Best Air Filters or Dealing With Wildfire Smoke in Your Home

With such dirty air outside, it can be difficult to keep the air inside your home clean. Even if you keep your doors and windows closed, which is recommended, air can seep in through cracks and leaks. One way to clear the air is by running the fan on your central heating or cooling system so that it cycles through the filter. If your system has a fresh air intake, set it to recirculation mode or close the outdoor intake damper so that you do not draw polluted air inside, the Environmental Protection Agency advises.

An HVAC air filter will catch much of the smoke in your home—assuming it’s a good one.

“You want a filter with a high MERV rating,” says Dave Trezza, an engineer who has tested air filters at Consumer Reports. MERV stands for minimum efficiency reporting value, and the higher it is, the more contaminants the filter removes. The top performers in our tests typically have a MERV rating higher than 10, and range in thickness from 1 inch to 5 inches.

For getting rid of smoke and other household pollutants, “any filter that gets a very good or excellent score in our tests when the system is running on high would be a good choice,” Trezza says.

Experts advise changing your filters more often during fire season because they get dirtier faster. (Even if you’re not dealing with a ton of smoke, if you’re spending more time indoors, you should check your filter more often.)

Check the filter to see whether it looks dirty. You may also notice a degradation in airflow. Both are indications that the filter is not cleaning the air properly, and you’ll need to replace it. You can buy air filters in packs online and at home improvement stores. Some online retailers also offer subscriptions so that your supply is automatically replenished every month or in the time frame you choose.

Below, you’ll also find more tips for keeping smoke out of your house and measures to take against smoke from the next wildfire. For more types of air filters, check out the best air filters for your central air system and furnace.