MERV, MPR, and FPR. What do these letters mean and why do they matter?
When shopping for air filters for your home, you may have come across these letters and may have found yourself asking the following questions:
- What is a MERV rating?
- What does MERV stand for?
- What does MPR rating on air filters stand for?
- What does FPR rating mean?
- Why do they matter?
Have no fear, we’re here to answer these questions and help you figure out why they’re important.
First things, first. What do these letters stand for?
- MERV: Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value
- MPR: Microparticle Performance Rating
- FPR: Filter Performance Rating
Here’s a simple chart we put together to explain each of the different air filter ratings and what the differences are:
Here’s a MERV rating chart to help you better understand their effectiveness:
MERV or Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value is the industry-standard reporting value for air filters. AC filter MERV ratings start at 1 and go up to 16. At FiltersFast.com, our branded air filters are categorized by MERV ratings. We sell the most recommended MERVs for residential application: MERV 8, MERV 11 and MERV 13.
Need help figuring out which MERV rating is right for you? Check out this blog post.
MPR or Microparticle Performance Ratings were developed by 3M which is the company that makes Filtrete Air Filters. MPR Ratings range from 100-2800 and indicate the filter’s capacity to remove particles from 0.3-1 micron. We do carry 3M Filtrete Filters on our site, so we’ve done some research to see what MERV ratings a few MPR ratings have:
- 800 MPR, 1000 MPR, 1085 MPR & 1200 MPR have a rating of MERV 11
- 1500 MPR & 1550 MPR have a rating of MERV 12
- 1900 MPR & 2200 MPR have a rating of MERV 13
- 2800 MPR has a rating of MERV 14
FPR or Filter Performance Ratings were created by The Home Depot. Ratings go from 4 to 10 and are very similar to MERV ratings. Here’s a simple way to remember what FPR numbers mean: the higher the number the better the air filter performance is according to The Home Depot.
No matter where you shop for or buy your furnace filters, we hope this blog is helpful to you and hope that you now have a better understanding of what MERV, MPR, and FPR stand for and why they’re important. Have a question about air filters, MERV ratings or Indoor Air Quality? Leave us a comment and we’ll be happy to answer it.
What MERV, MPR and FPR rating do you use and why? Let us know in the comments.
EcoBlueLife.com is a replacement water and air filter company located in the United States. The views and opinions contained herein are solely those of the original author and do not represent Eco Blue Life or its affiliates. This article was originally published on FiltersFast.com
