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Media Filters
Mechanical filters may be installed
in ducts in homes with central heating and/or air-conditioning or
may be used in portable devices which contain a fan to force air
through the filter. Mechanical filters used for air cleaning are of
two major types.
1. Flat or panel filters generally consist either of a low packing
density of coarse glass fibers, animal hair, vegetable fibers, or
synthetic fibers often coated with a viscous substance (e.g., oil)
to act as an adhesive for particulate material, or slit and expanded
aluminum. (A flat filter in use in many homes is the typical furnace
filter installed in central heating and/or air-conditioning
systems.) Flat filters may efficiently collect large particles, but
remove only a small percentage of respirable size particles.
Flat filters may also be made of "electret" media,
consisting of a permanently-charged plastic film or fiber. Particles
in the air are attracted to the charged material.
2. Pleated or extended surface filters generally attain greater
efficiency for capture of respirable size particles than flat
filters. Their greater surface area allows the use of smaller fibers
and an increase in packing density of the filter without a large
drop in air flow rate.
Spacegard media filters are the
most popular and easiest to obtain In most conditions it can last
for up to a year but most people replace them in Spring and again in
Fall.
EZ Flex Air Cleaners fit into a
five inch wide cabinet which is two inches narrower than most other
brands. This filter is like an accordion and collapses so it can fit
into a box. This allows ease of transporting and disposal. The EZ
Flex cabinet also comes with every Carrier
High Efficiency Furnace. This filter should be replaced twice a
year.
*Some of the information on this
page was collected from www.epa.gov
http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/residair.html#Mechanical%20filters
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