Want a good air filter for home.

February 27, 2011 5:25 PM

I am looking for a recommendation re: a great air filter for my home. I am really most interested in cutting down on dust. Any suggestions?
posted by ae4rv to Home & Garden (4 answers total)

I worked for an air filter company for a few years. What I learned was that you want pleats for surface area and a thick weave to catch the most particles. You also want to change your filter once a month. It may seem excessive, but it really does make a difference. If you have allergies you may want to change it more often.
posted by TooFewShoes at 6:20 PM on February 27, 2011 [1 favorite]

Do you mean air filter as in what filter should you put in your central air system, or one of those standalone "air purifier" thingys?

If you mean "central air", we went with the 3M line and then sprayed them with a Eucalyptus-based treatment before putting them in. They're pretty great.
posted by mhoye at 7:39 PM on February 27, 2011

Response by poster: Sorry, I should have mentioned this would be for the HVAC system. We are considering both different brands and types of passive filters and also expensive active designs but don't know where to start. The dust and pet hair is starting to get on our nerves.
posted by ae4rv at 8:23 AM on February 28, 2011

I've had good experience with filters now as I had to buy car air filters

They offer filters equivalent to 3M (Accumulair) without the name brand/retail store price. They also have more sizes available than the standard retail establishment.

Also, keeping the filters fresh on your vacuum should help (also available there)
posted by ijoyner at 10:10 AM on February 28, 2011