Overall, the best MERV rating for a home is between 8 and 10.These filters will capture a large part of the particles in the air and improve indoor air quality without causing your energy costs to increase significantly. In most cases, a MERV 11 air filter isn't too tall for residential use. Generally speaking, anything under a MERV 13 air filter should provide very efficient air purification in a home without affecting airflow. Meanwhile, air filters with a MERV 14 rating or higher are designed for commercial HVAC systems that can handle the coarsest filter material.
Overall, our recommended MERV rating for oven filters ranges from 6 to 8 to strike a great balance between maximum oven efficiency and home comfort. In general, filters with higher MERV ratings are more effective and improve air quality, but they are also more expensive. Plus, taller doesn't always mean better for homeowners. MERV ratings greater than 16 are commonly used in specialized commercial environments where air filtration is essential, such as hospitals.
Obtaining filters with the correct MERV ratings is essential to ensuring that the air is well filtered without overloading the HVAC system. Since a high MERV rating means more particles will be removed from the air, you may first think about using only air filters with the highest MERV rating. MERV, also known as the Minimum Efficiency Report Value, is a system used to evaluate the efficiency of an air filter based on its effectiveness in capturing particles of different sizes. In contrast, a high MERV rating indicates that the filter does a good job of removing particles from the air.
Nor will it put additional pressure on your oven, since the mesh of the material is not as dense as a higher MERV rating. MERV stands for Minimum Value of Efficiency Reports, which is a rating system designed by the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). This rating is more efficient than MERV 8 and 11 with the ability to filter even more allergens from the air. The MERV rating is there to tell you how efficient the air filter is at filtering particles of certain sizes.
The best MERV rating for your home will depend on what you want to filter and the amount of airflow your HVAC system needs to operate. A MERV rating will let you know how many particles can escape through the filter and how efficiently the airflow can move through your system. For example, if an air filter can capture at least 20% of E1 particles, 65% of E2 and 85% of E3 particles, it will obtain a MERV 11 rating. Filters that are MERV 16 to 20 are generally only found in hospitals, cleanrooms, and nuclear power plants.
