Wife's had enough. Post your homemade air purifier ideas.

[Wood Worker]

I was thinking of running my dehumidifier, but my air is allready below 50% humidity.

 

[Joe13]

The filter over a box fan trick really does work in a pinch. Good luck!

except the fans and filters are sold out everywhere from my understanding

 

[made in china]

I used to work in semiconductor manufacturing industry.

In one of our maintenance rooms that we wanted to convert to HEPA filtration, we attempted to installed HEPA filters into the existing HVAC system. The HEPA filters have far more resistance than typical filters and we learned pretty quickly how bad of an idea it is to "retrofit" HEPA filtration. For example, if you replace a typical 16x24 filter panel with HEPA, you should consider increasing the filter panel area to something much larger. We never calculated it out, but I would guess that 3x the area is a start.

Putting HEPA filter to a box fan will not do much of anything.

We live in a 30 year old house that has a Honeywell electrostatic electronic air cleaner. When we had our furnace recently replaced, the furnace tech wanted to remove it because it is "outdated". Because it was still functioning we had it retained. It turns out electrostatic air cleaners are very highly effective against PM2.5 (and smaller), along the lines of 90% effectiveness and remain effective over prolonged use due to no filter media to clog. The electrostatic grids charge the particles and cause them to attach to the plates (like powdercoat). Very effective.
Apparently, the industry tired of the occasional electrical issues these devices have and even Honeywell recommended removing the electrostatic plates and using filter media instead which removes the electrical maintenance from the system. However, the filters create resistance and slowly clog up. Fortunately on our old house, this device was rarely powered on so it still works. We only use it in situations like this.
We're currently running the Honeywell electrostatic right now for the whole house to clear up the air. Works great.

Sucks to hear someone's pet died from this. My wife woke up to burning eyes and a sore throat. The PM2.5 AQI in our area is about 195. We used to live in a city in China where the PM2.5 AQI is in the mid-200's. We never had any filters or face masks back then, so we've already had high exposure to this kind of pollution before. However, 15 years of living in PNW has made us sensitive, like everyone else.

 

[Joe13]

Grow stores sell activated charcoal filters and the fans to connect them with.

Not Cheap but I couldn't find anything on Amazon that would arrive anytime soon.

I was able to borrow one from my parents since they have multiples in their house due to my moms lung issues.

Im guessing most people wouldn't think to hit the grow stores for supplies but I haven't actually called around to see what's available.

It has been working really well as my asthma is really bad right now - I've even been using a respirator to even open the door and take the trash out to the bin.

 

[dobeman]

if anyone is interested.. I have a couple Honeywell round HEPA filter machines we've had sitting around. We don't use them since we got the IQAir units. I was thinking of selling them. I could do a porch pickup in HIllsboro... you swing by pick it up, leave a payment.. box of ammor, or cash, or something. It's these type units: Honeywell 50250 True HEPA, Germ Fighting, Allergen Reducer Air Purifier, Permanent HEPA Filter | Honeywell Store.
except these are black. And they have good HEPA filters in them, ready to use. Message me if interested. You would of course have to come to Hillsboro, so maybe local people are interested.

 

[cigars]

Our HVAC has a Honeywell electrostaic air cleaner. I just deep cleaned the cells a couple of days ago when the smoke just started to get bad. That thing is a workhorse and a smoke eater as well. I would have to say that the air inside is at least 95% smoke free. There's some lingering smell but it's mild compared to outside, but our house is a bit leaky anyway. All we really smell is the ozone from the air cleaner. I was going to do the box/filter/fan thing but Home Depot was out of pretty much every HVAC filter, not to mention the ones that were rated for smoke. Weather forecast is saying rain on Monday and all through next week so that will be a game changer.

 

[cigars]

I used to work in semiconductor manufacturing industry.

In one of our maintenance rooms that we wanted to convert to HEPA filtration, we attempted to installed HEPA filters into the existing HVAC system. The HEPA filters have far more resistance than typical filters and we learned pretty quickly how bad of an idea it is to "retrofit" HEPA filtration. For example, if you replace a typical 16x24 filter panel with HEPA, you should consider increasing the filter panel area to something much larger. We never calculated it out, but I would guess that 3x the area is a start.

Putting HEPA filter to a box fan will not do much of anything.

We live in a 30 year old house that has a Honeywell electrostatic electronic air cleaner. When we had our furnace recently replaced, the furnace tech wanted to remove it because it is "outdated". Because it was still functioning we had it retained. It turns out electrostatic air cleaners are very highly effective against PM2.5 (and smaller), along the lines of 90% effectiveness and remain effective over prolonged use due to no filter media to clog. The electrostatic grids charge the particles and cause them to attach to the plates (like powdercoat). Very effective.
Apparently, the industry tired of the occasional electrical issues these devices have and even Honeywell recommended removing the electrostatic plates and using filter media instead which removes the electrical maintenance from the system. However, the filters create resistance and slowly clog up. Fortunately on our old house, this device was rarely powered on so it still works. We only use it in situations like this.
We're currently running the Honeywell electrostatic right now for the whole house to clear up the air. Works great.

Sucks to hear someone's pet died from this. My wife woke up to burning eyes and a sore throat. The PM2.5 AQI in our area is about 195. We used to live in a city in China where the PM2.5 AQI is in the mid-200's. We never had any filters or face masks back then, so we've already had high exposure to this kind of pollution before. However, 15 years of living in PNW has made us sensitive, like everyone else.

I'm a believer in the elctrostaic air cleaners. I used to run a cigar store years back. It was on the bottom floor of a huge office building. Clients on the upper floors were complaining about cigar smoke permeating through the floors of the building. So we had to do something. We wound up getting a huge electrostatic unit mounted on the ceiling of the cigar store. That thing would clear the store in about 15 minutes when it was absolutely full of cigar smoke. You could puff a cigar into one end of the thing and it would come out clean air on the other. So I was happy to see that we had a Honeywell unit in our house when we bought it. It was old and I had to send the electronics out for repair once but I knew the value of that thing. Yes, washing the cells is a chore but the results are amazing.

 

[dobeman]

I'm a believer in the elctrostaic air cleaners. I used to run a cigar store years back. It was on the bottom floor of a huge office building. Clients on the upper floors were complaining about cigar smoke permeating through the floors of the building. So we had to do something. We wound up getting a huge electrostatic unit mounted on the ceiling of the cigar store. That thing would clear the store in about 15 minutes when it was absolutely full of cigar smoke. You could puff a cigar into one end of the thing and it would come out clean air on the other. So I was happy to see that we had a Honeywell unit in our house when we bought it. It was old and I had to send the electronics out for repair once but I knew the value of that thing. Yes, washing the cells is a chore but the results are amazing.

our system has the option for electrostatic units here at home. I removed them and use 16x25x4 MERV 12/13 pleated filters. I don't know.. seems the electrostatic wires would crust over quickly and it becomes less efficient. I was having to clean the things all the time.

 

[Joe13]

VIVOSUN 6 Inch 440 CFM Inline Fan with Speed Controller, 6 Inch Carbon Filter and 8 Feet of Ducting Combo for Grow Tent Ventilation https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01NA07G79/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_FPrxFbWSH1SN5

This is basically what I'm using. No overnight deliveries but the local shops might have inventory but it will be more expensive I'm guessing.

Got the idea from a guy who smoked in his house and set my parents up with a few units.

Filtered all of the cigar smoke out of his smoking room and there wasn't even a little bit of smell left in there.

 

[made in china]

our system has the option for electrostatic units here at home. I removed them and use 16x25x4 MERV 12/13 pleated filters. I don't know.. seems the electrostatic wires would crust over quickly and it becomes less efficient. I was having to clean the things all the time.

The Honeywell units use plates. Like cigars said, they can occasionally have electronics issues. But, electrically speaking, it is simply a HV power supply charging the plates. Annoying to the average HVAC tech, but when working correctly they are the best solution available.

I wonder if other brands use wires instead of plates? Our HVAC guy did suggest to remove the plates and install pleated filters similar to what you are using. I'm sure the pleated filters work well also, just requires occasional change-outs. I believe the ones our HVAC guy recommended were made by Honeywell and were HEPA rated.

 

[dobeman]

The Honeywell units use plates. Like cigars said, they can occasionally have electronics issues. But, electrically speaking, it is simply a HV power supply charging the plates. Annoying to the average HVAC tech, but when working correctly they are the best solution available.

I wonder if other brands use wires instead of plates? Our HVAC guy did suggest to remove the plates and install pleated filters similar to what you are using. I'm sure the pleated filters work well also, just requires occasional change-outs. I believe the ones our HVAC guy recommended were made by Honeywell and were HEPA rated.

there's wires that run parallel in between the plates. The wires create the corona discharge and the dirt is attracted to the plates.. my basic understanding. Anyway, when I did use them, the wires would get crusty, and yes, the plates got some dirt on them too. But as the wires crust over, the corona discharge lessens.

 

[Bon Sauvage]

 

[ZigZagZeke]

When we remodeled the current house and replaced the old electric furnace with a Lennox heat pump we got the Merv 16 filtration system for it. It's been great during the last few days of 300+ air quality readings.

 

[SUPER X]

A. Squirrel cage fan with some sort a air filter with a damp towel over it might get you by . A pair of nylons as a prefilter will help keep the towe6l clean

 

[PiratePast40]

Lacking a good set of filters, you can block off some of the vent ducts and place pillowcases as filters on the ones you keep open. It's crude but provides some filtration. Just don't overdo it. Furnaces usually use squirrel cage fans and the curve falls off quickly with minimum resistance.

 

[GaryWT]

Wife wants to put together an air purifier or three and she was looking at some box fan contraption idea online that uses furnace size hepa filters. Evidently she is not the only one as the filters appear to be sold out everywhere locally. We are headed out now to see what we can find that is HEPA rated. Please post any ideas you have for making something at home, hopefully on the cheap. We have some Kirby hepa vaccum bags we are thinking about sacrificing to rig up on a portable AC.

We did the box fan with a furnace filter and blocked off the extra space around the edges with duct tape. I also read you can use a piece of torn sheet, cover the intake side of the box fan, then spritz the sheet material with water until very damp but not dripping. I also blocked off the outside air intake duct that brings outside air to the A/C air handler and then set the thermostat to fan only. This will recirculate air inside the house through the furnace filter without bringing in fresh smoke from outside.. But one must remember to remove that as soon as returning to normal heating or A/C use.

 

[Certaindeaf]

Get a canary....they cack off before a parakeet
That way you'll be safer.

Goldang it, that's what I meant.. doh!

 

[arakboss]

Here is attempt #1. We installed HEPA Vacuum bag material on portable AC intake ports. We are running it in fan mode for this purpose. It cut down on airflow output by well over 50% but that means it's working in my mind. I'll have to monitor the unit to make sure the fan motor doesn't overheat. So far so good.

View attachment 748629

View attachment 748630

This set up works but the air output has already decreased a bit from when we started running it. The media has turned a slight brown color after running for just a few hours.

Edit: we found that smoke smell was coming in from bottom vents on fireplace we never use. We had fit a piece of plywood over it but it wasn't air tight. Today we sealed around the plywood with weatherstripping.

 

[oldcorpgunny]

When the fires are out, make sure that you have removed air vent plugs, etc. If your home is too air tight, you run the risk go getting mildew or worse in your home. That can cause huge health problems and be very expensive to remediate. You can pick up HEPA filtered facemarks at auto body supply stores and they will provide Mrs. Doberman with all the protection that she will need.

 

[Alexx1401]

Since the house we have now has central furnace I had not even thought of running just the fan. Wife has breathing problems and this is hard on her. So I checked and Amazon has new filters for the furnace so ordered a couple more and turned the fan on to circulate the air. Feels good just having some air moving since we have the windows shut to help her.
Old house had electric heat. I did run a few of the 20" box fans with a 20x20 filter over the back side. Just held on with small bungee cord. About once a month I had to change the filters out, they would get filthy. So they do take stuff out of the air.