Dumb Filters

I try to filter out “smart” products as much as possible these days. I’m glad Lowe’s supports my preferences, even with air filters.

“Do it right, for less!”

I’d also like to take a moment to rant about the different air filter ratings. There’s the industry standard MERV, which is the one I learned as an HVAC technician, there’s 3M’s MPR, which at least seems to be based on some science, and then there’s Home Depot, who came up with their own confusing rating system called FPR, with no solid definition on what measurements it represents.

Some of their filter listings show an equivalent MERV rating, but not all, and on some listings, going up a higher FPR tier (like better to best) doesn’t change the MERV rating. They also describe the range of FPR between 1-10, but then break it up into 4 groups with their own FPR ranges: 4-5 = FPR 5, 6-7 = FPR 7, 8-9 = FPR 9, and 10-12 = FPR 10 (???).

Worse yet, Home Depot doesn’t provide details on their air filter’s Bluetooth support.