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4 Tips for Choosing the Right Air Filters for Your Home

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Air filters play a significant role in keeping particulate matter, including dust, debris, viruses, and bacteria, out of your home’s air. This keeps you from contracting respiratory diseases and allergies while prolonging the life of your HVAC system. Read on for four tips for choosing suitable air filters for your home.

1. Determine the right size

Air filters come in different sizes and shapes. Ensure that you choose the right filter size and shape to prevent dirt, dust, pet danders, and debris from slipping into the air conditioner, as this could compromise the indoor air quality. To determine the correct filter size, you could consider carrying the existing filter with you when buying a new one. Other ways to determine the correct filter size include;

  • Checking the manufacturer’s instructions
  • Measuring the opening or filter
  • Referring to printed dimensions

2. Figure out the correct MERV rating

MERV ratings determine the efficiency of your filter unit. The Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value (MERV) ratings dictate the size of particulates a filter can keep out of your house’s airflow, how long the unit can last and how well air flows inside the HVAC. The higher the ratings, the smaller the contaminants the air filter can trap. With that being said, do not go for an air filter with the highest MERV rating, as this could increase your home’s energy consumption. An ideal rating should be between MERV 8 and 10 to help you balance energy efficiency, airflow, and air purification.

3. Consider the filter’s maintenance

Continued use of an air filter causes particulate matter to accumulate in the unit. You have to clean or replace the filters every three months to prevent an HVAC malfunction and increased energy bills. If you are working on a tight budget and do not want to purchase a new filter once the existing one becomes clogged, consider choosing a reusable or washable unit. Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions about the proper cleaning procedure.

4. Consider the material

Your filter’s material plays a crucial role in the performance of your air conditioner and the type of particulate matter it captures. The different air filter materials include;

a) Electrostatic Polypropylene filters

Electrostatic filters use a combination of triboelectric charge and airflow to remove air pollutants. These filters are perfect for removing small-sized pollutants such as dust. However, this filter material is expensive to purchase and maintain and could strain your AC as it reduces airflow.

b) Pleated air filters

Pleated air filters are the most common filters in most homes as they trap particulate matter as small as 0.3 microns, such as bacteria and viruses. They also have pleats that increase the filter’s surface area for maximum air purification,

c) Fiberglass air filters

This is the cheapest air filter material, so it is perfect under a tight budget. However, fiberglass filters only trap large particulates, which means that it may not be ideal when looking to improve your indoor air quality.

d) Carbon filters

Carbon air filters prevent odor and fume build-up in recirculated air through adsorption. However, carbon filters do not trap smaller particles such as bacteria and dust from the air.

Endnote

Air filters are crucial in improving indoor air quality. Keep the above tips in mind to help you select the right air filter for a healthy home environment.

Michelle has been a part of the journey ever since Bigtime Daily started. As a strong learner and passionate writer, she contributes her editing skills for the news agency. She also jots down intellectual pieces from categories such as science and health.

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Lifestyle

Derik Fay: The Strategist Who Built Empires Where Others Saw Limits

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In the ever-changing landscape of entrepreneurship, few names carry the weight of strategic precision like Derik Fay. Behind the scenes of some of the most dynamic, growth-driven companies in America, Fay has become a master at the art of scaling businesses without sacrificing soul.

What makes his journey all the more compelling isn’t just what he’s done — it’s how quietly and deliberately he’s done it. Born in Westerly, Rhode Island, on a cold November day in 1978, Fay didn’t come from connections or capital. He came from resilience. Raised in modest circumstances, he developed a mindset early on that would come to define his success: if a door doesn’t open, build the damn frame yourself.

At 6’1″, Fay’s physical presence is matched only by the magnitude of his vision. Over the past two decades, he’s grown from a solo operator into a force that touches nearly every major sector in American business. He is best known as the founder of 3F Management, a multi-sector venture and private equity firm that acts less like a bank and more like a command center — diagnosing broken business structures, overhauling teams, and rebuilding revenue engines from the inside out.

But 3F is only the beginning. Fay holds active leadership or board roles across a broad range of ventures, including Around the Clock Fitness, SalonPlex, Results Roofing, BIGG Pharma, Tycoon Payments, Eratyc Entertainment, FayMs Films, and even the combat sports disruptor Bare Knuckle Fighting Championships (BKFC). Each of these businesses reflects a different side of his philosophy: high-functioning systems, vertical integration, and zero tolerance for mediocrity. 

And while his public persona is often understated, the reach is massive. His online presence alone has generated billions of views, with over 1.4 million followers engaging with his strategic insights, mentorship content, and thought leadership across platforms. He’s not an influencer — he’s an executor with influence.

Yet behind the numbers and headlines is a family man. Since 2021, Fay has shared his life with his partner, Shandra Phillips, whose presence he often credits as grounding his often chaotic, deal-driven world. Together, they raise two daughters, Sophia Elena Fay and Isabella Roslyn Fay — the true north to his professional compass.

Despite his vast portfolio, Fay is not driven by applause. He’s driven by the ripple effect. Every deal, every venture, every mentorship session carries the same intention: to leave people, companies, and communities better than he found them.

He’s also begun exploring a new frontier — film and entertainment. Through FayMs Films and strategic partnerships with entertainment studios, Fay is merging business with storytelling, stepping occasionally into the spotlight as an actor and executive producer. It’s a logical evolution for a man who’s spent his life crafting narratives — only now, some of them play out on screen.

And while many entrepreneurs spend their careers chasing validation, Fay has been repeatedly recognized in major outlets like Forbes, Yahoo Finance, and Maxim, not for buzz but for results. He’s been cited alongside legacy names in global business and continues to operate with the same laser-focus that got him through his first startup, his first failure, and his first million-dollar win.

In a time when founders obsess over being seen, Derik Fay has built something far rarer — he’s become essential. Not just to his companies, but to the evolving definition of what modern leadership looks like: measured, disciplined, people-first, and unapologetically ambitious.

He doesn’t just build businesses.
He builds systems that build people.

Derikfay.com

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