Got a K&N Filter - - - for my house

    Quote from Neosolidus

    once again this thread has proven what happens when you assume........ make an ass out of yourself . lol

    I should have read the whole thread before replaying to the OP. ;(

    nah - your assumption was very reasonable - oiled foam filters is what we are all accustomed to coming from K&N so thats what we expect.


    These home filters dont look like foam to me, not sure what it is, but its some type of material and pleated in the same manner as a paper filter - - cant really tell you much more when I got mine I didnt spend a great deal of time inspecting it, just unwrapped it and installed it - - like I said above it seemed very well made, I will have to inspect it more closely when I pull it out to clean it

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    From K&N website regarding their home filters:

    (but they don’t say what the “synthetic filter media” exactly is - proprietary, I’m sure)


    Slingshots: making children out of adults since 2014

    Its is interesting that I seem to be getting better airflow throughout my house with this K&N filter than I was with the 2 inch MERV 8 filters I had been using - - K&N says its high flow, but being only one inch and MERV 11 I was expecting reduced airflow


    only been a 3+ days, but I must say that so far I am very pleased that I decided to give this a try - - the 2 inch filters I was using were over $10 each so this will easily pay for itself pretty quickly

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    Got my filter in today, figured I would do an unboxing and initial thoughts, with pics of course.


    First impression, I think K&N has some ex- Amazon workers in their warehouse, boxing up their products. This is what Fedex left me on the front porch. Notice the standard 12oz coke can for size


    TGYz9Mv.jpg

    My filter isn't that big, 16x20, and while it's not heavy, this box had some weight to it. The box on the right wasn't that heavy, for the size, but still.


    So yeah, the filter box wasn't nearly as big as it seemed, obviously they use a 1 size box for them all, or were out of smaller boxes. The cleaner box could easily have 5 or 6 more bottles in it, but good packaging on the liquid!


    WroEqUP.jpg


    Went and pulled the old filter to compare, along with the bottle of cleaner for sizing.


    t0zylPW.jpg?1


    Put them both up into a window to get some light, clearly the K&N is thicker than the cheap paper filter. I've been using paper ones forever, cheap ones that I replace monthly.


    puQg0aL.jpg


    Of note, the new one is quite a bit heavier, the K&N branded box had some heft to it as well, adding to my initial weight assessment, but the filter itself weighs more, which is to be expected, due to it not being made out of paper, and the frame is plastic, not cardboard.


    JF0l3Wn.jpg


    I plan to remove in a month to clean and see how it's doing, compared to my normal routine of discarding and installing another. I still have two new ones of the paper type, may still run one of these and compare back and forth, will have to see after this first month on the K&N.


    I'll try and remember to post a follow up.

    I ordered mine from amazon and it was boxed very well even had bubble wrap protecting the inner K&N box


    I will be interested to see how our experiences compare

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    Okay - just a quick update


    just cleaned my K&N AC filter for the first time - - I didnt buy the cleaner that they sell, I wanted to see how it worked with just water and I must say I am very happy, I shook off the dust and dog hair and then rinsed with the hose and it came out looking just like new


    The one thing I want to give a heads up on is that you really need to let it dry fully before putting in back in the AC - in the past with a different filter I used to just let it dry in the unit, but this K&N doesnt work when its wet the foam or whatever it is swells up and will not flow air at all, - so be sure to let it air dry standing on end for a good hour in the sun


    Anyway I very happy with this filter - - highly recommended :thumbsup:

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    Okay - I need to update this thread - - had to ditch the K&N


    My system can use either a 1 inch filter or a 2 inch - - seems the MERV 11, 1 inch K&N, can't provide enough air flow reliably for my AC to function properly - when the humidity kicked up last week when we were out of town the low airflow caused my system to freeze up, fortunately we caught it before it did any real damage. just switched back to a 2 inch MERV 8 and the increase in air flow is is very substantial - - - as much as I liked the idea of a permanent filter of K&N quality I guess my system just works better with the much greater area of a 2 inch filter and the air it allows to flow

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    In my experience on most AC systems the return filter is too small. They do not like to run large returns because they cannot hide them. On my original system I had a 10 inch by 20 inch filter with a 14 inch return duct, yes that is correct. I have a floor return and built a cabinet so that I could run two 20 x 30 inch filters, now I cannot even hear the AC running. Also in the playroom I expermented by running a single 20 x 20 filter and then I stepped up to 2 each 20 x 20 filters, If I ever get around to it I am going still going to step up to at least to a 20 x 60 filter. If your filter is sucking in while your AC is running you do not have a large enough filter area. Now as to the money the more air flow you have across your AC the less money it is going to cost you to cool your house and the less problems you will have with your AC unit. I do not care what your AC man says. Then you look at what filter you are running, look at the air flow across that filter. If you want to run one of those HEPA filters you had better thriple the filter size at least.

    Quote from Edward Neal

    Okay - I need to update this thread - - had to ditch the K&N


    My system can use either a 1 inch filter or a 2 inch - - seems the MERV 11, 1 inch K&N, can't provide enough air flow reliably for my AC to function properly - when the humidity kicked up last week when we were out of town the low airflow caused my system to freeze up, fortunately we caught it before it did any real damage. just switched back to a 2 inch MERV 8 and the increase in air flow is is very substantial - - - as much as I liked the idea of a permanent filter of K&N quality I guess my system just works better with the much greater area of a 2 inch filter and the air it allows to flow

    Finally something you say makes sense.

    I am now running two each 20 x 20 washable Alum. filters in the house for max airflow. In the Playroom I am running the washable fiber open filter 20 x 40 (the one you cut to size) from Lowes. Even The EL cheap-O fiber glas filters in the play room are sucking in because of the lack of air flow.

    Quote from Tripod

    MERV 8 vs. MERV 11…


    https://filterbuy.com/resources/merv-8-vs-merv-11/

    its more than the MERV rating in my case - its also a 2 inch filter with twice the area vs the 1 inch K&N - - like I said the difference it the air flow is big

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    Quote from FunCycle

    I do not even look at the MERV any more. Even with the temps around 100 degrees I am running mist on the AC units to help out. Yes It does work. OK! Believe it or not I am done on this.

    I have no doubt the mist helps - - many years back I remember seeing a local company selling cooling systems that had a misting system built into a huge duct that was intended to pre cool the air before it entered the AC system - - at the time the booth at the home show where I saw it said it made a huge difference in the energy the system needed to cool the air. In all the years since then I have never seen that system being sold for home owners again, but I do know there are big commercial systems that have water cooling involved as a part of the. system

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    Quote from FunCycle

    In my experience on most AC systems the return filter is too small. They do not like to run large returns because they cannot hide them. On my original system I had a 10 inch by 20 inch filter with a 14 inch return duct, yes that is correct. I have a floor return and built a cabinet so that I could run two 20 x 30 inch filters, now I cannot even hear the AC running. Also in the playroom I expermented by running a single 20 x 20 filter and then I stepped up to 2 each 20 x 20 filters, If I ever get around to it I am going still going to step up to at least to a 20 x 60 filter. If your filter is sucking in while your AC is running you do not have a large enough filter area. Now as to the money the more air flow you have across your AC the less money it is going to cost you to cool your house and the less problems you will have with your AC unit. I do not care what your AC man says. Then you look at what filter you are running, look at the air flow across that filter. If you want to run one of those HEPA filters you had better thriple the filter size at least.

    Hey FunCycle what you built sounds similar to my setup. my AC does not have any return duct work - the unit itself sits on top of an air box in the corner on my garage the box is 5 feet long, just under 3 feet deep and 2 feet tall. This air box provides a floor return that has two return openings on the sides that open into the house that are 32x15" each. The unit itself sits on top of a filter box that holds the filter. This box is the same length and width as the unit itself and has a door you open to slide in the filter. this filter box is designed to hold a 2 inch thick filter but there are inserts that can be installed that will allow the use of a 1 inch filter. because of this air box design there are no restrictions caused by duct work the entire air path into the AC unit is fully open with the only restriction being whatever comes from the filter itself. Anyway now that I am back to a 2 inch filter the air flow seems to be back to where it should be - :thumbsup:

    Cage Free - 2016 Pearl Red SL

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    Quote from Edward Neal

    many years back I remember seeing a local company selling cooling systems that had a misting system built into a huge duct that was intended to pre cool the air before it entered the AC system - - at the time the booth at the home show where I saw it said it made a huge difference in the energy the system needed to cool the air. In all the years since then I have never seen that system being sold for home owners again,

    I have seen them. I have been told that places with high humidity (like Florida) they are less effective.

    https://coolnsave.com/product/cool-n-save-ac-misting-kit/

    I have a reusable aluminum filter that I rinse weekly.

    Much like the swamp coolers my parents used when they moved to California. They worked in that dry air as the cooling comes from evaporation. Here in Florida they would just add to the humidity. Not that you can add anything to 100%. At least as it warms up durning the day it drops into the 80 percent range. 84 degrees and 82% right now at 10 oclock.

    If the music is to loud you are to old.

    Quote from echoraven

    I have seen them. I have been told that places with high humidity (like Florida) they are less effective.

    https://coolnsave.com/product/cool-n-save-ac-misting-kit/

    I have a reusable aluminum filter that I rinse weekly.

    I use the little curly Q mister thing sold at Lowes and Home Depot for around $6 each. I use the two 20 x 20 inch Alum. filters and wash them every 90 days. There is also something else that you can do that makes a "BIG" difference if you are using a central AC unit, shade the unit so it is not in the direct sun. By doing this the unit does not have to cool the box before it starts cooling the house. The first time that I did this back in the 1970's there was a $25 difference in the electri bill per month, just by shading the unit.