We had a Carrier central air system installed in 2014 (model 4ANB736, 17 SEER, 3 ton, 2 stage condenser, FE4ANB003 fan coil, variable speed) in our small ranch style house with a living area of 1425 sq ft located in a suburb of NYC. (In retrospect this was probably overkill but that's a question for another day, lol). My question today has to do with the filter in the return.
The installing/servicing company has always put a Glasfloss 23.5 x 29.5 x 1 style G3 filter in the return as part of the annual check/tuneup/service contract. This is only a MERV-3 filter which essentially does little or nothing, IMHO. We've had Carrier central air in our past three homes and the return filters were always the pleated type, so a few years ago I asked why a more effective return filter couldn't be used instead. HVAC company told me that the fiberglass filter was the "correct one for this system" and that anything else would be "too restrictive" and "cause problems with cooling." As mentioned, this is a small house, one level, with just the one return and 7 ceiling registers, and an open floorplan. Given the system size, their answer doesn't make sense to me unless there is something that makes this system especially finicky (it does short cycle a lot and the airflow noise is absolutely ridiculous when the unit is on high stage - very annoying.)
Is there any reason why we could not use a MERV 8, 10, 11 or even MERV 13 filter in the return? A friend recently suggested that the HVAC company may be simply wanting to save money by supplying a lower MERV/less expensive fiilter as the freebie with the annual tuneup, which I suppose is possible. I have no problem with buying our own higher-MERV filter as long as doing so won't cause problems with the system operation which -- I have to say -- has been a disappointment in a couple of respects.
I can't imagine that a MERV 3 fiberglass filter is providing much benefit to either the system mechanics or to us as residents. Should the system we have be able to handle a more effective return filter, and if so, how high of a MERV could we use? Thanks!
The installing/servicing company has always put a Glasfloss 23.5 x 29.5 x 1 style G3 filter in the return as part of the annual check/tuneup/service contract. This is only a MERV-3 filter which essentially does little or nothing, IMHO. We've had Carrier central air in our past three homes and the return filters were always the pleated type, so a few years ago I asked why a more effective return filter couldn't be used instead. HVAC company told me that the fiberglass filter was the "correct one for this system" and that anything else would be "too restrictive" and "cause problems with cooling." As mentioned, this is a small house, one level, with just the one return and 7 ceiling registers, and an open floorplan. Given the system size, their answer doesn't make sense to me unless there is something that makes this system especially finicky (it does short cycle a lot and the airflow noise is absolutely ridiculous when the unit is on high stage - very annoying.)
Is there any reason why we could not use a MERV 8, 10, 11 or even MERV 13 filter in the return? A friend recently suggested that the HVAC company may be simply wanting to save money by supplying a lower MERV/less expensive fiilter as the freebie with the annual tuneup, which I suppose is possible. I have no problem with buying our own higher-MERV filter as long as doing so won't cause problems with the system operation which -- I have to say -- has been a disappointment in a couple of respects.
I can't imagine that a MERV 3 fiberglass filter is providing much benefit to either the system mechanics or to us as residents. Should the system we have be able to handle a more effective return filter, and if so, how high of a MERV could we use? Thanks!
source https://hvac-talk.com/vbb/showthread.php?2222981-Any-reason-not-to-upgrade-the-filter-on-this-Carrier-system&goto=newpost
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