Neat idea however air filter changes would be extremely expensive as its about 5x the air filters of a conventional purifier - which already seem to cost around 50-100 dollars to replace.
Ceiling Air Purifier
11–20 of 163 posts
Re: Ceiling Air Purifier
#12Neat idea however air filter changes would be extremely expensive as its about 5x the air filters of a conventional purifier - which already seem to cost around 50-100 dollars to replace.
But they’d last 5x as long to move the same amount of overall air, right?
Re: Ceiling Air Purifier
#13If you have a whole-home furnace you can often make it run the fan even if cool/heat is off - and install a high power filter and change it regularly and it’ll filter the air reasonably well. The ecobee has a “minimum fan time per hour” setting - it can also help to balance the air temperature.
I've had HVAC techs tell me not to use those thick filters unless your system is designed for it. They make the fan work harder to pull less air. This reduces how much air it can move.
A good system like an AprilAire [1] will have a 4" thick filter vs the standard 1" thick filters. This allows much more filter area than a standard filter allowing proper airflow even with a finer more restrictive filter medium.
You can't just swap filters, the 4" thick one usually go in right before HVAC air handler intake rather than at returns. I have had an AprilAire installed for over 10 years in my HVAC when it was replaced last time, recommended by HVAC installer, its has worked very well and I do have my blower fan cycle constantly regardless of need for heat/cool to turn over and filter air.
1. https://www.aprilaire.com/whole-house-products/air-purifiers...
Re: Ceiling Air Purifier
#14I like the lateral thinking. I'm currently using a pretty ghetto version as well - air filter is pointed at a open desktop case.
I suspect the ideal version is an adaptation of the US central HVAC model. i.e. Push clean air into the various rooms.
...but hard to retrofit.
Re: Ceiling Air Purifier
#15How do you measure PM 2.5 at home? Whats the best and cost efficient way to do it?
Re: Ceiling Air Purifier
#16How do you measure PM 2.5 at home? Whats the best and cost efficient way to do it?
It’s not the cheapest but this is what I use https://www.airthings.com/view-plus
Re: Ceiling Air Purifier
#17Great idea. What's worked for me is simply taking a 20"x20"x1" filter and sliding it into the back cover of a standard $25 Lasko box fan. Cheap, easy option for air filtration in the home.
That’s a great idea. What kind of filter do you use?
Standard furnace filters, pick the level of filtration you desire/can afford.
Re: Ceiling Air Purifier
#18The cost of filter replacement would be absolutely insane. Also filter replacement would be unpleasant.
Re: Ceiling Air Purifier
#19If you have a whole-home furnace you can often make it run the fan even if cool/heat is off - and install a high power filter and change it regularly and it’ll filter the air reasonably well. The ecobee has a “minimum fan time per hour” setting - it can also help to balance the air temperature.
I've had HVAC techs tell me not to use those thick filters unless your system is designed for it. They make the fan work harder to pull less air. This reduces how much air it can move.
You can have them do a test and adjust the system depending on the filter that's installed to make sure it's moving enough air (though that is mainly important when heating to prevent the heating element from overheating).
Re: Ceiling Air Purifier
#20There doesn't seem to be good control tests to say what difference the filters really make - seems one was added in in the comments, but it's missing important details (is the control with everything off? What happens if the fan is running on medium or high, etc.? And, of course, it's not really practical in that most people really don't want to be sticking stuff on their ceiling, but it could be an interesting exper…
It's not clear how this performs over having no fans and filters at all.