Best Furnace Filter Brand? 3M Filtrete vs HoneyWell BestAir, Nordic Pure, Flanders EZ Flow

replacing that furnace filter every 30 days can get very expensive so the question is are cheap filters just as good as the more expensive ones also why bother replacing your filter when you can buy a permanent washable filter like this one we've got about 14 different filters to test today so let's get the testing underway and see which filter is the best we'll see which air filter provides the best airflow when it's new we'll see which air filters do the best at filtering out contamination we'll see which provides the best airflow even after they're dirty we'll take a look at the filters under a microscope and compare media design in order to test hvac filters i built this air filter test stand the air filter will be placed at the very top of the test stand when the test begins the air filter cover is encased in plexiglass so that the contamination can easily be added to the top of the air filter air will move down and pass through an observation box that is also enclosed in plexiglas air then travels into a six inch air pipe at the very end of the tester is an electric fan motor that draws air through the test stand let's establish our baseline airflow rate by first running the test stand without an air filter in place i'll place the particle counter inside the air box the number on the left side of the screen indicates the number of the particles between 1 and 5 microns in size the number on the right side indicates the number of particles at 5 microns and larger the manometer is showing static pressure which is the resistance of airflow from the filter test box into the observation box static pressure is measured in inches of water column we want this number to be as low as possible and the static pressure without an air filter is .16 inch water column so there's very little stress on the blower motor since air is moving freely before we begin testing the filters a little more information on how filters are rated different brands use different rating systems which can cause a lot of confusion fpr npr and merv are the three rating systems mir filter rating is the domestic and international industry standard rating system established by the american society of heating refrigerating and air conditioning engineers npr stands for micro particle performance and is used by 3m fpr stands for filter performance rating and was created by the home depot to differentiate their hvac filters all three rating systems can be cross referenced for every filter we'll be testing the filters in order from the lowest to the highest ratings most of the filters we'll be testing are merv 8 filters since that seems to be the most common filter purchased causing only a dollar eight is this aaf flanders easy flow brand which is designed to last 30 days allows more air flow than competitors model it claims it's designed to stop up to four times more dust than the competition it's a high airflow filter and doesn't even have a merv rating the filter media is made of fiberglass the flanders easy flow filter is made in north carolina to test the clean filters i'll power up the fan motor for 30 seconds the static pressure without a filter was 0.16 and it's only up by .08 for a total of 0.24 inches of water column that's an impressively low static pressure and will be hard to beat at 4.97 is this 3m basic filtrate brand which is designed to last up to 90 days now it's a very basic filter and is designed to stop lint and household dust it's definitely not designed to stop dust mite debris mold spores pollen or anything smaller the 3m basic is made in mexico the 3m basic has 14 layers of filter media wow the filter is causing 0.27 increase in static pressure for a total of 0.43 which is very restrictive and not good why waste money on replaceable filters when you can buy a washable electrostatic filter like this one which costs 49.99 air care indoor quality specialist electrostatic air filter permanent high-tech filter never needs replacement cleaner air to breathe removes pollen dust and pollutants no harmful ozone emissions made in usa the 0.38 static pressure is much better than the 3m but a little higher than desired at only 3.99 the dupont 7500 is the most affordable merv 8 filter we'll be testing it claims it can reduce common airborne allergens in your home including 75 percent of particles from 3 to up to 10 microns in size according to the chart a merv 8 filter reduces 75 percent of airborne particles while a fiberglass filter only reduces about 20 percent the dupont filter is made in usa 14 layers of filter media mervate should filter out more airborne particles than the previous filters but 0.39 is still a little bit high for static pressure at 4.74 cents the true blue is the second most affordable myrovate filter we'll be testing now it says it's an fpr5 which is the same as a merv 8. it's designed to stop dust lint pollen dust bite debris and even pet dander made in usa the true blue has 15 layers of filter media compared to the other merv 8 filters 0.33 is much better than the dupont's .39 at 4.99 this aerostar brand is made in the usa and it's a merv 8 rated filter the mervait has 15 layers of filter material 0.37 is better than dupont but not as good as true blue costing 5.86 is this nordic pure brand it claims your fresh air has arrived you may now breathe freely this is also a merv 8 filter made in usa 20 layers of filter material 0.38 is a little higher than desired true blue holds onto the lead for the merv 8 filters costing 5.99 is this natural ear brand it has odor eliminator with baking soda technology the other merv 8 filters only claim to handle pollen dust dust mite debris and pet dander but this mervate also claims to handle mold bacteria and virus carriers made in north carolina 16 pleats 0.35 is actually pretty good but the true blue holds on to the lead at 9.08 cents this 3m filtrate is almost twice as expensive as other merv 8 filters it's a merv 8 filter but it also uses the mpr rating which is unique to 3m three months it filters lint household dust dust mite debris mold spores and pollen this 3m filter has 15 pleats the 3m 600 actually did pretty good at 0.35 but the true blue holds on to the lead at 5.48 we'll also be testing this 2 inch filter which is a best air brand mirv 8 rating last up to 90 days made in usa 12 filter pleats 0.28 is a very impressive performance and the honeywell 2 inch filter takes the lead at 22.99 is this best air honeywell brand murf8 filter unlike the other ones this is a four inch filter captures dust and lint dust mite debris mold spores pollen pet dander this filter will last up to one year made in usa 12 filter pleats wow 0.23 is the best filter we've tested yet the four-inch honeywell takes the lead the previous filters we tested were mervates this is a merv 11 equivalent or an mpr-1085 made by 3m filtry now cost 11.97 which is more than twice as much as many of the mervate filters we tested 90 days of airflow pollen smoke particles smog particles desmite debris lint pet dander mold spores household dust this 3m filter is made in mexico 20 pleats 0.38 is a little high but not surprising since this is a merv 11 filter also costing 11.97 is this honeywell fpr7 now fpr7 is the same as a merv 11. it captures dust and lint airborne dust bite debris pollen pet dander mold spores and bacteria last up to three months manufactured in usa 19 pleats .37 is a little high but not surprising since this is a merv 11 filter costing 19.97 is this 3m filtrate 1900 this is the same as a mirv 13 rating premium allergen bacteria and virus smoke smog particles cough and sneeze debris bacteria viruses last up to three months made in usa with globally sourced materials 54 plates .37 seems a little high which makes sense since this is a merv 13 filter the test stand without a filter had a static pressure of 0.16 all of the mervate filters have an asterisk next to them the mirvate 4-inch honeywell did a fantastic job at .23 easy flow 0.24 2 inch honeywell 0.28 and trueblue 0.33 to test the filtering capability of each brand i'll take the perimeter of each filter to the test stand to ensure a good seal i'll then spread one cup of flour across the filter and wait until the particle count stops climbing then i'll power up the blower motor for one minute to measure the static pressure you can see particles raining down into the observation box the easy flow isn't filtering much of anything the small particle count is over 22 000 and the large particle count is over 20 000 not good the static pressure was only 26 not a surprise since this filter isn't stopping much of anything the 3m basic did a lot better at just 1400 small particles and 1100 large static pressure of 0.87 is very high and would likely cause damage to the blower motor over time the permanent filter didn't do too well with 4100 small and 3200 large particles when the blower motor was activated you could see a white puff of flour entering the air box a static pressure of 0.53 is much better than the 3m basic the dupont merv 8 filter had 3 100 small and 2400 large particles the static pressure was very high at 1.18 trueblue didn't do nearly as good as the dupont at over 9000 small and 7600 large particles the static pressure of 0.95 is high but much better than the dupont the aerostar did better than a true blue at 6100 large and 5 000 small particles the aerostar also had a better static pressure of 0.74 the best of the mervate filters nordic pure did better than the aerostar at 5000 large and 4100 small particles it also had a slightly better static pressure of 0.73 the best of the mervate filters natural air didn't do as well as the dupont aerostar or nordic pure with 6 600 small and 5 500 large particles it really struggled with a static pressure of 1.07 the 3m600 did by far the best yet at 500 large and 400 small particles and as you might expect it had a very high static pressure of 1.31 the 2-inch honeywell did even better yet at just under 300 small and around 200 large particles the static pressure was the best yet at only 0.34 showing a lot of life left in the filter the 4 inch honeywell was almost identical to the 2-inch honeywell at 300 small and 200 large its static pressure was extremely impressive at only 0.22 before adding the flower to the top of the filter the 3m mirv 11 had a particle count of 57 and 4. it did a fantastic job and did not show a particle count increase however the static pressure was high at 0.8 just like the 3m filter the honeywell merv 11 did a fantastic job and did not show any increase in particle count however the static pressure was 1.01 which is higher than the 3m both merv 11s actually did slightly better than the 3m merv 13 which had an increase of 70 small and 50 large which is still really good what's more impressive though is that the static pressure was only 0.52 let's compare the large particle filtering performance of the filters since the merv 8 filters are really designed to capture large particles such as dust the first three filters are merv 11s and 13 and did a very impressive job the two and a four inch honeywell and the 3m600 did a terrific job at cleaning the air as well while the 3m 1085 and the honeywell both tied for first place for removing particles their static pressure was pretty high obviously one cup of flour on a 16 by 20 filter seems like an extreme test but the 3m 1900 a merv 13 filter did very well at .52 the honeywell 2 inch and a 4 inch filters both handled the 1 inch cup of flour with ease and could easily handle more while the easy flow filter had a terrific static pressure of 26 it did the worst job at filtering as well to better understand why the 3m 1900 which is a merv 11 as well as the two and a four inch honeywell filters did so well i disassembled all the filters and measured the length of the filter media i also took a look at each of the filters under a microscope to compare the media design 3m 1085 and the honeywell both did a great job of filtering but only had 760 and 640 square inches of filter media respectively they obviously have a very tightly woven filter media design restricting not only dust but also airflow with such a tightly woven design and limited surface area they can only handle so much dust load before the static pressure reaches a critical level even though the 3m 1900 which is a merv 13 filter does have a very tightly woven filter media it overcomes the static pressure challenge by having 54 pleats and 1 560 square inches which is more than twice as much as any of the other one-inch filters the mervate 2-inch honeywell as well as the 4-inch honeywell greatly benefited from having far more surface area than the competition the other filters which had much less surface area quickly became clogged an air filter that's too restrictive just isn't going to allow that hvac system to properly manage temperature humidity and airflow so if you can go with a two three or even a four inch air filter that's the way to go but a lot of systems just won't accommodate anything beyond a one inch filter so if you don't have an issue with allergies going with a filter with a lower merv rating and more filter plates is probably going to deliver a lot better airflow all my video ideas including this one come from viewers so if you have a video idea i hope you'll take time to leave a comment thanks so much for watching the video please take care and look forward to next time

Channel: Project Farm

Views: 1,018,436

Keywords: project farm, Which furnace filter is best, best furnace filter, which HVAC filter is best, what HVAC filter is best, best air conditioning filter, which air conditioning filter is best, best merv 8 filter, best merv 11 filter, best merv 13 filter, best mpr furnace filter, best fpr furnace filter, best washable furnace filter, electrostatic furnace filter, flanders furnace filter, Honeywell furnace filter, 3m furnace filter, filtrate furnace filter, Nordic pure furnace filter

Id: RkjRKIRva58

Length: 12min 54sec (774 seconds)

Published: Sun Feb 14 2021