Energy Cost Index Ratings

How can you be sure that you have selected the best air filter for your application?

Industry test reports and material in manufacturers’ literature or packaging may be a good start, but will they provide a true indication of a filter’s value over its entire service life, in your system? After all, that’s what matters. (In fact, it’s the only thing that does matter!) Unfortunately the testing method used today is an accelerated test – performed in a matter of hours, and not very indicative of how the filter may perform over a matter of months or years in your AHU. Some manufacturers use filter enhancements to trick the test into indicating an efficiency level that in actual application can degrade very quickly. Their literature may even portray the filters’ performance based only upon this accelerated test data, a marketing decision that is misleading – or worse.

Enter the Energy Cost Index or ECI.  This filter rating system examines the filter’s efficiency over its service lifetime, as well as the energy required to move air through that specific filter.

ECI compares filters of similar construction, under the same conditions of operation and provides an indicator of TRUE performance. Specifically, the formula is dollars per percent of filter efficiency. The lower the value, the better the filter. A filter with an ECI of five stars is a stellar performer. It maintains its efficiency over its life and uses less energy to move air through the filter. It is in the top 20% of all filters evaluated. A four-star filter has a lower ECI value, and the pattern continues down to one star, the poorest performers. The Camfil filters described on this website are all 5-star performers, designed to deliver the greatest value in energy savings, air quality, waste reduction and environmental impact.