Camfil Farr, world leader in air filtration and clean
air solutions, recently sought to develop a V-style
(commercial and industrial) air filter with industry’s
lowest life cycle cost.  A second goal was to reduce
the energy used by an HVAC system by 20% or more
compared with any competitive product by engineering
a very low pressure drop filter.

On May 22, 2008, Camfil Farr formally debuts its
Durafil ES filter.  It is the lowest life cycle cost filter
available.  Designed by a team that included customers,
scientists and filter specialists, it also has a very low
pressure drop,  and can reduce the total energy
required by the HVAC unit by at least 20%,
and often as much as 35%. 

The implications for industry is huge: this low pressure
drop filter technology may prove to be the most significant
energy-saving strategy available to US business.  

Low Pressure Drop Filter also
has Lowest Life Cycle Costs

The Durafil ES filter radically changes how air is cleaned
in a commercial or institutional setting. The product
has significant advantages in terms of immediate
reductions in facility fixed costs.    

Durafil ES is a drop-in replacement for any standard
V-shaped filter.  But the similarities end there. 
Four characteristics distinguish Durafil ES filters. 

First, this filter technology reduces the total energy
consumed by the HVAC system by 20-35% compared
to any competitive (V-style) product.  This savings is
produced by a patented radial inlet and outlet, which
generates a much lower pressure drop profile. 

The significance of very low pressure drop is
considerable: there is 30% more open area on the
filter inlet of the Durafil ES, and 60% more on the
outlet, compared to conventional V-style filters. 
This greater open area is key to the lower
pressure drop condition. 

Camfil Farr has also developed a new height-to-pleat
spacing configuration.  Using the same amount of
media, with more pleats per inch, the result is
greater active filter area. 

Durafil ES uses a wet-laid, microfine fiber “Energy
Star” media.  This media maintains its high efficiency
performance throughout its service life, and is in
marked contrast to electrostatically charged, synthetic
media, whose efficiency drops quickly in use. 

Finally, Durafil ES is rated “five star” by the
Energy Cost Index (ECI) Program.  A top 5-star
rating indicates the filter is the most energy-efficient,
and longest-lasting, available. 

One of the construction features unique to the
Durafil ES is a built-in prefilter spacer section. 
This feature benefits installations where a prefilter is
mounted directly to the face of the filter.  In these
instances, the spacer eliminates airflow blockage,
and the high pressure drop that results. 

This problem is universal with traditional V-style filters,
and produces an energy penalty of $50 per filter per
year. The advanced engineering of the Durafil ES
eliminates this issue, and this expense,
immediately reducing energy costs by $50 per
filter, per year for installations where a prefilter
mounts to the filter face.