Question about Electronic Air Cleaners

I'm looking to put in a new unit in my new purchased home to replace one that has long since broke. The broke one was in the house when we bought it and the previous owners were just filling the insides with regular air filter elements.

If I replace this unit new, would I simply measure the size of the current unit and buy something similar? The current empty "box" that's attached sits to the right of the furnace inline with the duct. It is easily accessible.

I'm a new home owner having lived in apartments my whole life so I really have no idea on how all these things work. This forum and you great people have offered a ton of good, helpful, advice.

 

The electronic air cleaners come in standard sizes..... 16"x20" , 16"x25" , 20"x20" , 20"x25".

They are a high maintenance item. Plan on removing the grids and cleaning them every month or two based on dust accumulation. They can't be forgotten or your furnace, in particularly the A/C coil, will become dirt clogged.

Many people remove them and use a 4" wide replaceable filter instead.

 

PJMax, thank you for that info! Something to consider on my end....

 

Electronic air filters are excellent for removing the smallest particulates but as PJ noted they are high maintenance. Unlike a conventional media filter which becomes more effective in removing particulates as it ages, the electronic filter becomes LESS effective as it collects dirt.

My own opinion is that all electronic filters should be cleaned AT LEAST twice a month and weekly may not be too often depending on the amount of particulates in the circulating air. By installing a large (four inch deep) low-loss media filter ahead of the electronic filter you may be able to stretch the cleaning of the electronic out four to six weeks.

But most people are not willing to do either and I know many people that merely clean the electronic filter twice a year. They are kidding themselves if they think it is doing ANYTHING after that first month in service. If you do not have the media pre-filter then you should have a spare set of cells for the electronic filter so you can do a quick swap and then clean the dirty set. Otherwise you will be without a filter for the time that it takes to clean and dry the original set. Further, to receive the best benefit from an electronic filter the system should be set for continuous air circulation and unless you have a variable speed blower in your furnace this can get expensive running the blower 24/7.

 

Furd,
That is spot on. IMO a 4in media filter is the way to go. Another thing is the electronic will produce ozone. Most at very low levels. But Ozone is an allergen. Filter is supposed to clean the air not add to the pollutants.

 

Thanks guys! In the new home, the previous owner has a electronic cleaner box installed on the furnace but the guts are not there and he's using a simple filter, two in fact. He has two of the smaller filters, one on each end of the cleaner but also had a large 16x25x8" filter sitting on top of the unit not being used for some reason.

If it's as much trouble as stated, I'll stick with the filters!