Dust capturing fans/air purifiers for home?

[ear3]

I'm doing some home cleaning in my basement, working in places where a significant amount of dust has accumulated.  I'm wondering about any recommendations for reasonably priced mobile fans/purifiers that remove dust from the air -- something that I can move from room to room as needed.  It should be something that can be easily cleaned rather than having to buy a new filter every time it gets loaded up.

And we're not talking about the need to filtrate toxic material, just run-of-the mill house dust.

 

[rvieceli]

Edward. I am sure there are more sophisticated solutions but a furnace filter of the appropriate size taped to the input side of a cheap box fan will do what you want. When it gets dirty, untape the filter and slide it into a trash bag.

Ron

 

[Dane]

This guy works pretty well for that purpose-https://wenproducts.com/products/air-filtration-system-item-3410

it's a shop filter, but small enough to move around.  I've got one that I use for any dusty task. 

I also use these guys in our living space when I am doing construction elsewhere-https://www.amazon.com/Austin-Air-A200B1-Healthmate-Purifier/dp/B003IQHSZI

They are ridiculously expensive, but I've gotten all of mine from craigslist and ebay and never paid more than 150.00 for them.

Both of those filters can be vacuumed out with a good HEPA dust extractor like the CTs and go back in service

 

[Laminator]

I have a Wen unit like Dane linked, and two of the Jet units (which the wen is a copy of) that I have used for years in peoples homes.  One of these will eliminate a lot of airborne dust and are fairly inexpensive although more than the box fan + filter.  The last couple of years I have used a Buildclean system which works very good although really expensive.

 

[Sparktrician]

The Rikon unit from Woodcraft has been a great addition to my shop. 

 

[live4ever]

I use two approaches depending on the specific task at hand:

For light construction or drywall work I’ll use a small shop air purifier.  I have the smallest Grizzly but the WEN is basically the same.  Probably the route I’d go with a super dusty basement clean out. 

Indoors I use GermGuardian air purifiers.  They are great for getting rid of smells and good for keeping indoor air quality under control, esp. for sensitive respiratory tracts.  My specific model also has a particle counter, which kind of satisfies the data junkie in me.

 

[kevin clifford]

If you have a friend in the air conditioning business and can get a blower motor (or 6) build your own. I was able to get blower motors from mini split systems and build the boxes for them.  They move plenty of air and are really quiet. View attachment 1View attachment 2

 

[Laminator]

I have a home made one using an a/c blower motor that I got for free.  A few pieces of mdf, a few screws, caulk, and a few filters and it has been working well in my shop for years.  I stacked the filters 3 deep on both sides of the box and it is far quieter than the JDS that I have.

 

[Michael Kellough]

Do you DIY guys incorporate the kind of multi-toed felt sock that JDS uses to capture fine dust? AC filters seem way too coarse.

 

[Cheese]

I use a Jet ceiling unit situated vertically and then made an aluminum frame with some small casters to roll it around the shop. It works well and the vertical orientation means it doesn't take up much space. The hand-held remote allows me to control it from 15 feet away. I just roll it to the source of dust production.

Forgot to add, it also has built-in timer settings for 2, 4 and 8 hours and will shut off automatically if that's what you want.

[attachimg=1]

[attachimg=2]

 

[GoingMyWay]

I have 2 very expensive IQAir Health Pro Plus air purifiers for the house because they were supposed to be one of the best.  I'm really not that impressed with them and the replacement filters (even aftermarket ones) are very expensive.

I'm a member of the Shop Hacks Facebook group. The creator of the group, Tony Shulthise has done some research and found a cheap 20" box fan along with a single Filtrete 20x20x1 (MERV13 equivalent) filter provides good performance for up to a 20x20x8 shop with a cost of about $40 (including the fan).

Here's a link to his air filtration comparison on his website:https://www.shophacks.com/blog/work...tive-low-cost-diy-box-fan-filtration-systems.  Might be an interesting read for some.

 

[RKA]

If an inexpensive improvised solution fits the bill, I think the box fan with furnace filters is the best bet.  You can choose the filter you desire depending on the level of filtration you need and they are locally available. 

If you're willing to invest some time, building a box with rabbets to hold the filters and adding a salvaged HVAC fan is also pretty cheap and will get you a lot more airflow, but it will take up some floor space.  But I get the sense this cleanout isn't something that happens frequently and something large isn't ideal because it would take up space needlessly. 

If you're not interested in an improvised solution and just want something you can plug into the wall, Grizzly just sent me an email about the G9955 Benchtop Dual Fan filter (on sale for $140 now).  It claims 200cfm x2, so 400 cfm in theory.  They filters don't look like a standard furnace filter, and it appears they are somewhat course.  This should handle standard household dust in a reasonably confined space. 

 

[live4ever]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member]
It's not uncommon for one of your posts to make me say, "Eeeeeeenteresting!" as I pet my small, creepy, hairless cat.

 

[Cheese]

[member=44099]Cheese[/member]
It's not uncommon for one of your posts to make me say, "Eeeeeeenteresting!" as I pet my small, creepy, hairless cat.

Hah  That's funny...as my wife loves creepy hairless cats.

 

[Michael Kellough]

I have 2 very expensive IQAir Health Pro Plus air purifiers for the house because they were supposed to be one of the best.  I'm really not that impressed with them and the replacement filters (even aftermarket ones) are very expensive.

I'm a member of the Shop Hacks Facebook group. The creator of the group, Tony Shulthise has done some research and found a cheap 20" box fan along with a single Filtrete 20x20x1 (MERV13 equivalent) filter provides good performance for up to a 20x20x8 shop with a cost of about $40 (including the fan).

Here's a link to his air filtration comparison on his website:https://www.shophacks.com/blog/work...tive-low-cost-diy-box-fan-filtration-systems.  Might be an interesting read for some.

Thanks for this!

That Filtrete filter looks a lot better than what I had in mind.

 

[kevin clifford]

No, the only filters are the 2 inch ac filters. 4 if them in a 1200 square foot shop though, so it does a pretty good job of getting what the dust collection and dust extractor doesn't.

 

[Laminator]

My home made one uses 3m filteret  and I believe they were the "medium"  as back then none of them stated the "Merv" rating.  I built the box to accept three 16" x 24" x 1" filters stacked together on each intake.  I vacuum the outside filter when it gets covered with dust which is much less often these days using the mfk700's for routing.

 

[GoingMyWay]

The discussion of DIY air filtration piqued my interest. I went to Lowe's and bought a 20" box fan and filter.  The total cost was $43 (including the foil tape).

I rounded over the edges on a piece of mahogany with no dust extraction and used the DTS400 to do a little sanding.  The filter is already a little dirty.

[attachimg=1]

[attachimg=2]

[attachimg=3]

[attachimg=4]

[attachimg=5]

 

[Joelm]

We have been happy with the rabbit air MinusA2. You can either mount to a wall or user the included stand. Not super cheap but less expensive than an air scrubber we tried out.
https://www.rabbitair.com/products/minusa2-air-purifier

 

[GoingMyWay]

I made a modification to my air filter after watching a YouTube video.  I attached some siding J Channel to the box fan with some zipties.  Now I can easily replace the filter just by sliding the filter out.  This is actually the first time changing the filter because dealing with the tape is a bit more involved.

[attachimg=1]

[attachimg=2]

I also bought another box fan and an odor reduction filter.

[attachimg=3]

I had the "genius" idea that this would help filter out the smoke that the air fryer produces when air frying a steak.  Unfortunately, it didn't really work that well.  I think there just isn't enough charcoal to do anything meaningful with the smoke.

[attachimg=4]

[attachimg=5]