Air Purifier - Home Made (HEPA filter, cleaner, cost, compare)

[newhandle]

I was thinking just using a box fan and a good air filter on the intake side would work as well as an air purifier machine. Am I missing something (beside the appearance factor)?

[Narfcake]

In this aspect, it's not so much an air purifier but a dust collector. It'll do nothing to combat odors or the finer particles that would've been taken up by a true HEPA filter.

[sailordave]

If your home has central air, you're better off putting the best quality air filter your unit can handle. On some units, if you go to too high a filter rating then you restrict air flow and end up with higher utility bills and possibly tripping the unit offline. Even the cheapest pleated air filter does a decent job of filtering the air when compared to polyfiber filters (those cheap four for a dollar type filters). Higher quality pleated air filters will filter out pollen, smoke, odors, and some viruses. Though not HEPA quality, it's the cheapest and most affordable way to clean the air in the home.

[sailordave]

Originally Posted by newhandle

I was thinking just using a box fan and a good air filter on the intake side would work as well as an air purifier machine. Am I missing something (beside the appearance factor)?

It's already been done
Box Fan Air Filter Air Cleaner

[BellaBear]

Seems like a good experiment. Get a good HEPA filter- which will cost you about $50-$100. That will be the only way to tell if the experiment worked. If you get a crappy filter, you'll never know if it worked.