Use 3M filters to clean the indoor air and reduce your allergies

3M is a globally diversified company with a wide product offering that includes such diverse items as health care, communications, graphics, transportation, and filters. The company has been very successful with it’s range of 3M filters, so chances are that your central heating/cooling unit has been installed with a 3M filter.

Most furnace filters, such as the 3M filter, are designed to protect the blower motor and equipment in the furnace from dust, lint and the like. They can also be used as pre-filters to protect more expensive HEPA filters and extend their life.

However, depending on the model of 3M filter that you use, indoor air quality can be significantly improved. These filters can remove pollen, pet dander, and other tiny particles.

3M filters are the better quality filters on the market. They are better than pleated filters or electrostatic filters, let alone the basic furnace filter.

The simplest home air filter has a loose pad of coarse fiberglass fibers. Most often the pad is one inch thick, adequate for filtering lint and hair etc to protect the central heating/cooling unit, but not much else.
Pleated filters are of much better quality and trap smaller particles such as spores, mold, pollen, but most bacteria, viruses, and certainly smoke are not removed.
Electrostatic filters are made of electrostatically charged fibers. They act like tiny magnets to capture in some cases up to 30 times more pollen, pet dander, smoke, dust and other allergens than standard fiberglass filters.

3M filters are pleated as well as electrostatic, and 3M’s top of the line filter rivals the efficiency of better quality electronic air cleaners.

The best electronic air cleaners can capture particles as small as 0.1 microns while the top of the line 3M filter is effective down to 0.3 microns.

Remember that you can run your forced-air system fan whenever somebody in your household suffers from hay fever - not just during heating and cooling seasons.

In any case, it’s best to let the fan run continuously – as the air in your home is continually re-circulated through the filter, it gets cleaner all the time.

One word of warning though, be sure to replace the 3M filter on a regular basis – every 3 months for a furnace filter, and every 2 months for an air conditioner.
Otherwise, if you leave the filter in too long it can become clogged. This reduces the airflow, hampers the heater’s heating capability, and can even damage the furnace.

For more information on related products, please choose from the following:

Whole House Purifiers | Replacement Filters