Looking for a good Air filter for the house

[samuttodd]

Evening folks,

 

I am trying to pick up an air filter for the bungalow.   Would like to get one with Hepa filtration to deal with the smog mostly.   I lookd on lazada,  but the filters on there were about $4-$500 US, which is out of my budget.    Back home a good one runs about $140.

 

Any ideas on where they might have good filter set ups in the BKK  area for less money?

 

Thanks.

Edited January 10, 2020 by samuttodd

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

What size of a room / contained area are you needing to filter?

 

Typically, people want / need a purifier/purifiers for their rooms where people sleep and their main living room/area.

 

 

Edited January 10, 2020 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[samuttodd]

 

520ft²= 48.30958m²

Edited January 10, 2020 by samuttodd

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

3 minutes ago, samuttodd said:

 

520ft²= 48.30958m²

 You need to think about your individual living area sizes... not the overall size....  unless your home is one big open space without contained rooms.

 

 

[samuttodd]

home is one big open space ...1 big room 

[samuttodd]

If it is going to cost that much,   I think I'll buy a box fan and fit a hepa filter to it's face.  

 

[saengd]

Just now, samuttodd said:

If it is going to cost that much,   I think I'll buy a box fan and fit a hepa filter to it's face.  

 

Fit 3M's filtrette to the air intake of your aircon and run it on fan only, 490 Baht for a large roll.....it works as well as any air purifier.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

12 minutes ago, samuttodd said:

home is one big open space ...1 big room 

 

The more reasonable priced home purifier units by folks like Hatari and Sharp cover 20+ sq meters each, so two should work for your space. They run about 3000 baht apiece.

 

Or, you could look for a larger capacity single unit to cover your entire space...but those are probably going to be more expensive here.

 

Edited January 10, 2020 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

3 minutes ago, saengd said:

Fit 3M's filtrette to the air intake of your aircon and run it on fan only, 490 Baht for a large roll.....it works as well as any air purifier.

 

No...it doesn't... And, unless you want to cause potential problems for your air con unit, you cannot/should not cover the entire filter or intake area with Filtrete...  And if you leave open space, that's allowing unfiltered air to get thru.

 

[saengd]

2 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

No...it doesn't... And, unless you want to cause potential problems for your air con unit, you cannot/should not cover the entire filter or intake area with Filtrete...  And if you leave open space, that's allowing unfiltered air to get thru.

 

Maybe in your house but not in ours, plus Mitsubishi service first suggested the idea to us a few years ago. 

[samuttodd]

i have  this type of AC in the house.   

 

I can't get up there right now,   but I am assuming that there is an air intake up on the top of the unit (rather than outside)   so it can re circulate the air.    Do I just jam the filtrete in it,   or tape it sealed in place??

 

 

I don't want to put too much of a load on the unit moving the air... AC is expensive to fix.

 

Edited January 10, 2020 by samuttodd

[saengd]

1 minute ago, samuttodd said:

i have  this type of AC in the house.   

 

I can't get up there right now,   but I am assuming that there is an air intake up on the top of the unit (rather than outside)   so it can re circulate the air.    Do I just jam the filtrete in it,   or tape it sealed in place??

The front flap opens upwards, underneath is one or two wire mesh filters. Remove the filters, cut the filtrette to size and use the tapes supplied with the filltrette to secure it in place. Check the filters at the end of each week, when they start to get dirty, change the filltrette.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

https://www.th.sharp/en/products/air-care/fp-j30ta-b?v=1195

 

https://www.th.sharp/en/products/air-purifier-0

 

https://www.hatari.co.th/airpurifier/ht-ap12/

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

6 minutes ago, saengd said:

Maybe in your house but not in ours, plus Mitsubishi service first suggested the idea to us a few years ago. 

 

The problem with Filtrete sheets is they're a single flat surface.... with no prefilter involved. So the sheets tend to clog up very quickly, need to be replaced often and if not can impair the air flow into the air con. They also don't have the same filtering capability as a true HEPA filter, just in technical terms.

 

In contrast, air purifiers and HEPA filters typically have prefilters to keep the bigger junk off your HEPA filter, and then the HEPA filter itself is of accordion style construction with a vastly large amount of surface area available to capture stuff.

 

There's a reason there's a market for HEPA air purifier units, and all of Thailand isn't covering their air con units with Filtrete sheets.  I'm not saying Filtrete sheets can't help. They can, if handled properly. But they're not a full substitute for a HEPA air purifier.

 

 

[eisfeld]

TallGuyJohnInBKK has mentioned good points. I'd add that if you put filters in your aircon which reduce airflow compared to the original you have higher chance of ice forming inside the unit. Same like you'd get with a dirty filter that's clogged up. I guess that's why saengd mentioned to run it on fan mode only. Fine, then you wont get ice but then why have an aircon? The point of that is to cool the room.

 

Get a cheap air purifier unit instead. Those btw also usually offer ionizing or UV functionality on top of just being a filter.

[saengd]

John I agree that there is no subsitute for a HEPA filter, if I was flushed I would go out and buy an IQAir air filter which cost over 70k four years ago and the filters cost around 4k each, goodness only knows what it costs today. But the OP's post tells me he';s not in that market and he's looking for a cheaper option, for me that means filtrette. An older thread on this below, maybe useful.

 

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

3 minutes ago, eisfeld said:

TallGuyJohnInBKK has mentioned good points. I'd add that if you put filters in your aircon which reduce airflow compared to the original you have higher chance of ice forming inside the unit. Same like you'd get with a dirty filter that's clogged up. I guess that's why saengd mentioned to run it on fan mode only. Fine, then you wont get ice but then why have an aircon? The point of that is to cool the room.

 

Get a cheap air purifier unit instead. Those btw also usually offer ionizing or UV functionality on top of just being a filter.

 

3M, the maker of the Filtrete sheets, specifically recommends against covering the entire air con filter surface with their sheets, and instead suggest covering about 80% of the surface area...  leaving an uncovered strip on the left and right edges of each of the unit's two original filter sections.

 

 

[saengd]

We also run it in dehumidify mode which provides some cooling effect by lowering the humidity levels. You can of course run it as a normal air.con with the filtertte attached, we do, it's just that if there's no need to do so fan only is a cheaper option.

Edited January 10, 2020 by saengd

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

3 minutes ago, saengd said:

John I agree that there is no subsitute for a HEPA filter, if I was flushed I would go out and buy an IQAir air filter which cost over 70k four years ago and the filters cost around 4k each, goodness only knows what it costs today. But the OP's post tells me he';s not in that market and he's looking for a cheaper option, for me that means filtrette. An older thread on this below, maybe useful.

 

 

You can buy room sized HEPA air purifiers in Thailand in the 3000-4000 baht range for units from Sharp, Hatari and Xiaomi.... For the OP's room size, he'd probably need two units of that variety.

 

[Elkski]

Should invest in a particle counter too so you can verify th ed air in your room.  Sire filter material would  hwlf but a HEPA filter is special.  

Also you need to hire someone to clean your aircon filter monthly. 

[saengd]

2 minutes ago, Elkski said:

Should invest in a particle counter too so you can verify th ed air in your room.  Sire filter material would  hwlf but a HEPA filter is special.  

Also you need to hire someone to clean your aircon filter monthly. 

I've never had anyone clean my aircon filters except once a year when they get serviced and that's been that way for twenty years. If using filtrette, remove it and replace it, if not, do nothing. There's no real filter to clean inside an aircon unit, just a mesh screen to catch the big debris such as bugs and lizards.

Edited January 10, 2020 by saengd

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

The OP might be able to get away with trying a single Xiaomi 2S unit, which I think can be found online for around 4000+ baht... It's somewhat undersized for his total space, but would be a reasonable start....  Its specs say it can cover up to about 37 sq mts.

 

https://www.mi.com/in/air2s/

 

They also have a newer and somewhat more expensive Pro model for sale as well...

 

 

Edited January 10, 2020 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[saengd]

11 minutes ago, TallGuyJohninBKK said:

 

3M, the maker of the Filtrete sheets, specifically recommends against covering the entire air con filter surface with their sheets, and instead suggest covering about 80% of the surface area...  leaving an uncovered strip on the left and right edges of each of the unit's two original filter sections.

 

 

I think we calculated that the air changes every twenty minutes or three times per hour using out current air con set up, leaving a gap at the side of each filter would extend that to perhaps once every thirty minutes, I can live with that.

[Tayaout]

I have this one: https://s.lazada.co.th/s.0cD2L and it covers you area. The auto mode is not that good but it works fine at a fixed speed. There is a cheaper version available if you don't mind a Chinese interface. The filter last about 5 months with 24h usage and cost 750 baht: https://s.lazada.co.th/s.0X1B3. 

Edited January 10, 2020 by Tayaout

[CGW]

9 minutes ago, Tayaout said:

The filter last about 5 months with 24h usage and cost 750 baht

Typical price gouging, I though they would! I stocked up a few months ago at 425 baht each.

[Tayaout]

7 minutes ago, CGW said:

Typical price gouging, I though they would! I stocked up a few months ago at 425 baht each.

Yes I don't remember how much I paid a couple months ago but this is the price as of today for enhanced formaldehyde filter. There is cheaper version available (the blue one that is included with the device). 

https://jumpadevice.com/2019/01/16/choose-the-correct-filter-mi-air-purifier/

Edited January 10, 2020 by Tayaout

[saengd]

17 minutes ago, Tayaout said:

I have this one: https://s.lazada.co.th/s.0cD2L and it covers you area. The auto mode is not that good but it works fine at a fixed speed. There is a cheaper version available if you don't mind a Chinese interface. The filter last about 5 months with 24h usage and cost 750 baht: https://s.lazada.co.th/s.0X1B3. 

That looks interesting, what's the impact on your electricity bills if you run it 24x7?

 

And also, have you measured its effectiveness using a hand held air quality meter?

[Tayaout]

2 minutes ago, saengd said:

That looks interesting, what's the impact on your electricity bills if you run it 24x7?

 

And also, have you measured its effectiveness using a hand held air quality meter?

I have no idea about the electric bill since electricity is almost free compared to my home country. I don't have a hand held quality meter but these guy tested it: https://smartairfilters.com/en/blog/xiaomi-auto-mode-leaves-air-unsafe-86-hours/

 

I don't leave it on auto because it let the pm 2.5 reach 100-150 before the fan kick in. I leave it at a fixed speed and the pm 2.5 stay below 10 when the neighbours are burning stuff and at 1 the rest of the time. The flaw that is described in the article about the impossibility to leave the device at a fixed speed doesn't affect my model (pro). 

[samuttodd]

Well,    I appreciate everybody's information.    Some great ideas here.

 

Since I'd rather save my money for other things, and i like a good DIY  project,   I am going to buy a box fan and push the air through a hepa filter sealed to the front of the fan with good sturdy tape.

 

It should work and It will give me something to occupy my time.

 

[lopburi3]

1 hour ago, saengd said:

I've never had anyone clean my aircon filters except once a year when they get serviced and that's been that way for twenty years. If using filtrette, remove it and replace it, if not, do nothing. There's no real filter to clean inside an aircon unit, just a mesh screen to catch the big debris such as bugs and lizards.

That mesh is a dust filter and will become mostly blocked within a few weeks if not cleaned and AC air flow severely restricted and huge extra electric expense to keep running.  Not to mention the mold/mildew/such you will be circulating into your breathing air.  Clean those filters.