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SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO — Host, Sarah Rutan: When it comes to improving the energy efficiency in your home, one importance aspect is furnace filter efficiency. Today we’re in South San Francisco with Diamond Certified Expert Contributor, Albert Morando of Innovative Mechanical to learn more.
Diamond Certified Expert Contributor, Al Morando: Hi. I wanted to talk to you today about different types of filters and different efficiencies and seeing what might fit your needs best.
The first filter I have here on the left is a standard filter. These are about 7% to 10% efficient at catching the dirt and dust particles. Basically, you can purchase them at the hardware store for somewhere between $2 to $5 apiece. This is just a standard-type filter you need to change it once a month when you’re using your heating and air-conditioning system.
This filter is roughly 30% to 35% efficient at catching the dirt and dust particles. This filter at the hardware store can range somewhere between $15 and $25 apiece. A lot better filter than this one, as you can see. It’s a pleated filter, more efficient, better to help catch the dirt and dust particles that may be coming through your heating and air-conditioning system.
And then the last filter I’ll show is a healthy climate filter. This is a high-grade filtration system that’s 94% efficient at catching the dirt and dust particles. This actually even has a carbon coating on it so it helps remove odors as well. This is something we’d recommend for somebody who has any kind of allergies or asthma or any type of respiratory problems; a lot better filter. Benefit with this is you only have to change it once a year, so there’s a lot less maintenance on it. The filter cartridges run between $125 and $150 apiece.
The other benefit with filtration system, too, or any type of filter, you can turn your furnace fan on so it can just run continuously or regularly to filter out the air in your home. You usually get about three to four air changes in an hour when you’re running your furnace fan, so any time you’re running your heating, your cooling, or just the fan only switch, you’re filtering out the air which is going to improve your indoor air quality in your home.
Host, Sarah Rutan: To learn more from local top-rated companies, visit our Diamond Certified expert reports at experts.diamondcertified.org.