Woodshop HVAC Filter Question

[Rob Will]

If I install central heat and air conditioning in a wood shop.....
How do you think pleated media filters would perform?
This shop will only see occasional use. It has a 16' ceiling and the air handler could be mounted on a small balcony. There is plenty of room for any configuration of pre-filters before the return air gets to the pleated media filter or the air handler itself. I also have a ceiling mounted air cleaner.
We have tremendous humidity in the summer and A/C would make this a clean usable space. The shop space is 32' x 40' x 16'h.
Any suggestions about forced air in a Woodshop (if the air filter is done right)?

Thanks for your ideas,
Rob

[Cecil Arnold]

Rob, I've got a window mounted unit in my shop and as you may know the filters on them are not much. This allows sawdust to accumulate on the coils which reduces efficiency. I installed a holder for a pre filter using a 16X30" pleated filter and whenever I change the pre filter I am amazed at how clean the coils and junky filter are.

[Matt Meiser]

We have one of the aprilaire units in our house. The filters are a pain to change, are hard to find, and are expensive. There are 3 combs that hold the pleats apart with a few dozen fingers each. You have to get each finger between a pleat. Time consuming to say the least. I haven't seen the filters at any of the local hardware stores, and at the blue and orange boxes, they'll say they don't have them if you can't find them yourself.

That said, they do offer a lot of surface area. I'd just be more inclinded to find something that allows you to just slip a filter in. I've seen some large box-sized filters that are similar in size at the borgs, but don't know what they fit.

[Tyler Howell]

If it is just for the wood shop HVAC I would say use standard glass filters and change them often.
Electronic Air filters will be plugged very quickley and a very pricy replacement for a air filter sytem. There's no replacement for a good DC.

[Kyle Kraft]

In my shop, I have a filter rack with 2 slots. In the one closest to the shop I have a cheapo fiberglass filter and in the next slot I have a cheapo pleated filter. Seems to work well for me. I still run the DC and the shop air cleaner when I'm working. There are some pics near the bottom of Steve Ash's air cleaner thread.

Kyle

[Jim Becker]

I think that type of filter would be wasted money and cleaning time in the shop and agree with Tyler...go for the regular, disposable filters that are easy to "clean" and cheap. And deal with them often. This is also one situation where I think an ambient air cleaner, such as the JDS, Jet or other solution, will be a good idea to help reduce the fines that are suspended in the air and reduce the amount of dust heading to the HVAC system, at least a little.

[Cameron Reddy]

We have one of the aprilaire units in our house. The filters are a pain to change, are hard to find, and are expensive. There are 3 combs that hold the pleats apart with a few dozen fingers each. You have to get each finger between a pleat. Time consuming to say the least. I haven't seen the filters at any of the local hardware stores, and at the blue and orange boxes, they'll say they don't have them if you can't find them yourself.

Ditto. Junk.

Get a 95% ASHRE (or whatever that is). You can put them in many of the standard ambient air filters from Grizzly, Penn State, Delta, JDS, etc.

[Chris Fite]

I recommend radiant hydronic heat: no filters, fans, or source of ignition. I also have shade, insulation, and a large ventilation fan for warm weather - no air conditioning.