HVAC

Air Filtration

standalone room units:  Rabbit Air

• relatively quiet and effective
• relatively high initial, but lower operating expense
  (replacement media replacement interval vs cost)

RGF REME HALO-LED HVAC air cleaner

UV LED generates ionized hydrogen peroxide vapor without ozone,
which disinfects and improves Filtrete effectiveness:

• Our HVAC has Filtrete MPR 2200 media, because cheaper than MPR 1900
• Consumer Reports rated Filtrete MPR 1900 better than alternatives
  rated less than MERV 13, because more pleats present less airflow resistance.
  
• Filtretes replaced monthly are darker after RGF REME HALO installation/replacement.

Original HALO cell employs a fluorescent UV lamp
that runs continuously and needs replacing every 2 years or so.
The original HALO with cell cost $392
Replacement cells cost $180 in Jan 2022 and $190 today.
Total parts cost for 10 years might be about $1100.

HALO-LED cells want replacing after 5 years, costing $225-290 on ebay.
Wiring must be changed to run LED only with air handler blower.
Amazon currently has HALO-LED units for $440,
for a 10-year cost of ~$700.
That Amazon unit price is suspiciously less than elsewhere,
but received HALO-LED carton was sealed and appears genuine.

While both REME HALO external appearances are very similar,
original HALO's arrowhead-shaped housing points UP on supply plenum wall;
HALO-LED unit wants housing instead pointing LEFT, sigh...

LED cell replacement appears slightly more finicky than fluorescent,
might be daunting in another 5 years, 8 feet up on a ladder.

REME - concluding episode

In fact, original and LED HALO shapes are identical and use identical packaging.

• Both include 24V transformers with identical ratings...
  ... but different connectors presumably discourage connecting
  always-on power for fluorescent HALO to only-with-fan HALO-LED.
• arguably the most striking external difference is operating LED
  • original HALO had a bright red LED that lit up that corner of the garage
  • HALO-LED has a dim green LED facing the wall
    that can barely be seen in the dark at night,
    mostly overwhelmed by light from a nearby dehumidifier.

Hole in plenum wall for HALO-LED needed to be wider
than for the original; some hacking required:

RGF included a template for the hole shape,
but I had to cut the outer flange shape:

Threaded stud at upper left was for a dead air purifier that came with the house.
Another stud cut off by Dremel tool made space for this template.

Shiny new HALO-LED in crummy old plenum:

Air handler blower is powered differently for heat and cool,
but circuit board 110VAC connections for electronic air cleaner work fine.