HEPA Filter ~ Air Purifiers for Healthy Living
LakeAir HEPA air filters and HEPA air purifiers use the best HEPA filters. Our Commercial quality HEPA products are wholly made in the USA. There is no off-gassing like foreign filters. These filters and filter products have long life and high value. Don’t try to clean your air with cheap filters. Use the best, use LakeAir because HEPA air filter size Matters.
Customers often search for both replacement filters and HEPA filter units using the same keyword. This product section contains only HEPA air purifiers. For replacement filters click the Button Below
HEPA Filter FAQ
A HEPA filter is a mechanical device (filter) that remove particles from the air. HEPA stands for high efficiency particulate air. To be considered as a HEPA filter it must remove 99.97% of air particles from the air stream.
Most manufactures recommend replacing your HEPA filters every 6-12 months. The actual life span can be calculated by the pressure drop of the filter. As the filter loads up with dust the resistance the filter applies increases. Unless you have equipment that measures the pressure drop it is best to follow the manufacturers recommendations
A HEPA filter can remove most everything, even radiation but HEPA filters cannot remove gases. This includes carbon monoxide, radon, formaldehyde any many other gases both dangerous and inert.
YES ! For a Filter to be considered a HEPA filter it must remove 99.97% of all particles as small as 0.3 microns. But, a real HEPA filter actually removes smaller particles better.Â
HEPA Filter Facts
HEPA stands for high-efficiency particulate air. A HEPA air filter is a type of mechanical air filter; it works by forcing air through a fine mesh that traps harmful particles such as pollen, pet dander, dust mites, and tobacco smoke. The filter must satisfy certain standards of efficiency such as those set by the United States Department of Energy (DOE). To qualify as HEPA by US government standards, an air filter must remove (from the air that passes through) 99.97% of particles that have a size of 0.3 µm.
HEPA filters origins can be tracked back to the gas masks used in World War II. The next notable iteration was used to filter out radioactive particles in the Manhattan Project. HEPA air filters were finally commercialized in the 1950s. The original term became a registered trademark and later a generic term for highly efficient filters. This filter gained a great deal of popularity for use in curtailing the spread of the Covid19 Pandemic.
HEPA filters are composed of a mat of randomly arranged fibers. The fibers are typically composed of fiberglass and other synthetic fibers. Recently micro fibers have been introduced to the makeup of high efficiency filters. These fibers usually have diameters between 0.5 and 2.0 micrometers. Some are made of molten glass strands that are stretched to produce super fine filter elements. Key factors affecting its functions are fiber diameter, filter thickness, and face velocity.
The air space between HEPA filter fibers is typically much greater than 0.3 μm. The common assumption that a HEPA filter acts like a sieve where particles smaller than the largest opening can pass through is incorrect . Unlike membrane filters at this pore size, where particles as wide as the largest opening or distance between fibers can not pass in between them at all, HEPA filters are designed to target much smaller pollutants and particles. A 2016 NASA study has shown that HEPA filters are even more effective on particle as small a 0.1 micron. These particles are trapped (they stick to a fiber) through a combination of the following three methods:
3 Ways HEPA Filters Capture Particles
The first method is impaction. Impaction is what most people think of an air filter doing. Larger particles (1 micron and larger) are readily caught in the tight weave. These particles have a larger mass and their inertia leads them to slam into the tight weave of the HEPA filter. As more and more particles are trapped the room for smaller particles to slip by is diminished and the filters effectiveness increases. Impaction is most effective on particle 2 microns an larger and sometimes is referred to as sieving.
The second method is interception: Interception is more a matter of particle capture. The path trough a high efficiency air filter is full of turns and obstacles like fibers and particles that have already been captured. The filter can capture small particles when they come too close to filter elements. This magnet like capture becomes more likely as the speed of the passing particles decreases.
 The third mechanical method called diffusion. Diffusion is the act of slowing a particles progress through the filter bank. The maze like structure of the filter leads some particles out of the main air stream. As these diverted particles slow they are then much more easily trapped by the first two methods.
| Mechanism | Effective Size Range | Description | Â | Â | Â |
| Impaction | > 1 micron | Particles collide head-on with fibers due to inertia | |||
| Interception | 0.3-1 micron | Particles brush against fibers as they follow the airflow | |||
| Diffusion | < 0.1 micron | Small particles bump into fibers due to erratic movement | |||
HEPA Filter Efficiency Explained.
We often talk about and mention HEPA filters through out our website. They are not well understood. To promote a more clear understanding. The graph below illustrates efficiency of a standard True HEPA filter.
The graph illustrates what size particles are captured by the 3 methods used by high efficiency air filters to remove particles from the air stream.
One fact you should note is that a True HEPA filter naturally does a better job of capturing the smallest of particles. Some filter manufactures will claim that there filters are special because it captures particles smaller than 0.3 microns. In most cases this is a misleading statement, because all True HEPA air filters are better at this particle size.
The Best Filter for Smoke
One of the toughest contaminants to remove from the air is smoke. When you compare the efficiency of median smoke particle removal, the clear winner in high-efficiency filters is the True HEPA. MERV 15 filters score a dismal 70-82% removal rate verses the amazing 99.97%Â of a trye HEPA filter
LakeAir HEPA Filters
LakeAir HEPA air cleaning filters are made in the USA. Glasfloss (the oldest privately held American filter manufacturer) is know for producing quality commercial grade filters. LakeAir HEPA air filters use solid construction to ensure long filter life and high particle capture rate. The image below shows the two different HEPA filter types used in LakeAir Products
Purchase Replacement HEPA Filters
Below is a selection of HEPA filters for all LakeAir products. For other LakeAir Filters see the links below.