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How Air Filters Work InspectAPedia®  -     How air filters work to remove particles from the air stream Operation of heating and air conditioning filters Definition of impaction filtering Definition of interception filtering of airborne particles Definition of diffusion filtering of airborne dust and debris Particle size vs. air filter characteristics vs. indoor air quality Air conditioning / heating system filter product sources and recommendations

Here we discuss and explain just how air filters for HVAC systems actually work to trap and remove particles from indoor air. This website answers almost any question you might ask about air filters for heating or air conditioning systems. We explain how an air conditioning service technician will diagnose certain common air conditioning system failures or defects. In these articles we are referring to filters installed on central air conditioning or central heating systems that move air through air handlers and duct systems. Standalone "air cleaners" are generally ineffective in buildings.

We include photographs to assist readers in recognizing cooling system defects. Contact us to suggest text changes and additions and, if you wish, to receive online listing and credit for that contribution. The page top photograph is of a low-MERV HVAC filter in an air handler. Readers should also see our INDOOR AIR QUALITY IMPROVEMENT GUIDE article series.

© Copyright 2009 Daniel Friedman, All Rights Reserved. Information Accuracy & Bias Pledge is at below-left. Use links at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

How do air filters actually remove particles from the airstream?

This photograph shows a soiled surface of a conventional air filter up close. The fibers are clearly visible but not the openings through which air has to pass. If we look at a high efficiency, high MERV or HEPA air filter under a microscope we'll see a mat of randomly crisscrossed fibers of filter material (fiberglass, polypropylene, paper, or other materials). The space between the filter fibers will be larger than the smallest particle size which the filter is asserted to remove. So how do these filters stop the small particles? Let's look at three air filtration mechanisms in order of decreasing particle size:

1. Impaction filtering: First, some airborne particles smack directly into a filter fiber, either because they happen to be on that unlucky (for them) trajectory or more likely because the particle is so large that it can't pass through the opening, or part of the particle smacks into the filter fiber.
   
   Air filter scientists call this method "impaction". Impaction captures larger particles which in a HEPA system are those larger than about 0.4u.
   
   
2. Interception filtering: Second, some airborne particles moving in the airstream past the filter happen to be close enough to a filter fiber that they stick to it.
   
   How close? the particle has to be closer to the filter fiber surface than one radius or diameter of the particle itself. In other words, a 2u particle which is only 1u away from a fiber will probably stick to the fiber.
   
   Air filter scientists call this method "interception". Interception captures particles mostly in the 0.3u size to 0.1u size.
   
   
3. Diffusion filtering: Third, very small particles, say below 1u in size, collide with larger gas molecules swirling around in the air turbulence caused by air moving by the filter fiber.
   
   This collision, called "diffusion" in filter science, causes the particle to zig zag out of the airstream passing through the filter opening and to stick to the filter surface.

What airborne particle sizes are an IAQ concern?

What mold, house dust dust, allergen fragment, mite fecal, cat dander, or other airborne particle sizes are a concern for indoor air quality? In the photograph shown here the large black Stachybotrys chartarum mold spores can be seen against our eyepiece micrometer which, after calibration, shows that these particular spores were about 7u x 15u in size. The brownish tubular structures are fungal hyphae. Another, smaller fungal spore is in the background. What's not addressed by some of the science in the air filtration and IAQ field is just what particle sizes are a worry. In general, larger particles, say 30u or 50u or long fibers, say 200u, are so big that they tend to be filtered in the nose of a human breathing that air. (1u here means 1 micron in size).

A more complete discussion about the size and behavior of problematic indoor air particles which form an indoor air quality concern can be read at Particle Sizes & IAQ.

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Use links just below or at the left of each page to navigate this document or to view other topics at this website. Green links show where you are in our document or website.

AIR CONDITIONING & HEAT PUMP SYSTEMS
AGE of AIR CONDITIONERS & HEAT PUMPS
AIR CONDITIONER BTU CHART
AIR CONDITIONER COMPONENT PARTS
AIR CONDITIONER TYPES, ENERGY SOURCES
AIR CONDITIONER NOT WORKING
AIR FILTERS for HVAC SYSTEMS
  Air Filter Location
  Dirty Air Filter Problems
  Missing Air Filters
 OPTIMUM INDOOR AIR FILTERS
  Air Filter Efficiency
  Optimum Air Filter Design / Location
  How to Cascade Air Filters
 CONTINUOUS BLOWER FAN OPERATION
 AIR FILTER EFFECTIVENESS
  MERV, HEPA Definitions
  MERV Air Filter Ratings
  How Air Filters Work
  Particle Sizes & IAQ
  Gasketed air filters
  Debris in Return Air Plenum
  Washable air filters
 AIR FILTERING STRATEGIES
 FIBERGLASS & AIR FILTERS
  Air Filters Shed Fibers?
  Fiberglass & Test Lab Accuracy
  Variations in Fiber Size
 SOURCES FOR AIR FILTERS
  OTHER AIR CLEANERS
AIR HANDLER UNIT
  DIRTY A/C BLOWERS
    Leaks, Rodents In Air Handlers
    Mold Growth in Air Handlers
  DAMAGED COOLING COIL
  DIRTY COOLING COIL
  DIRTY COIL CLEANING PROCEDURES
  FROST BUILD-UP
  BLOWER LEAKS, RUST & MOLD
  ADDING A/C: RETROFIT SIZING
ANIMAL ALLERGENS / PET DANDER
ASBESTOS in BUILDINGS
BACKUP HEAT for HEAT PUMPS
BLOWER DOORS & AIR INFILTRATION
BOOKSTORE - Air Conditioning "How To" Books
CLEANING & Legionella BACTERIA
COMPRESSOR CONDENSER
CONDENSATE HANDLING
CONTROLS & SWITCHES
COOL OFF HEAT Thermostat Switch
COOLING CAPACITY, RATED
COOLING COIL or EVAPORATOR COIL
DATA TAGS on AIR CONDITIONERS
COMBUSTION GASES & PARTICLE HAZARDS
COMBUSTION PRODUCTS & IAQ
DEFINITION of Heating & Cooling Terms
DEW POINT CALCULATION for WALLS
DEW POINT TABLE - CONDENSATION POINT GUIDE
DUCT SYSTEMS
DUCTS - Asbestos
DUCT SYSTEM DEFECTS
DUCT INSULATION, Asbestos Paper
DUCT INSULATION for SOUNDPROOFING
DUCTS, Asbestos Transite Pipe
DUST FROM HVAC?
ENERGY SAVINGS in BUILDINGS
EVAPORATIVE COOLING SYSTEMS
FAN AUTO ON Thermostat Switch
HEAT LOSS (or GAIN) in BUILDINGS
INDOOR AIR QUALITY & HOUSE TIGHTNESS
INDOOR AIR QUALITY IMPROVEMENT GUIDE
INSPECTION LIMITATIONS
LOST COOLING CAPACITY
MOTOR OVERLOAD RESET SWITCH
OPERATING COST
OPERATING DEFECTS
OPERATING TEMPERATURES
REPAIR GUIDE for AIR CONDITIONERS
REPAIR & DIAGNOSTIC FAQs for A/C
REFRIGERANTS
SEER RATINGS & OTHER DEFINITIONS
SYSTEM OPERATION
SWAMP COOLERS
THERMOSTATS
THERMOSTATIC EXPANSION VALVES
CRITICAL DEFECTS on A/C SYSTEMS
FURNACES WARM AIR HEATING SYSTEMS
INDOOR AIR QUALITY IMPROVEMENT GUIDE

• Thanks to Mark Cramer, Tampa Florida, for assistance in technical review of the "Critical Defects" section and for the photograph of the deteriorating gray Owens Corning flex duct in a hot attic. Mr. Cramer is a Florida home inspector and home inspection educator.
• Thanks to Jon Bolton, an ASHI, FABI, and otherwise certified Florida home inspector who provided photos of failing Goodman gray flex duct in a hot attic.
• Carson Dunlop, Associates, Toronto, have provided us with (and we recommend) Carson Dunlop Weldon & Associates' Technical Reference Guide to manufacturer's model and serial number information for heating and cooling equipment ($69.00 U.S.).
• US EPA article on air filter efficiency: epa.gov/iaq/pubs/airclean.html 04/11/2009
• Wikipedia provided background information about the definition of HEPA and airborne particle interception.

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