Gas and Oil Home Heating Furnaces - Advice about filters for heat pump

I have a Rheem heat pump. We have two filters - one upstairs and other downstairs which I change monthly. I received a catalog selling metal filter that you wash and re-use. They cost $79. I have not seen this type of filter at Lowes or Home Depot. Are they worth the money? I have springer-spaniel and hardwood floors. Someone mentioned that air filter receives more dust in this situation.


Thank you.

first off, if you have one system and 2 filters, remove one of them, preferrably the smaller of the 2. one filter is plenty, 2 will restrict airflow. you want the most sq in possible for filtration, therefore remove the smaller one. i personally do not like the washable filters. this is only my opinion, but you will find many others concurr. i use a 5 inch pleat on my rheem heat pump, known as an airbear. changed once a year, cost @$20, intallation of filter cabinet $175 to $300 depending on conditions. many options are available, i recommend a merv rating of 750 plus for 1 inch throwaway filter. too high of an efficiency filter can restrict airflow if return is not sized accordingly.

Thanks for the tip. The filters I have are the same size. They are located inside the I guess you call it the return vent? Can you provide more information about the filter cabinet? I don't understand why HVAC tech didn't suggest this when we purchased the unit.

Thanks again for taking the time to reply.

Kathy D

Where is your furance/air handler located??


Only reason I think you may have the air filters in the return vents that your unit maybe in the attic or crawl space, and it's easier to change the filters at the vent vs. trying to get to to change it..

Forget those filters you see in the ads.. Some are not worth the extra money.... or a major air restriction...


Just get the good pleted air filters from Home Depot or Lowes.. Ones I've used is the 3M Red package Pleted filters.. My home is much cleaner, and also the system.. I have hay feaver in the fall and using that filters helps me alot!

http://www.3m.com/us/home_leisure/filtrete/412_micro.jhtml

They may run $7 -$9 each, but they are far better than the 50 cents fiberglass..

The fiberglass only gets about 8% of the dust and blows rest of it around the house!! The red 3M catches about 80%...

Put Salt on the fiberglass filter, and they fall though!! Yuck...

The unit is in a very small space and the filter was very hard to change. The HVAC tech decided that it would be better to place filter in the return vents. He switched out the registers with the kind that open and you slip the filter in.

Should I only use one filter? If so, where? The heat pump is closer to the vent on first floor, but the second floor has a laundry room. We vent dryer to outside, and I always clean the dryer to make sure there is no lint buildup. You'd be surprised at the amount of lint, dust that collects beneath a dryer. I use a leaf blower to make sure I get most of it. (Also do this to my refrigerator).

I want to make sure I am performing proper maintenance on the heat pump. Don't want the expense of replacing it due to neglect.

Again,thank you for helping.

If you got two vents that is set up for filters, then do both of them.. Yeah it may get expensive changing them out. but they may last a bit longer being that you are in two diffrent area. vs one filter for the whole house... You be the judge on when the filters gets dark and dirty to change them out.

Thanks so much for your help. I change them every month. Beats having a large repair bill.

Thanks again.