If the indoor air quality of your Peachtree City home is important to you, you probably know that air filters are one of the best ways to keep your air clean. However, you may not know how to choose the best air filters for your HVAC equipment.

Air filters have a variety of ratings that help you determine which filter best suits your needs. Here’s a rundown of the different types of ratings.

• MERV: Probably the most familiar rating, MERV stands for minimum efficiency reporting value. It rates the filter’s overall efficiency. A higher number is better.
• Efficiency: This rating measures a filter’s ability to prevent particles such as pollen, dust, bacteria and mold from passing through the filter. The higher the efficiency rating, the smaller the particles the filter’s able to stop. You may also see initial efficiency, which rates how efficient the filter is when first used, and sustained efficiency, which rates how efficient the filter is over the course of its life.
• Pressure drop: This rating is important to the efficiency of your HVAC system. Pressure drop refers to the effect the filter has on the flow of air through your HVAC system. A lower pressure drop means less effect on the airflow, resulting in more efficiency from your HVAC system. Pressure drop goes up when the filter gets clogged with dust.
• Arrestance: This rating measures how well the filter stops dust particles under test conditions. These conditions usually use large particles, so arrestance shouldn’t be the main factor in your filter-buying decision.
• Dust spot efficiency: This rating measures how much dust the filter removes from the air. Again, this is done with larger particles under test conditions, so it shouldn’t be the main decision-making factor.
• Dust holding capacity: This rating measures how much dust a filter can hold at a specific pressure drop. When comparing two filters based on dust holding capacity, make sure they have the same pressure drop to ensure an accurate comparison.

For more information about choosing air filters or any other HVAC matters, contact Powers Heating & Air. We proudly serve homeowners throughout the Peachtree City and Fayette County area.

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

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