Scribd
Upload
75 views

Reporting Value Which Was Developed by The American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioner Engineers

MERV refers to the Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value of an air filter, which was developed by ASHRAE to judge a filter's effectiveness. Higher MERV values indicate a filter is more efficient at trapping airborne particles. While a dirty or overly restrictive filter can cause issues, ASHRAE, the DOE, and LEED all recommend minimum MERV levels. A chart then shows the particle efficiency and examples of particles trapped for each MERV level.

Uploaded by

Sri Harsha
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
75 views

Reporting Value Which Was Developed by The American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioner Engineers

MERV refers to the Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value of an air filter, which was developed by ASHRAE to judge a filter's effectiveness. Higher MERV values indicate a filter is more efficient at trapping airborne particles. While a dirty or overly restrictive filter can cause issues, ASHRAE, the DOE, and LEED all recommend minimum MERV levels. A chart then shows the particle efficiency and examples of particles trapped for each MERV level.

Uploaded by

Sri Harsha
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 1

WHAT DOES MERV OR MERV RATING MEAN?

Your filters MERV Rating is a good way to help judge the effectiveness of the filter. MERV means Minimum Efficiency
Reporting Value which was developed by the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioner Engineers -
ASHRAE. MERV values vary from 1 to 16. The higher the MERV value is the value the more efficient the filter will be in
trapping airborne particles. Another consideration is air flow through the your HVAC system. Leaving a dirty air filter in
place or using a filter that is too restrictive may result in low air flow and possibly cause the system to malfunction.

ASHRAE recommends MERV 6 or higher


US Department of Energy recommends MERV 13
LEED recommends MERV 8 at a minimum

See the chart below for filter MERV descriptions:

The filter will trap The filter will trap The filter will trap
Average Particle Size Average Particle Size Average Particle Size
Efficiency Efficiency Efficiency
MERV VALUE 0.3 - 1.0 Micron 1.0 - 3.0 Micron 3.0 - 10.0 Micron Types of things these filters will trap

MERV 1 - - Less than 20%


MERV 2 - - Less than 20% Pollen, dust mites, standing dust, spray paint
dust, carpet fibers
MERV 3 - - Less than 20%
MERV 4 - - Less than 20%
MERV 5 - - 20% - 34%
MERV 6 - - 35% - 49% Mold spores, hair spray, fabric protector,
cement dust
MERV 7 - - 50% - 69%
MERV 8 - - 70% - 85%
MERV 9 - Less than 50% 85% or better
MERV 10 - 50% - 64% 85% or better Humidifier dust, lead dust, auto emissions,
milled flour
MERV 11 - 65% - 79% 85% or better
MERV 12 - 80% - 89% 90% or better
MERV 13 Less than 75% 90% or better 90% or better
MERV 14 75% - 84% 90% or better 90% or better Bacteria, most tobacco smoke, proplet
Nuceli (sneeze)
MERV 15 85% - 94% 90% or better 90% or better
MERV 16 95% or better 90% or better 90% or better

You might also like