Filtrete16x20x1 AC Furnace Air Filter, MERV 12, MPR 1500, CERTIFIED asthma & allergy friendly, 3 Month Pleated 1-Inch Electrostatic Air Cleaning Filter, 4-Pack (Actual Size 15.69 x 19.69 x 0.78 in)

After moving into my house 2 years ago, I had the crawlspace and attic encapsulated and insulated, followed by installation of an energy recovery ventilation system and sealing of the baseboards of all outer walls. The HVAC consultants who did this work explained that my house is now extremely “tight,” i.e. the ERV brings fresh air and exhausts stale air out, and the house no longer leaks air. The last thing I want to do is upset the air pressure by choosing the wrong filter after the complicated renovations. Thus I tried the Filtrete 1500 because the top reviewer for this product said it had the lowest pressure drop.I think the Filtrete 1500 works as well as the Filtrete 1900 and Filtrete 1200 with charcoal in my house (I rate them all a 5), but no filter has been as important as frequent vacuuming. I use a Miele vacuum cleaner throughout the house once a week, then use a Swiffer WetJet on the hardwood floors. I also vacuum the curtains and baseboards about once every 2 months. If you do this consistently, dust bunnies never have a chance to form, and the air that recirculates in the house gets cleaner and cleaner over time. The extra house work pays off in better health and lower costs. After 2 years of this cleaning routine, my allergies improved so much that I stopped using antihistamines, and filters easily last 3 months.

I bought these filters to try what many consider the 'gold standard' of HVAC filters. What a joke. The first two images show gobs of hot melt glue on the paper face of each of the filters. This is the face that should seal up to the air return filter housing. No sealing taking place here. While this is just poor quality control. The more egregious fail is in the economy approach to overlapping the cardboard frame in each of the four corners. This is a designed in leak path that they deliberately build into each filter, in each of the four corners. Every filter, every corner, every day. Trivial, you say? They promote filtration down to 0.3 micron in this model, yet put four leak paths of .017" (254 microns) in each and every corner? Sorry, this approach is just bogus. These two filters are going in the trash, and I'm back to the Nordic Pure MERV 12 product. Better design, better QC, 1/3 the cost, and made in the USA (vs. Mexico for 3M).

Installed the filter on 10/22/18. The picture is what the filter looked like on 12/13/18--the app showed 56% Good.I started having allergy symptoms a week ago and thought to check the filter today--since the app showed 56%, I didn't expect to see a filter this dirty. I guess there are two ways to look at it: 1) The filter might have been doing its job; and 2) Not so great for those of us with allergies.Customer support stated: "Cole H (12/13/2018, 2:57:52 PM): The Smart technology measures the air quality and the pressure drop (airflow resistance) data and determines when the filter needs to be changed based on that information. " So I guess the filter could be black when the app indicated it was time to change.I've decided to skip "Smart" technology and add a monthly reminder on my calendar to change the filter.

Origionally I bought these because i made a $50 bet with my husband that a quality air filter can help alleviate allergy symptoms in the home. He swore the only difference in air filters was the price. I don't know what I enjoyed more, the $50 or the moment I looked him dead in the eye & said those glorious words "I told you so"

I have been using subscribe and save for my filters lately, but I have been having problem with them coming damage. This particular time the, box was undamaged but the filter has a damage circle of it. I will have to go back to buying them locally.Here is my review of these filter. I have used many different strengths, but downgraded a little because of the cost.SHORT ANSWER: These filters are great and I can tell a difference when I used a higher grade filter but that can vary depending on the level that I started and how clean the house was previously by a high filter. Don’t forget to check the air filter regularly because a dirty filter can cause the coils to freeze up and will need to be turn off to unfreeze. Don’t forget to have your AC/heater check and make sure you tell them to clear the line (they may not normally do it, but should.)LONG REVIEW:I started using 1500 (at the time the purple label) and have used up to 2800. I live in a place where I get very sick because of all the pollution, pollen, dust, and in the winter smoke from miscellaneous burned things from across the border.How well do these work …..well that depends on how you live your life.We for the most part keep our windows and doors closed and always run the fan on a/c (heater) unit so it is alway cleaning the air which was recommended to us. If you have pets and open your window and door a lot and keep them open it will be hard to keep your air cleaner. The cleaner you have your house the better it will be vacuuming, dusting, etc….We have box fan with 20 x 20 filters on it. We tried using, them then we stop, and now we are using them again. We started using 1500 and upgraded recently to 1900.At first I thought when we used the 2800 filter it was really only a physiologically made me feel better, but I up graded our fan filters from 1500 to 1900 and notice they appeared to get dirty fast. After that observation I believe they make a difference.How fast can it clean your air? Depend on your life (mentioned above) and house size. I have notices that it can take about month or so to clean our small house.There is a visual difference the higher you go. The higher filter look different with more pleats and a stronger gauge on the wire across the front and back.KEEP IN MIND**If you don’t change your filter when it gets dirty it can freeze the coils because of poor air circulation and you will need to leave the air conditioner off for a while to melt the coils.**Regular maintenance can prevent problems make sure you have your ac/furnace is check year and TELL THEM TO CLEAR THE LINE (they don’t always do this automatically) and can get clogged and cause flooding.**AC not turning on also check the batteries.I’m sure there are more, but these either happened to me personally or I heard about them and wanted to pass this knowledge along.

Can't recommend the product the pressure drop was so big .45 in my case that it would cause the limit switch in the furnace to trigger meaning the burners would go off but the fan would stay on (safety feature) blowing cold air. Used a cheaper filter Merv 8 and the pressure drop was only .25 and no issues with the switch being triggered, if you're getting these high end filters make sure your furnace can handle the pressure drop increase also these filters just makes your furnace work harder (more energy) to circulate air.

These are just about the highest quality furnace filters on the market, and the price is better than ANY STORE. Walmart, or CanTire included. Awesome things. Spending extra money for high quality filters saves your health, and you will notice that dusting almost becomes unnecessary. They're that good!

its a happy medium between small particles getting captured and using a even higher MPR that basically blocks your air flow completely and makes your furnace work way harder to push air through. for people with allergies like myself it works amazing, our ducts stay cleaner as a result and as long as you change it regularly you will get all the benefits of it.

Exactly as advertised and what you would purchase in store

We have an asthmatic in the house so we try to make sure the air is extra clean. MPR 1500 does a good job on this, although MPR 1900 would be even better. I find the cost high, but 3M quality is reliable.