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Posted by Terry on June 19, 2006, 10:58 am
wrote:
>Toller wrote:
>>
>> >
>> > When deciding between going with an electronic filter vs filter media
>> > (assuming cost isn't an issue) which would be better. I've seen how
>> > electronic filters are built and I would think that they provide less
>> > restriction. However, I've been told the opposite - that filter media
>> > provides less restriction than electronic filters... Is that true?
>> >
>> Unless they clean a whole lot easier than do the ones I got 10 years ago,
>> you would have to be crazy to buy an electronic filter. I pulled mine and
>> use a pleated filter instead.
>> Not only are they difficult to clean and expensive, but expensive to fix.
>
>Not sure which type you had, but most are extremely easy to clean. You
>pull the collector grids and either hose them down outside, or just run
>them through the dishwasher. Super easy, just have to make sure they are
>dried completely before putting them back.
In the middle of a new england winter, hosing them down outside is not
realistic. Putting them thorugh the dishwasher works, but only one wil
fit in ours at a time, and there are two of them, so you have to run
two cycles through the dishwasher. After two cycles you have to wait
for the second one to dry. Not difficult, I agree, but annoying, and
while you're doing this you are running the furnace without an air
cleaner.
>As for fixing, there is little to fix on one. It's just a HV power
>supply and a collection grid. Considering the power supply is little
>different than a neon sign transformer and those last decades without
>failures there is little reason that a quality EP unit should ever need
>service in any reasonable lifetime.
>
I had a Honeywell electronic air cleaner, dates from about 1987. It
has a little sensor that detects air flow in the furnace output. That
way the air cleaner turns itself on and off without tieing into the
furnace fan circuit. When that detector board failed, all you could
do was replace it -- for a cost of $500.
I can get good pleated filters that fit in the Honeywell air cleaner
"slot", and that's what I use now. Changing them once a year takes
about 1 minute.
Another disadvantage of electronic air cleaners is the "snapping"
noise that they make when they run. If you have a bedroom right over
the furnace, you can hear this and it's pretty annoying.
Terry
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