MERV Ratings & Your Filtration System
Every family deserves clean, fresh indoor air. But pollutants, even the ones we can't see, make their way into our homes every day. And some pollutants, like dust, pollen, pet dander, mold, viruses and bacteria can be dangerous to your family's health. The air inside your home can actually be 2 to 5 times dirtier than the air outside.
Fortunately, Schaafsma offers a wide range of air quality solutions you can count on to deliver cleaner, better air: High quality filters to remove unwanted pollutants, humidifiers to add moisture back to dry winter air; ventilators to bring fresh air into your home; UV lamps to minimize mold and bacterial growth on your system's indoor coil; and air purifiers to eliminate up to 99.9% of the pollutants in the conditioned air in your home.
Let’s focus on the filter for now.
MERV ratings are used to rate the ability of a filter to remove dust from the air as it passes through the filter. MERV is a standard used to measure overall efficiency of a filter HIGHER MERV ratings mean fewer dust particles and other airborne contaminants pass through the filter.
MERV ratings range from 1-16 and measurements are in microns. The most efficient filters have MERV ratings of 13 to 16. and will stop particles as small as .3 microns. These filters are used in hospitals and other clean environments.
We recommend the EZ Flex filter which has a MERV 10 rating and captures up to 65% of air particles 1.0 to 3.0 microns in size.
People living with Asthma or Respiratory problems should definitely consider a high quality filter. Also particles in the air can cause more problems for the elderly and infants.
