<h1>Replacement Carbon-Charcoal Air Filters: How Long Do They Really Last?</h1>

Carbon or charcoal air filtration systems are great for removing odors, chemicals, and gases from the air, if it’s activated carbon or military grade carbon that is in the filter. But how long do they really last and when do you really need to replace them? It’s harder to tell if a carbon filter is used up because you can’t see the dirt like you can with a paper or HEPA filter. Still, you don’t want to replace them too soon as that can be harder on the pocketbook. You do, however, want to replace your carbon air filters on time for sure. So how do you know? What's the safest way to think about it?

 

Carbon air filters are kind of like say, a piece of paper with some glue on it—if you drag the paper through some dust or dirt a few times, it will pick up that dirt—but once it has picked up all that it can, new dirt won’t stick to the paper. And it’s kind of like that with carbon and chemical air pollutants. The carbon does become saturated with the pollutants in the air, and once saturated, the chemicals and vapors don’t ‘stick’ to the carbon anymore—and that allows polluted air to pass right through because your HEPA filter isn’t designed to stop chemical or gas-based pollution. And THAT means you definitely need to replace the carbon air filter in your air purifier when you notice that odors are not going away or that you start to have more sneezing, coughing, or other reactions that had previously gone away or were reduced when the filter was newer. Other than the manufacturer’s recommendation, this is a good way to know if you need to replace the carbon filter because odors are chemical-based and again, if the filter isn’t stopping them, that means the chemicals are passing right through and the carbon filter is pretty much ‘full’ or needs replacing. And the air purifier with the activated carbon filter you bought is essentially worthless if it’s not trapping the chemicals, odors, and vapors in the air. Make sense?

 

So the best way to think about buying replacement charcoal filters, is to do it 1) certainly by the manufacturer’s recommended date or time period, and 2) sooner, if you begin to smell odors or notice sensitivity symptoms again. These sensitivity symptoms, especially for those with MCS, can be moderate to severe and in rare cases, life-threatening, so for those individuals, it’s a good idea to replace the carbon filter as soon as you notice symptoms or odors returning. This is true even for military grade carbon as all carbon does get ‘used up’ with use. And the same is true for any charcoal air filter, regardless of the brand of air cleaner you’re using. Some carbon air cleaner filters with more ‘pounds’ of carbon do last longer, yes, but they too will become saturated over time, and actually create more of a hazard now since the air cleaner fan is blowing polluted air around without removing the pollutants!

 

For industrial activated carbon filters, it is even more important to replace them on time or before time, as gas or vapor based industrial pollutants are very harmful and can cause employee illness, downtime or even death in a short period of time if not monitored correctly. And you may be found at fault if you’re a business owner being sued for employee health problems if didn’t replace the carbon or charcoal air filters appropriately! At the very least, you’re leaving yourself wide open to OSHA complaints and fines by not replacing carbon air filters properly. Some carbon filters that are trapping combustible materials actually become an explosion hazard when full, so if you’re not sure, check with your air purifier manufacturer for better direction on when to replace your charcoal filters in your filtration system, based on the types of pollutants being removed.

 

At Air Purifiers and Cleaners.com, we sell the best replacement carbon filters for both home and industrial or commercial air filtration systems, for all the best air purifier brands like Aller Air, Austin Air, Blueair, Electrocorp, Tiger, Winix. And since we are an online store and don’t have the overhead of traditional stores, we pass those savings on to you with cheap discount prices and free shipping every day. Call us toll free if you need more information: 1-800-701-2513. We have air filtration experts standing by!

 

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