According to environmental protection agency, your home is on average has two to five times the contaminants than concentrations typically found outdoors, so it’s critical that you have a good air filter. Good air filter keeps your living space clear of contaminants which can relieve your allergies and reduce airborne illnesses, lengthen HVAC lifespan by filtering out pollutants, make it easier to housekeep due to less dust, and better control temperature which saves cost.
Good air filter should remove all necessary contaminants, freely allow air flows at any fan speed, and be cost effective. How effective they are at removing contaminants is based on numerous systems like MERV, MPR, and FPR. MERV or minimum efficiency reporting value is the most known scale and was developed by American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). 3M and Home Depot have developed their own classification systems called MPR (microparticle performance rating) and FPR (filter performance rating), respectively.
MERV rating basically measures how effectively the filter stops contaminants from passing through the filter and into the air. Higher MERV ratings tend to be better since it stops more smaller particles more effectively than filters with lower MERV ratings. MERV 16 or below are used for residential and commercial use while MERV 17-20 are used in surgical operating rooms. If you try to use a filter with MERV rating higher than what your furnace or air conditioner manufacturer recommends, you will run into performance issues, so make sure you stick to what your HVAC system can handle. MERV 9 to 12 are more than enough for most homes and are even used in hospital laboratories. MERV 13 to 16 are used in general surgery and inpatient care rooms. MERV 17 to 20 are for radioactive materials, pharmaceutical manufacturing companies, and carcinogenic materials and are truly unnecessary for homes.
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