New System Build - get air cleaner too?

[georgewa]

We live near Portland, OR and are planning to put in a new HP/cooling coil to supplement a Trane gas heater which we are going to upgrade to var speed fan (see previous thread). One of the big reasons for the upgrade is to deal with noise and increased dust that we are anticipating with some nearby new home construction in the coming year (4-6 units in the lot next to ours). We like to open the windows at night and cool days and could open the windows on the side away from the construction since construction is to be done only on the south side of our lot.

The question is - should we upgrade the air filtration with a whole house air cleaner ? Not too long ago I reviewed this subject and thought we could deal with dust by changing the gas heater filters more frequently and/or using better grade filters. The filters we use currently are the best the Trane dealer has and are not the el cheapo ones. The other option is to add an electrostatic/filter module to the system like Trane Perfect Fit ( Consumer Reports like Aprilaire 5000 and Carrier Aira better ) . I definitely don't want ozone and that's why I dismissed the idea of any electrostatic component earlier.

Your opinions are welcome.

Thank you.

Walter

[amickracing]

In general you can't go wrong by having your filtration system being too good.

But.. be careful using super good filters on your system if they aren't designed for it. I personally think a 4 or 5" pleated filter that's sized and installed correctly would be more than enough. A whole house filter system might be a bit of over kill. But... one idea could be installing an ERV or HRV that will filter the heck out of the air, and also slightly pressurize the house to help keep the dust from seeping in through the nooks and cranny's in the house.

[hankmcneil]

I know of situations where persons with air-born allergies have been helped greatly by HEPA filters, think it's overkill otherwise. EAC(electronic) filters are the best WHEN CLEAN, however as soon as you start to use them they start to get dirty(and ineffective), and NO ONE cleans them often enough. Cheap-o filters are only slightly better than nothing. If you have a 1" slot I advise using any middle of the road filter and changeing it monthly. If all options are open I would advise a pleated "media" filter (such as Spaceguard 2200) which should be changed at least yearly. On changing filters: filters are much cheaper than the damage dirty ones cause!

[georgewa]

Thank you gentlemen for your thoughts.

Please excuse the fact I'm a real newbie, so the abbrev. ERV and HRV are new to me.

Thank you again.

Walter

[amickracing]

No problem.

Here's a basic description of them, they can describe it better than I could.
http://www.toolbase.org/Technology-Inventory/HVAC/energy-recovery-ventilators

[georgewa]

Thank you; it was all very helpful and new stuff. More to think about but it's always better to hear it before than after you start new work.

Walter