Creating your own air purifier is an easy and inexpensive way to improve the air quality in your home. With a few simple materials, you can build a box of five filters that will help reduce odors, such as those from wildfire smoke, and minimize cross-contamination by improving the level of filtration. Here's how to make a pleated air filter for your DIY air purifier. Start by making a cardboard template of your old filter. This will help you design the best way to cut your giant filter and ensure you have enough for everything.
Once you have the template, take your old filter out of the machine and place it on the cardboard. Next, you'll need to add a fine wire mesh to hold the filter cloth in place. This is especially important for pleated oven filters with a soft felt lining. For the best results, use an air purifier with a genuine HEPA filter, which captures 99.97 percent of particles at 0.3 microns. To build your DIY air purifier, connect a very high-efficiency oven filter to a basic box fan.
You can also add a charcoal filter to reduce odors. To increase the surface area where air travels, build a box of five filters. This will help improve the level of filtration and reduce the amount of virus-carrying particles circulating in the air. The Minimal Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) measures how effectively a filter prevents particles of different sizes from passing through and entering the air system. To create an effective air filter, use four MERV-13 air filters and tape them to the four sides of a box fan.
This will create an air filter that can be placed in any room. Jim Rosenthal, former president of the National Air Filtration Association and CEO of Tex-Air Filters, estimates that it will take six months before the filters become so clogged that the fan can no longer suck an adequate amount of air through them. Ross Trethewey, an expert in home technology, shows how air filtration systems work and how to build a localized home air filter. Finally, remember that while air purifiers CANNOT eliminate COVID-19 or any virus, they can help minimize cross-contamination by improving the level of filtration and reducing the amount of virus-carrying particles circulating in the air. The higher speed is probably because I have a higher air flow with this air purifier (this one has a larger fan and a straighter path for the air).
