Installing A More Efficient Air Conditioner Filter: 5 Ratings You’ll Need To Know

You can avoid indoor air quality problems in your Orlando area home by installing a more efficient air conditioner filter. To help you pick the right filter for your home, here are five air filter ratings you’ll need to know:

1. Pressure drop, or resistance, tells you how much the filter impedes airflow. If only a small amount of air can get through the filter, air pressure will build up within the air duct on the windward side of the filter and drop off on the leeward side. With less air passing through, the air conditioner will have a harder time keeping your house cool and will burn more electricity. This is the main reason why you don’t use the highest-rated MERV filters except in specialized laboratory conditions.
2. Sustained efficiency is the percentage of airborne particles that a filter will remove from the air over its entire lifetime.
3. Initial efficiency, on the other hand, refers specifically to how well the filter performs when it’s new. You might expect a filter to work best when it’s brand new, but many air filters become more efficient over time as dust particles clog some of the holes and prevent other particles from passing through. A low initial efficiency rating means that your air quality will suffer for the first few weeks of operation.
4. Dust spot efficiency rates the percentage of dust particles that the filter removes from the air. Though this is important for keeping your air and your HVAC equipment clean, a high dust spot efficiency does not necessarily mean that the filter will be efficient at removing germs or mold spores from the air.
5. Dust holding capacity is the practical matter of how much dust a filter can remove from the air before it becomes full and needs to be replaced. The dust holding capacity can vary depending on the pressure drop rating.

At Rinaldi’s Air Conditioning, we are your local Orlando experts when it comes to installing a more efficient air conditioner filter in your home. Contact us if you have any questions. We’ll be happy to help.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Orlando, Florida and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about air conditioner filters and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

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