Picking the Right Air Filter for Your HVAC System

Industry focus on optimising indoor air quality has steered manufacturers towards innovations in panel filter design for HVAC systems – from advances in minimising loss in air pressure to requiring less electricity for operation; it is clear how pivotal it can be to tailor your air filtration system to your specific needs.

Thanks to modern advancements in filter design, the modifications implemented over the past decade have significantly improved the quality of indoor air and cost-efficiency of running air filtration systems for both industrial and commercial environments.

The proficiency of an air filter is determined predominantly from its MERV rating (as discussed in our previous blog) – the ability of the filter to capture varying sizes of particulates in the air that can frequently cause undesirable symptoms to occur, from which a rating can be classified so that the effectiveness of the air filter can be measured objectively.

Depending on your requirements, several air filters exist for different purposes in HVAC systems. Some of the more common types are outlined below:

Fiberglass Air Filter – designed so in that the fiberglass fibers are layered atop one another. In order to ensure this layered material is provided enough structural rigidity, a metal grating is fixed alongside for support. Fiberglass air filters are one of the most commonly implemented air filter due to it being a disposable panel filter, hence being oft dubbed the “throwaway” filter,

Pleated Air Filter – manufactured using a material, often polyester or cotton, which has been pleated in order to provide a significant increase in filterable surface area. The pleated air filter provides improved results in both energy efficiency and dust holding capacity.

Cleanable Air Filter – utilised in specific industrial applications that typically call for being in an environment involving large volumes of dust. This specialised use-case makes it one of the less common filter types, but not less appreciated.

HEPA Air Filter – HEPA, short for high-efficiency particulate arrestance, is comprised of several thousand, micrometer sized fibers arranged into a mat. Typically employed when a disposable panel filter is not providing an adequate enough arrestance of particulates; HEPA filters can trap almost 100% of particles ≥ 0.3 microns.

Picking the Right Filter for the Job