Central Air Conditioning Filter

You can select the type of central air conditioning filter you use based on several factors.

One factor is the initial efficiency rating of your filters.

This is the 'out of the box' efficiency of the filters, and determines what types of pollutants it will filter.

You may need to have the building air quality analyzed to determine the initial efficiency rating you need in your filters.

Another factor is the sustained efficiency rating of the central air conditioning filter.

This is how efficient it stays during its service life.

Another factor to consider is the pressure drop across the filter at the beginning of its service life.

And then there's the purchase price of the filter.

I'm not going to try to talk anybody out of buying the lowest price filter that will fit in the filter rack.

But if you're buying quality filters with a serious intent to maintain high indoor air quality, find out what the initial pressure drop is of the filters you're using, and compare it with other modern filters on the market.

A lower initial pressure drop means less resistance to air flow, which will reduce the energy consumption of the blower motors, which will cut your power bill.

According to the National Air Filtration Association, energy consumption is 81% of the lifetime costs of a filter system, so you might want to comparison shop and try some modern electrostatically charged filters for a couple of months to see if they reduce your power bill.

You could put a watt meter on the blower motor of an air handler equipped with the type of central air conditioning filter you're using now, and then change the filters and see if your power consumption stays consistently lower.

Do a careful calculation of the savings in power consumption.

My understanding is that it is significant, and more than offsets the higher price of the higher quality filters.

Some tips to keep your central air conditioning filter system efficient:

Use filters that are the right size, and fit the filter rack.

Don't use torn filters or filter media.

Install filters correctly oriented for air flow.

Be very careful to prevent any air from by-passing the filters.

Don't only rely on the appearance of the filters, or elapsed time, to change the filters.

Change them when the pressure drop reaches the filter's recommended final pressure drop.

I hope this page has helped, and please, feel free to contact us with any specific HVAC questions you might have, including questions about air conditioning on Guam, or refrigeration on Guam.

Are you learning the HVAC Trade "on the job"? If you would be interested in the possibility of studying at home to develop your potential to become the finest HVAC Technician you possibly can; we highly recommend that you contact Penn Foster Career School and request the free, no-obligation information brochure about their complete, accredited HVAC Technician course. It won't take even 5 minutes, and might change your whole future. You'll find a brief review of the course on our HVAC Training page.