In a letter to the ASHRAE 52.2 Standard Setting Project Committee, the Air Conditioning, Heating and Refrigeration Institute (AHRI) has recommended not to adopt ISO 16890 as the air filter test standard for the United States. AHRI is a trade organization whose members produce over 90% of the residential and commercial heating, cooling, water heating, … More
Articles
Analysis Shows ISO 16890 Uses Outdated and Inaccurate Particle Distribution Data
In a recent paper entitled “Evaluating the Sensitivity of the Mass-Particle Removal Calculations for HVAC Filters in ISO 16890 to Assumptions for Aerosol Distributions” the author, Dr. Brent Stephens of the Illinois Institute of Technology, found that the particle distribution data used in ISO 16890 was outdated and inaccurate. The paper was published in the … More
What Happens to the Electret Charge on a MERV 11 Pleated Filter in Service?
Pleated filters using electret media have some distinct advantages over pleated filters using mechanical only media. The most important advantages of electret media filters is that they have lower pressure drop (resistance) and higher efficiency on smaller particles. In most cases the advantage of higher particle capture efficiencies for electret pleated filters are reduced as … More
Have You Read the ISO 16890 Standard?
In the abstract – adopting ISO 16890 by the US sounds like a great idea. We would have one international air filter test standard replacing EN779 and ASHRAE/ANSI 52.2. This would reduce confusion, increase the size of the market and make it easier for professionals to specify air filters for a variety of applications. Unfortunately, … More
Tex-Air Filters Opens New San Antonio Branch
We are pleased to announce the opening of our newest branch office and warehouse in San Antonio. The facility is conveniently located at 2416 Brockton Street, Suite 101, San Antonio 78217 and is fully stocked with filters, belts, coil cleaners and other products needed for effective HVAC filter maintenance. “We have had numerous requests from … More
ISO 16890 Uses Questionable Air Filter Classification System
“7 Classification system based on particulate matter efficiency (ePM) 7.1 Definition of a standardized particles size distribution of ambient air To evaluate air filters according to their ePM efficiencies, standardized volume distribution functions of the particle size are used which globally represent the average ambient air of urban and rural areas, respectively. Typically in the … More
Is ISO 16890 Adoption Related to PM1 Removal in Indoor Air?
“The World Health Organization (WHO) has stated that air pollution is the greatest threat to human health today. The smallest and most dangerous fraction is PM1. It is so dangerous that we need to protect ourselves against it. The industry is responding. That is why we welcome ISO 16890 – the new industry standard … More
ISO 16890 Should not be Adopted as the US Air Filter Testing Standard – Continued
After publishing this article: https://www.texairfilters.com/the-usa-should-not-adopt-iso-16890-for-air-filter-testing-heres-why/ on Linkedin, we had a very good discussion about the pros and cons of the US adopting ISO 16890 as our air filter test standard. This article is taken from that discussion. I have omitted some comments and the names of participants, have shortened the comments of other participants (although I … More
The USA Should Not Adopt ISO 16890 for Air Filter Testing – Here’s Why
Currently, air filters are tested in the United States according to the procedures described in ANSI/ASHRAE Standard 52.2-2012. This test procedure results in a Minumum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) for an air filter. For details of how the test is conducted see other articles on this site. There is a movement to approve the new … More
ASHRAE Research Project Report On Air Filters Raises More Questions Than it Answers
In March of 2013 the results of ASHRAE Research Project Report 1360-RP was made available for distribution. The 415 page Report is entitled “How Do Pressure Drop, Efficiency, Weight Gain, and Loaded Dust Composition Change throughout Filter Lifetime. The Contractor was RTI International and the Principal Investigator was Kathleen Owen. Ms. Owen presented the findings … More