Are Flat Hvac Filters Better Than Pleated

Let's bust some myths about airflow and pleated air filters.

A myth. An erstwhile wives' tale. A misconception. Whatever yous want to call information technology, that'south what this is. If you have ever had an HVAC technician come to examine the heating and air workout systems in your habitation, at that place's a gamble you lot may take had the common refrain tossed your way.

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"Use the cheapest filters you can observe. The thicker pleated ones restrict too much airflow and will starve your system."

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Is this truthful? No, it isn't. It is truthful that airflow is lessened, albeit marginally, with a pleated air filter versus a inexpensive fiberglass air filter, simply the risks of lessened airflow, a direct result of what is known as force per unit area drop, are causeless, and they are assumed incorrectly.

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What'southward really happening?

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Myth one: Pleated filters volition blow out your fan motor

Information technology's worth noting that nobody specifies what they mean by "blow out" or "break down." You may have heard the phrase "starve your unit of measurement of air." The implication is that by reducing the amount of airflow into your HVAC system, the motor that powers the fan will overwork trying to move air and it will burn out, virtually similar a car red-lining for also long before the engine explodes. The consequence is a catastrophic failure that occurs in one instant. This is absolutely not true.

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In that location is no mechanical connection betwixt a fan motor and an air filter. The fan is going to do the same thing, regardless of how much airflow is being immune by your filter. Unless you take what is known as an ECM motor, your fan is going to move at the aforementioned speed and consume the same amount of power regardless of how meaning the pressure driblet is. The motor does not know what the airflow levels are, nor does information technology have whatsoever manner to adjust its workload for such a thing. Thus, it's non going to "work harder."

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ECM motors are more advanced motors that electronically adjust their speed to account for airflow levels. They will increase power every bit necessary to move air. ECM motors are more efficient and longer-lasting every bit they do not apply power that they do not need.

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You may accept heard a technician tell you that the fan motor draws more power with less airflow. This is likewise imitation. Ironically, it's the exact opposite. Recall that, unless you're using an ECM, your fan motor has no capacity to say "nosotros need more than power." It's off or it's on. So with less airflow, the fan is actually moving less air, which requires less energy, and so the motorcar draws less power to keep it running at the aforementioned level. It seems counterintuitive at commencement, but makes quite a scrap of sense when y'all think about it. Annotation that this does not mean bad airflow is actually adept. You yet want a low pressure drop, but this increased power usage is a myth.

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What will happen in situations where your pressure drop is too loftier is the fan will need to run longer in order to reach the desired temperature in the home considering it is cooling or heating less air at a fourth dimension. Equally with anything, parts will wear with run time, and so the adventure with significantly decreased airflow is more almost decreasing lifespan by increasing use, non some explosive disaster. This leads us perfectly into myth ii.

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Myth 2: Pleated air filters reduce the lifespan of your HVAC system

So we've established that installing a pleated filter is not going to cause these catastrophic failures that many spout off about in totally healthy HVAC systems. Merely it's true that they exercise have a higher force per unit area drop, thus allow less airflow, than cheaper fiberglass filters. So won't they shorten the lifespan of your unit?

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Well, no, not actually. Again, the common refrain is that pleated air filters will restrict airflow, but specifics regarding what impact that will have, and how meaning it is, are usually left out. Nosotros're non going to leave those out.

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We conducted a study in our lab to specifically test airflow differences between a pleated and fiberglass filters, and how those differences would affect lifespan. The results were interesting.

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We found that with a MERV thirteen pleated filter, which has a force per unit area driblet about ii.5x that of a fiberglass filter, the system would need to run about 3.5% longer to accomplish the desired temperature. Bold an eight-twelvemonth lifespan for your HVAC system, with identical usage and no external factors (that part is important), you would need to supervene upon the fan motor in your HVAC system about 3 months before with a pleated filter than with a fiberglass filter. Another way to look at that is that a system that lasts 96 months with a fiberglass filter would terminal nearly 93 months with a pleated filter, a difference that is virtually negligible, and again, does not account for other factors that contribute to clothing.

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Now, time for another important part. We mentioned the test occurred with no external factors in totally identical scenarios. You lot're not going to have this in the real world. Mechanical systems like your HVAC unit of measurement will have some natural variance in lifespan, and there are other factors impacting the longevity of your equipment that will outweigh the divergence the filter type lonely makes, leaving the same difference in lifespan immaterial.

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The test only accounts for airflow. It doesn't account for risks to your system that upshot from small particle buildup on your AC coils, which are higher with cheaper filters that catch less. This situation tin also shorten the lifespan of your unit by requiring more use of the system, every bit heat is captivated less efficiently because of the moving-picture show of particles forming around the coils.

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"Freezing up" refers to condensation around your coils freezing as a result of the refrigerant becoming besides cold. It does non mean the refrigerant itself is freezing. Modern refrigerant volition freeze at -251 degrees Fahrenheit or beneath. If it reaches that temperature, you likely have other concerns, such as the impending Ice Age.

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We also conducted a written report with current customers of 2nd Nature, determining how often participants needed to call HVAC technicians for issues both before and afterward starting Second Nature.`

second nature hvac ticket request study chart

Because Second Nature helps homeowners ensure they are changing their filters on time, and the boogey man stuff effectually pleated air filters has proven to be largely nonsense, customers see their HVAC issues decline when participating in the service.

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And so why do these myths persist?

Elementary question, unproblematic respond. It used to be that mode. The components of an HVAC system have improved in construction and durability over fourth dimension, while the structure of pleated air filters has improved to maintain loftier levels of filtration while minimizing force per unit area drop.

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In short, pleated filters have innovated the way the fibers are woven, equally well as what they are made of, to increase filtering power while decreasing the density of the weave. Modernistic-mean solar day pleated air filters take relatively low pressure drops as a result, and are non going to cause significantly shortened lifespans unless y'all never remember to change it.

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Many HVAC technicians who are veterans of the trade learned their craft before these innovations, back when a pleated filter could more significantly reduce the lifespan of your unit. Thus the myths persist because they used to exist more truthful than they are today and e'er will be over again.

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Another reason is that HVAC issues caused by a clogged air filter are incorrectly attributed to the filter, not the failure to change information technology. One-inch pleated filters should be inverse at least every three months, and four or more inch pleated filters should be changed near every six months. If you leave a pleated air filter in your air return for two years, it volition clog with pollutants and eventually reduce airflow to zero. Shortened lifespans that result from this are avoided by changing your filter on time, not by using a cheaper filter. A pleated air filter that is changed on the appropriate interval is not going to create these airflow problems.

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Exercise you want to use quality air filters, but you find yourself forgetting to alter them? No worries. Our subscription service makes it impossible to forget.

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