How to choose the proper Air Filter for controlling dust in your home?
As for the people who have allergies, respiratory problems, or asthma, dust is the most serious issue. You can find dust everywhere, and it is the long-term problem, in another word, it’s a problem that is ongoing, and should be dealt with in your daily life.
You have to know what is the root reason that causes the dust in your houses in order to find the most suitable measures to figure out the problems effectively so that you can figure out the correct way to figure out specific dust generators.
The root reason of dust in your home
There exist reasons why you can find dust mites everywhere, it comes from different kinds of reasons. According to the survey, 60% of the dust in your house comes from outside, but 40% of the dust comes from indoors.
People- Dead skin cells is the common reason of dust.
Fibrous Materials -Fibers in carpeting, household and clothes generate dust.
Pets- Pets Shed skin and release dust just like their human companies
Dust mites-Dust mites also release dust by shedding.
The outdoor reasons of dust in your home
Plants-The plants in your home can prevent pollen and dust
Soil-Airborne particles from the air can flow into you house and cause dust.
Animals-The outside animals can release dust.
The effects of the local environment and climate will lead to dust
Some airborne particles are caused by the local climate, the soil particles will become airborne if the environmental condition is too dry, and some regions seem to be more severe, they have much more dust than others. The areas that are suffering from the dry environmental conditions may lead to some airborne particles.
The best air filter for a dust allergy
It will trouble you all the time if you are allergic to dust, and it makes your home uncomfortable, choose the most suitable HVAC air filter that can control the amount of dust in your house.
Most of us won’t pay much more attention to the home air filters, they just use the similar things when they want to change air filters, however, it is necessary for you to choose an air filter with high efficiency if you want to clean up the airborne particles in your home, it can capture particles with different sizes. As a result, the best air filter you selected has a higher MERV rating than the air filters you used before.
The relationship between MERV rating and dust mites
The MERV rating shows the working efficiency of your air filter remove particles. The MERV rating range from 1-20. The higher the MERV rating, the smaller particles it can trap, and the higher the MERV rating air filters can trap larger particles at the same time.
So you may think the air filters with a MERV rating of 20 are the most suitable choice, but it is not always suggested, first of all, it is expensive for us to choose air filters with a MERV rating of 17-20. Normally they are applied to the commercial HVAC systems, such as surgical centers, pharmaceutical plants, and clean rooms. It will damage your HVAC system if the MERV rating is too high because it will lead to the issue of airflow.
The more pleated and thicker the air filter is, the higher the air filter and the more severe the airflow will be restricted. As a result, your HVAC system has to work harder which leads to high energy consumption and early wear of the system.
The air filter with MERV rating 13 is the
most suitable choice for home
As for the air filter with MERV 13, which can achieve the balance of air purification, airflow, and price. What’s more, air filters can trap 98% of particles as small as 0.3 microns. Not only it can trap small particles, but also can clean up smoke in the air.
However, air filters with MERV 13 also can let good air pass through the HVAC system, so it can’t affect the comfort and the equipment of the HVAC. What’s more, air filters with MERV 13 have a longer lifespan, you can use them at least 3 months before you need to replace them.
You can low down the MERV rating when your system can’t control the air filter with MERV 13, at that time, you also can control the amount of dust, which is the duty of the air filter with a MERV rating of 8 or higher. You can also offer air purifiers for several rooms in order to improve the efficiency of filtration.
The room air filter for removing dust
Unluckily, it is hard to remove all the particles in the room just by purifying the air. There is much of dust on the surface, dust can flow into the surface, and enter each crevice, even it can pass through the air filter.
However, what should you do if you have an allergy or asthma, and you want to remove dust as much as possible. If you want to take the additional purification in a specific room, it is better for you to use independent air purifier equipment.
There are different kinds of air purifiers that are provided for you to choose from, but the best air filter is the HEPA air filter, it is different from the high efficient HEPA air filter, it works effectively in the independent air purifier.
HEPA air filter can 99.97% of particles in the air, which is the same as MERV 13 air filters, it can capture particles as small as 0.3 microns. But there exist HEPA air filters and HEPA type air filters, but the type of HEPA air filter will be less efficient.
The coverage is another important reason outside the true air filter. It is known that portable air purifiers have large coverage, you can calculate it by square feet, the coverage of most air purifiers ranges from 200-1500 square feet.
Except for these two factors, there are much more functions that you can distinguish between different kinds of air purifiers. Some functions are related to aesthetics, such as customized lighting, but other function, like timer, it is practical. All the functions are related to personal interest as long as the air purifier has a HEPA filter.
