts and vents, delivering warm or cool air to your living space. Inevitably, some of the hair, dust, and other debris in your home gets sucked into that loop as air circulates around your house.

It&#;s an HVAC air filter&#;s job to catch that debris. In doing so, it first and foremost protects your heating and cooling equipment from damage. As a bonus, it can improve your indoor air quality. In fact, manufacturers claim many of today&#;s filters can capture allergens, microbes, and other particles while they&#;re doing their primary job of keeping your system gunk-free. And with the prevalence of wildfire smoke, air filters are even more important. (Here are the best filters for dealing with smoke-filled air, according to CR&#;s ratings.)

There are a range of HVAC filter designs: The basic models are made from strands of fiberglass (for disposable filters) or metal mesh (for reusable filters), and can stop big debris. Higher-end filters are made from material more like a surgical mask&#;s, arranged into pleats, and at their best, they can capture particles as tiny as bacteria, and sometimes even viruses before they can recirculate. 

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You should expect to replace your filter every three to 12 months of use, depending on the size of the filter. For 1-inch-thick filters, three months is the usual recommendation. For 4-inch and thicker filters, 12 months is common.

You might need to replace the filter more frequently if you have a few very furry pets, for example, or you live in an area with a lot of air pollution, such as from wildfires. When HVAC filters get dirty and clogged with debris, air can&#;t flow freely through your ducts, which makes your home less comfortable and can eventually break your HVAC equipment. 

The good news is that fresh HVAC filters can be budget-friendly and are usually simple to replace. 

In this guide, we&#;ll help you figure out which filter size your HVAC system needs, how to pick the right amount of filtration, and how to swap in a filter on your own&#;usually with no tools required.

CR members can also see our comprehensive air filter ratings for HVAC filters, based on extensive lab testing. We have ratings for almost 70 models across a range of thicknesses, prices, and performance ratings. Many filters that we review are available in multiple width and height configurations, so our recommendations should cover almost any kind of forced-air system.

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