Should I change my air purifier filter more often during fire season?
August 30, 2020 11:10 AM Subscribe
I have a Coway air purifier with a HEPA filter. I replaced the filter a month ago. It's fire season and I live in a very smoky part of the Bay Area, in an older apartment with very non-airtight windows and doors. Should I be replacing my HEPA filter more often than once/year? Trying to find recommendations from sources who know what they're talking about, and do not gain financially from me buying more filters.
My apartment REALLY puts my air purifier through its paces. If I don't run the purifier it smells like smoke in here since it's a drafty apartment.
This Wirecutter article says, "...after the smoke clears and the fires subside, clean everything, change all your filters, and breathe easier." This seems to imply I should change the filter after the air clears up (praying this is soon...). However, there's no source on that, and although I trust Wirecutter reviews of specific products, they DO have a financial interest in me making more purchases in general, so I don't know if this advice is sound.
My Coway purifer theoretically has an indicator light that says when to replace the HEPA filter, but I am unclear what triggers the indicator light -- since you have to "reset" the indicator when you are replacing the HEPA filter, is it only a time-based alert? (I also accidentally reset the indicator last night when I was adjusting the purifier speed, so there's that, too.)
Thanks in advance!
My apartment REALLY puts my air purifier through its paces. If I don't run the purifier it smells like smoke in here since it's a drafty apartment.
This Wirecutter article says, "...after the smoke clears and the fires subside, clean everything, change all your filters, and breathe easier." This seems to imply I should change the filter after the air clears up (praying this is soon...). However, there's no source on that, and although I trust Wirecutter reviews of specific products, they DO have a financial interest in me making more purchases in general, so I don't know if this advice is sound.
My Coway purifer theoretically has an indicator light that says when to replace the HEPA filter, but I am unclear what triggers the indicator light -- since you have to "reset" the indicator when you are replacing the HEPA filter, is it only a time-based alert? (I also accidentally reset the indicator last night when I was adjusting the purifier speed, so there's that, too.)
Thanks in advance!
Wirecutter may make affiliate money on your purifier, but not on the filters. If you don't already have a filter, order one now. Eyeball your filter after the fires are over and judge for yourself whether it looks clogged. Short of scientific testing on your filter, that's the best you can really do.
Looks like you can get some third-party hepa filters at about half the price-- why not try those out?
Finally, when you take a filter out but think there might be some life left in it, you can keep it while you mull it over; just seal it in a bag. You can decide to put a used filter back in some time and see if you can notice a drop in performance, or not. It's just terribly important to put it back in there the same way it came out, i.e. with the dust on the outside.
posted by Sunburnt at 12:03 PM on August 30, 2020 [1 favorite]
Looks like you can get some third-party hepa filters at about half the price-- why not try those out?
Finally, when you take a filter out but think there might be some life left in it, you can keep it while you mull it over; just seal it in a bag. You can decide to put a used filter back in some time and see if you can notice a drop in performance, or not. It's just terribly important to put it back in there the same way it came out, i.e. with the dust on the outside.
posted by Sunburnt at 12:03 PM on August 30, 2020 [1 favorite]
Best answer: We live in Oakland in a drafty house and have had our Coway 300 for three fire seasons now. HEPA filters have a LOT of surface area, about 20 times the amount of the square space they take up. We vacuum the HEPA filter in addition to washing the pre-filter. Our cats constantly step on the re-set button for the filter so we replace about every nine months or so, as the filter seems to start running more often and begging for a pre-filter wash sooner (increased motor load supposedly has an effect on the filter indicator but I have only found one source for this information). I don't think you need to worry about replacement after one month or even a couple, but do pay attention to how your filter is working.
We now have a second air filter now after doing a lot of research about viruses and the potential for filters to capture them. If you are worried about particulates causing you to have to replace filters early, your purifier may be undersized for your square footage.
posted by oneirodynia at 2:51 PM on August 30, 2020
We now have a second air filter now after doing a lot of research about viruses and the potential for filters to capture them. If you are worried about particulates causing you to have to replace filters early, your purifier may be undersized for your square footage.
posted by oneirodynia at 2:51 PM on August 30, 2020
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posted by Huffy Puffy at 11:54 AM on August 30, 2020 [1 favorite]