Build a do-it-yourself air purifier for about $25

Living in the Northeast with winter coming, I was looking at various air purifiers so I wouldn't have to keep windows open letting in the cold air and raising my heating bill. The units I needed for my whole basement were in the $800+ range so I tried to find a DIY solution.

I found this video on YouTube and I gave it a shot. It really works.

For those that may not be able to see the video, you take a 20 x 20 inch box fan and place a 20 x 20 inch filter on the back. It sticks on it's own when the fan is on so it's simple to set up. The filter is on the front of the fan in the video but it's much easier in the back.

I have rodent racks in my basement and there's a definite odor on Saturday morning (cleaning day). I ran the fan, with the filter attached, overnight on Friday and the smell was completely gone on Saturday morning, before cleaning. You can notice a difference in the air quality also.

Here's the fan I used. Cost was $15.

Here's the filter. I chose this one because it removes bacteria also. Cost was $20.

Filters are rated with a MERV number from 1 to 16, with 16 being the best. Home Depot rates them from 1 to 10, with 10 being the best but the MERV rating is more accurate. The filter above is a MERV 12 / Home Depot 10.

I was using a fan in the basement to keep air moving. Sticking the filter on the back did not restrict the air flow. I use another smaller fan at the other end of the room to keep the air flowing back towards the filter (circular flow).

The rodents noticed the difference, too! They sleep better and don't complain as much. They certainly smell better. :banana:

That's an awesome idea. I'm definitely going to try that out.

I made one yes it work .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoeL...&feature=feedu

That is a great idea, I've been having issues with that and throwing money out the window. Thank you so much for posting I will buy the filters today since I have two fans already.:gj::gj::gj:

I decided to try this yesterday and WOW does it work. I was really impressed. I went with THIS filter and after an hour of running it, the room was odorless...

Thank you so much for this post! I have been struggling with how to remove odors without buying an expensive filtration system.

I've had the fan on in the window of one of my mouse rooms every day, and my boyfriend comes home yelling because of how expensive the heating bill is going to be.

I'm going to put one of these together this weekend!

If it works, I'm going to make one for every room with pets! :)

Thanks a ton!

So for those of you that are using this filter method what are your thoughts on it now? I'm thinking about setting up a rat breeder rack in my snake room but I don't wanna stink up the entire house.

Anyone using these? I would be interested in some feedback.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Laura_Leigh

i set one up and I was not overly impressed with it as most of the air just bounced off the filter and out the back of the fan, rather than going through the filter... some went through the filter, but the majority went through the back of the fan. I use Rainbow Air purifiers I got off of ebay in my rat room. They help a LOT.

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Hey Laura, you need to place filter on intake side not discharge side of fan .....this will force air in thru filter and then be blown out as purified. Make this switch and I'm sure you will notice an improvement.:)

So what level of filter did you guys use? Was it an MERV 16? Or one of the cheaper filters?