Does Carbon Side On Furnice Filter Face Away From Furnace

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If you have bad odors in your habitation, you may detect that they're tough to get rid of. Even using the standard filters in an air purifier or your home'due south HVAC organisation doesn't help much.

If you want to go rid of odors and gaseous compounds from the air in your home, you lot demand to take a different approach. This is where using an activated carbon air filter comes into play.

What is an activated carbon filter?

An activated carbon air filter consists of a bed of carbon encased in a cloth or mesh-like material. These filters remove gaseous compounds from the air. Molecules such as odors and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are extremely tiny and volition sideslip right through a normal air filter. Activated carbon filters trap these molecules and remove them from the air in your home.

How does an activated carbon filter work?

The activated carbon in carbon air filters is an extremely porous substance. In fact, it is so porous, that typical activated carbon has a surface area of 1000m² per gram. That'due south one square kilometer for every gram of textile!

Why is the surface expanse of activated carbon so important? The more area that it has, the better chance that the activated carbon will take to capture molecules.

Activated carbon air filters remove gases from the air by trapping them in a lattice of carbon molecules. This process is called adsorption.

Carbon air filters and the adsorption procedure

Every bit air flows through a carbon filter, all the molecules in the airflow through the filter likewise. As the molecules flow through the filter, they pass through the activated carbon. Some of the molecules become trapped in the carbon due to the process of adsorption.

Adsorption happens when a particle gets stuck to the surface of a material. This is an of import concept to empathize for carbon filters. The more area that is bachelor, the ameliorate chance that a particle will have to get stuck to the carbon filter.

Adsorption is similar absorption, but in that location is one distinct difference. Adsorption happens when a particle gets stuck to the surface of a textile. Absorption happens when a particle gets stuck inside a material.

What to look for when buying a carbon air filter

Non all air filters are made equal. This is specially truthful for carbon air filters. There are a few different things that you need to look out for when purchasing a carbon air filter:

Corporeality of carbon. With carbon air filters, the more carbon that is used, the better. When the carbon becomes saturated with compounds from the air, it loses its effectiveness. An air filter with a thin layer of carbon will only filter out odors for a brusque menstruum of time.
There are different types of activated carbon every bit well. Depending on the product process, activated carbon can accept more surface expanse and binding sites, so it volition be more efficient. However, generally speaking, the more carbon that is used, the better.
The thickness of the carbon layer. Carbon air filters with a thick layer of carbon will be more than effective than ones with a thin layer. This is because compounds in the air must pass through more layers of carbon. Equally odors and VOCs flow through a thick carbon filter, at that place will be more chances for them to become stuck to the carbon material.
Filter blazon. Some carbon filters consist of carbon encased in a polymer mesh. These types of air filters are pre-filters. They are not designed to remove normal grit particles from the air, so utilize them in conjunction with a MERV-rated air filter.
Other types of carbon air filters consist of carbon encased in a standard MERV-rated air filter. If you use this type of air filter, and so you won't need to use an additional filter since the one filter takes care of both standard particle and aroma/VOC filtration.

My Selection: Activated Carbon Air Filters

Filtrete Allergen Defense Smell Reduction

These MERV 11 filters go one stride further to reduce odors in your habitation's air. Perfect for people with pets, or those that are sensitive to certain types of smells.

Check Price

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Pros and cons of using an activated carbon filter

Activated carbon air filters are useful for a few different things. However, there are some drawbacks to using carbon air filters as well.

Here are the pros and cons of using activated carbon air filters:

Pros:

VOC filtration. Activated carbon air filters filter out volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs can come from both inside and exterior your habitation. Within your dwelling house, they primarily come from things around the house, such as cleaners, paint, and air fresheners. Smog and air pollution are VOCs that come from outside your home.
Odour neutralization. Activated carbon air filters as well remove odors from the air inside your home. Odorous compounds are too small to be trapped by a standard household air filter. However, many of these compounds volition readily react with activated carbon, causing the odor to be removed from the air.

Cons:

No particle filtration. Activated carbon filters are not designed to remove common grit, pollen, and air particles found in your home. Therefore, you still need to use your standard MERV-rated air filter in your home'southward Ac or furnace system.
However, in that location are some MERV-rated filters that contain a layer of activated carbon into their structure. These filters are substantially a two-in-ane for both aroma/VOC and particle removal. If you use one of these carbon filters in your abode's HVAC organization, then yous won't need an additional MERV-rated air filter.
Requires regular replacement. Unlike pleated air filters, activated carbon air filters become less efficient with more utilize. This means that after a carbon air filter is used for a while, it won't work anymore.
No matter what, using an onetime carbon filter will be less effective than a new one. And so retrieve to change your carbon air filter on a regular basis. I recommend changing your carbon filter at least every 3 months. Simply information technology depends on the size and thickness of the filter, as well as how many pollutants it removes from your home's air.

The all-time thing to do is to check with the manufacturer of the carbon filter that you are using. If y'all start to smell odors effectually your home again, it might exist time to change the carbon filter.

Cleaning a carbon air filter

Unfortunately, there isn't a way to effectively clean an activated carbon air filter past yourself. Re-activation of carbon is a complicated, expensive process that is usually washed in a manufacturing plant. So you lot're just better off getting a new filter instead.

There are cleaning methods out there that tell you to clean the filter with water or to vacuum the filter. Merely those methods will simply clean out dust particles. Information technology won't remove odor compounds or VOCs.

Should yous use a carbon air filter in your habitation?

If you have pets, odors, or smoke in your habitation, then a carbon air filter will help improve the air quality inside your habitation. Even if yous don't notice any odors, using a carbon air filter can remove harmful VOCs from your home'south air.

Harmful pollutants such as odors and gases will slip right through high-MERV and HEPA filters. Even if y'all use an efficient pleated air filter in your home, carbon air filters will still provide benefits. Only an activated carbon filter will be able to trap and neutralize odors and gases in your dwelling house's air.

Using a UV light helps to sanitize your room'south air also. But UV lights are only effective at neutralizing organic and living things. While UV light can destroy mold, mildew, bacteria, and viruses, information technology won't help at removing odors or VOCs from the air in your home. Activated carbon air filters are the only fashion to remove odors and VOCs from your dwelling house's air.

Carbon air filters don't remove carbon monoxide (CO)

Fifty-fifty though activated carbon air filters can remove some gaseous compounds from the air, they can't remove them all. Carbon monoxide (CO) will slip right through a carbon air filter. So you lot'll still need to apply a CO monitor in your home if you lot apply a carbon air filter.

How is activated carbon fabricated?

Activated carbon is created by an activation procedure that makes information technology extremely useful for air filtration.

Since activated carbon is and then porous, it has many holes and tunnels that drastically increase its surface expanse. These holes and tunnels act as traps for odors and volatile organic compounds.

At that place are two main treatments used to produce activated carbon: gas treatment and chemical treatment. These ii unlike methods tin produce similar products depending on the steps taken.

Generally, the production of activated carbon follows these steps:

Carbonization. First, a carbon-rich material is converted into pure carbon by heating information technology in a bedchamber. Typical materials used for carbonization are wood, coal, or kokosnoot shells.
The carbon-rich material is placed in a furnace and heated to very loftier temperatures, around 600-900 degrees celsius. After the heating process, only about 20-30 pct of the material's original weight remains.
Activation. During the activation procedure, oxygen binds to the surface of the carbon in a procedure called oxidization. Oxidization makes activated carbon very efficient at adsorption, and so this is a disquisitional step in the production process.
The carbon is activated in one of two ways:

Gas activation: The carbon is heated while gas is introduced. The introduction of gas exposes the carbon to oxygen which oxidizes the carbon. The carbon is heated to temperatures of around 900-1200 degrees celsius while gas is pumped into the chamber.

Chemic activation: A chemic solution is added to the carbon. Adjacent, the carbon is heated to a slightly lower temperature, around 400-900 degrees celsius.
Post-treatment. Finally, the carbon undergoes a mail-treatment process. This process finalizes the production of the activated carbon. During the mail service-treatment process, the activated carbon is processed into its last course. It is made into a specific shape and size, depending on what it volition exist used for.
If the activated carbon is used in air filters, information technology is fabricated into granular activated carbon. This type of carbon has grains that are nearly the size of small rocks or sand. This is the appropriate grain size for utilize in near air filters.