Energy Cost Index Ratings

How can you be sure that you
have selected the best air filter for
your application?

Industry test reports and material in manufacturers'
literature or packaging may be a good start, but will
they provide a true indication of a filter’s value over
its entire service life, in your system?  After all,
that’s what matters.  (In fact, it’s the only thing that
does matter!)

Unfortunately the testing method used today is an
accelerated test – performed in a matter of hours,
and not very indicative of how the filter may perform
over a matter of months or years in your AHU.  

Some manufacturers use filter enhancements to trick
the test into indicating an efficiency level that in actual
application can degrade very quickly.  Their literature
may even portray the filters’ performance based only
upon this accelerated test data, a marketing decision
that is misleading – or worse.

Enter the Energy Cost Index or ECI.  This filter
rating system examines the filter’s efficiency over
its service lifetime, as well as the energy required
to move air through that specific filter.

ECI compares filters of similar construction, under
the same conditions of operation and provides an
indicator of TRUE performance. Specifically, the
formula is dollars per percent of filter efficiency.
The lower the value, the better the filter. 

A filter with an ECI of five stars is a stellar performer. 
It maintains its efficiency over its life and uses less
energy to move air through the filter. It is in the
top 20% of all filters evaluated. A four-star filter has
a lower ECI value, and the pattern continues down
to one star, the poorest performers. 

The Camfil Farr filters described on this website are
all 5-star performers, designed to deliver the greatest
value in energy savings, air quality, waste reduction
and environmental impact .