A clogged filter can cause serious complications for your heating and cooling system as the system will be required to work harder to circulate the air, and the air quality will drop. Each system requires a unique size of air filter. There are a wide variety of width, height, and depth options.
This information will be printed on your existing air filter. Be sure to know what you need before purchasing heading to your home improvement store. Your future self will thank you! Heating and cooling systems require more than a simple DIY treatment. When you sign up for our Peace of Mind service plan, you will get a thorough inspection of your heating and cooling system from one of our certified technicians twice a year.
Each plan comes with discounts on parts, labor, and other services. Sign up the Peace of Mind plan today! We rarely think about the fact that we are destroying germs including viruses when we microwave our food hot enough and long enough. I understand they come more diluted, but still….
If I am not mistaken, Merv If I am not mistaken, Merv and higher do not usually contain the fiberglass components. The early research on rats and fiberglass that led to fiberglass being considered a carcinogen has not been substantiated and fiberglass used as a building material is not on the list of possible carcinogens anymore.
See links below. This is the only place on the This is the only place on the internet that I could find a solid answer that these filters do not have fiberglass, and are made of polyester and cotton instead of just paper, so thank you. Also, thank you for confirming that fiberglass is not carcinogenic. Obviously all the big time stuff is occupied or yet to be made.
But MERV 13 filtration looks like a great solution. If it is polyester and cotton, it ought to be able to be sewn into a mask and washed just like any other fabric. I doubt that these household air filters are designed to be washed, as they are framed in paper for starters and designed to be disposable. But a solid cycle through a washing machine while cradled between pleated cotton that will be just the ticket. I am super stoked. Additionally, even though these are pricey filters, due to their excessive pleating you get double the material than the external dimensions than the actual filter!
You are not only super smart, but also super rad! I will be looking out for more of your articles. I had a stiff poly tightly woven fusible and nonfusible innerfacing that I have been making mask molds out of. Can you send pix of your mask Can you send pix of your mask and the pattern?
Janet, I love your idea! Have Janet, I love your idea! Have you received feedback from HCP who have worn them for several hours per day? It might still be effective less layers.
Adding a bendable, form fitting nose piece helps. The Olsen mask version prototype developed by UnityHealth attempts to create that seal. I, too, thinking of how to I, too, thinking of how to construct a decent mask. Here it is:. The Only reason for you to be wearing a mask is to prevent the spread of the virus. The mask is not being worn to prevent you from acquiring the virus. You may be asymptomatic and spreading it. This is how we stop the virus. The Covid diameter is around 0.
Filters, including the N95, pass particles the size of the virus, however, because the virus exists in a droplet, it is larger, and the var der Waals force attracts it to the filter media. It gets attached and the droplet evaporates, leaving a dead virus. Job done. I can have million in 8 weeks with an executive order.
I may try washing some of the material first, or simply cut it into small rectangles to use as disposable filters but I think they could be hand washed and sanitized with a hot dry iron for reuse. From what I understand, the filters, like N95 masks, have been electronically charged. Laundering them would render them useless. The filters and masks can be sanitized, from what I read somewhere, in a low temperature oven — followingvery specific guidelines.
If I can find the article I will return and post it here. Still not a good idea to put them in a microwave nor washing machine. Evidence that an alcohol soak or UV-C exposure does the trick, though. Many of these non-woven mesh Many of these non-woven mesh product loose their structure when washed with soap and water or submerged into alcohol.
Without being able to test it, I would not assume you can wash it. I just took one apart and it feels and looks as stated. Would be nice for an answer from company. I called the manufacturer of I called the manufacturer of the MERV 12s I have and am using , and the company confirmed that ther was no fiberglass in my filters. I guess I should wash one now to test how well it will stand up to laundering with the filter sewn in instead of slipped in.
Did you wash a mask with the Did you wash a mask with the filter? Let us know your results. You seem to know a bit about the filters, would you happen to know how much more protection it could afford if I were to add a second layer, to the mask, how about 4 layers? No high merv filters are made No high merv filters are made of fiberglass. The agent with whom I chatted said that none of their furnace filters contain any fiberglass.
No need to buy filters. You No need to buy filters. Also, Try a free sample of their material from Airfiltersdelivered. Is it toxic? Polyolefin plastics and fibers keep our carpeting clean and transport moisture away from the body to keep our active wear dry. They protect sterile environments and soak up industrial spills. Rather, I plan to slip the insulation out of the mask, wash and dry the mask, and then add fresh insulation.
Dlite, just a little clarification on the terminology and dimensions of the novel coronavirus. The size of the virus itself varies from 50 to nanometers, or 0. So the number you gave is in the middle of that range. But the virus is rarely found by itself. Aerosols are the small ones, generally from 1 to 10 microns, and can keep the virus intact and infectious floating around in the air for up to three hours.
The larger droplets that we expel by breathing, coughing, or sneezing, are mostly 10 to microns. They can harbor a lot of virus but spend little time in the air. My background is in aerosol My background is in aerosol fine suspended particles like air pollution science and hence also filtration.
Smaller particles, less than roughly 0. These effects result in a trade off between collection efficiency and higher pressure drop and filter thickness. Study on cleaning masks. Considering electrostatic change performance and washing. Has that been answered? Very helpful! Thank you for Very helpful! Thank you for doing the research Sonja and providing links. I also use pieces cut from 3M I also use pieces cut from 3M Filtrete. Masks should be changed often, at least daily, so I have several and launder mask, then soak the filter in alcohol, then lay filter flat on clean surface to dry.
Alcohol disinfects very well if strong enough, and if allowed to dry by itself on the surface, or in this case, soaked into the filter fabric. Also acceptable for home-made hand sanitizer. There remains too much focus There remains too much focus on N95 disposable masks. The elastomeric facepiece with P cartridges or PAPR should be being used by any front line worker who does not need to communicate clearly to strangers.
My personal mask for casual interactions- grocery store… Is two layers of cotton with one of cotton flannel inside. When working the PAPR is my friend! We can do better when we use what we know. Where are the Industrial Hygienist in this conversation? Pat, fiberglass would not be Pat, fiberglass would not be my first choice but using a filter, in general, is a good idea. I am simply trying to find I am simply trying to find out if the material my relative used in the mask has fiberglass in it?
Thanks for input. Yes they are safe and Yes they are safe and rewashable. The best you can get for a custom made face mask for protection from cover. In this week's blog, we have the answers to all of these questions and so much more.
Don't be MERVous. After you finish reading, we guarantee you'll know what you need to know to make an informed decision. MERV, otherwise known as Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value, is a system used to evaluate the efficiency of an air filter based on how effective it is at catching particles of varying sizes.
Basically, the higher the MERV rating, the higher the air filtration capabilities of a particular filter. Well, MERV ratings range from 1 to 20, with 1 being the lowest level of filtration, and 20 being the highest.
Filters that are MERV 16 through 20 are usually only found in hospitals, cleanrooms, and nuclear power plants. The home air filters you're looking for are rated anywhere between MERV 5 and We don't even talk about those. MERV ratings are determined by a filter's effectiveness at filtering particles of different sizes. Specifically, we're talking about 12 differently sized particles from 0. These 12 particles are then divided up into three different size ranges E1, E2, and E3 , and four subranges that exist within each range.
The first range, E1, includes particles sized 0. E2 includes particles sized 1. The next step? Each filter will go through six tests per particle size 72 tests total to determine its MERV rating. In each test, the total number of particles in the test will be counted before being sprayed through the filter, and then counted again after. The end count compared to the total amount of particles is then converted into a percentage representing how many particles were successfully filtered out of the air.
The worst percentage out of the six tests is selected as the official measurement used to determine a filter's MERV rating. That's where the minimum in MERV comes from. If we didn't use the worst score, it would just be called ERV, which is nowhere near as cool of a name. In simple terms, pressure drop is basically air resistance. Your air filter is a literal barrier between your HVAC system and your vents, and that slows the ability of air to get pulled through your vents to your actual system.
Pressure drop varies based on the filter. Leaving a dirty air filter in place or using a filter that is too restrictive may result in low air flow and possibly cause the system to malfunction. The filter will trap Average Particle Size Efficiency. Types of things these filters will trap. MERV 1. Pollen, dust mites, standing dust, spray paint dust, carpet fibers.
MERV 2. MERV 3. MERV 4.
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