A Visualization of MERV
The importance of Indoor Air Quality cannot be overstressed. Most people spend 90% of their time breathing processed air. Processed does not mean clean or particle free. Unless you know the quality of the maintenance being done, it’s always questionable.
Some people think the fiberglass, non-rated filter for $2 or $3 is adequate. They are if you’re only worried about the equipment and not what you’re breathing; and then only if you change them monthly or more often.
Minimum Efficiency Rating Variance means on the filters worst day it will still trap all the particles equal to and larger than the minimum sized particles the filter is rated to handle. The package will have this on it, along side the MERV rating.
The following description is a very broad example of what a MERV rating means. My friend Frank, at Home Environmental, explained it this way so I could understand and pass on the information as plainly as possible. This is a visual spin on products that handle particles too small to see. Please keep this in mind as you read the following.
A fiberglass filter without a MERV rating will let a basketball through. A MERV 8 rated filter will catch a small marble and keep it from being available for inhalation. A MERV 11 will filter out a BB and a HEPA rated filter will stop a grain of sand.
To put that in perspective, the basketball equals the particles you can see, the small marble would be pet hair and skin cells which we shed every day. The BB is on par with dust mites, their waste and debris, the grain of sand would be airborne bacteria and viruses. If you’re visually inclined then you just pictured the condition of the air you and your loved ones are breathing, because you know which filter you’re using.
Particles you don’t see are being inhaled every day. If you have strong lung’s you’re able to expel most of them with a good cough. People with poor lung function don’t have that luxury. They need better filtration to keep the air cleaner so the microscopic particles aren’t floating around waiting to be inhaled and decrease the already weakened function of their lungs.
People with allergies, asthma and emphysema require better quality air so their bodies aren’t taxed unnecessarily by trying to expel particles that could be avoided with the right filter and proper maintenance of the home heating and air conditioning system. Saving money is important to all of us these days, but cutting corners with your indoor air quality can have too high a price for you and those you love.
Kitty Craig co-operates BreatheEzFilters.com a supplier of industrial and residential air filters and odor control products.
