Activated Carbon Air Filter Vs Hepa

You would think that hepa filter is all you need but you also need charcoal activated carbon filter.

Activated carbon air filter vs hepa.

This is often compared with the merv rating scale. Some filters claim to be hepa certified a standard for air filtration or made with carbon which may increase the potential for particulates to stick to the material blocking it from entering. Airborne particulates react chemically with the carbon in the filter causing it to. The technology behind this system is very different than the one used with hepa filters.

Carbon filters remove bad smells and bad odors from the air room. All hepa filters are tested and certified to be at least 99 97 efficiency in. Unlike hepa filters carbon uses absorption taking the contaminants into its porous surface. Carbon filters use activated carbon to remove microbes and other impurities in the air.

Carbon filters remove bad odor. In air purification systems hepa media is generally utilized in combination with activated carbon media to provide odor removal regardless of the smell s source whether it s caused by. Carbon filter job is different. This nasa study of hepa filtration is quite technical but the graph on page 7 and the preceding paragraph do a good job of explaining why hepa filters are actually most efficient almost 100 at.

It is used in water purification as well as air filtering among other things like gas processing. However due to differences in filtering capabilities hepa and carbon filters are often used in different industries. Beware that when you see a filter being rated as hepa like or hepa type it means that it does not comply with the high standard true hepa filters follow. Hepa air filters are not merv rated as they exceed the ashrae test protocol 52 2 used in determining the merv ratings.

Ideally both of of these two filters should be used together given that they both filter out different contaminants this article will explore the differences between the two in more detail below.