Neil Comparetto from Comparetto Comfort Solutions is back with a tutorial of making a High Quality DIY Box Fan Air Purifier the "Comparetto Cube"
Read all the tech tips, take the quizzes
and find our handy calculators at https://www.hvacrschool.com
Read all the tech tips, take the quizzes
and find our handy calculators at https://www.hvacrschool.com
Hi neil compareto here with compareto comfort solutions and today i'm going to show you how to make this diy box fan air cleaner. In my diy studio. Hopefully the rain will hold off. So let's go over some of the features that makes this box fan air cleaner.
A little bit different, so it's a standard fox fan that we can get at any hardware store, but it has four filters instead of one and it has a cardboard vape space, so it's installed in a vertical position. So why four filters instead of one well, whenever you have a box fan and you impose a restriction which a filter is an airflow restriction, the amount of air that it moves dramatically drops. So, by having four filters instead of one, we have a lot more filter, surface area and we're able to move a lot more air and filter a lot more air. So i installed it in a vertical position and that's so that if there are any pollutants or anything on the floor that we're not disturbing it there, you know letting it stay see a lot of fans that are um installed horizontally.
They can kind of just blow any of those on the floor and reintroduce them into where we're going to be breathing, and also, what's nice, about this fan, it doesn't require an additional base. So if the fan the filter is the base itself, so you just take it where you need it, put it down and plug it in that's what makes this one a little bit different from others that i've seen and let's go ahead and rewind and i'll show You how we got to this point first thing: you'll need is a 20 by 20 box fan. What you have to do is pay attention to where the speed control the on off is we're going to be attaching the filters to the suction side so make sure that this control is not on the back side. You'll be needing four 20 by 20 by two merv 13 air filters.
You'll need a box just a large piece of cardboard, something that's larger than 21 by 21 and a half you'll need some kind of tape using this uh duct tape. Other types of tape will work. I guess, depending on how much you'll be moving this around how durable you want. It tape measure some type of knife to cut the cardboard a square to help when you cut the cardboard to lay it out a marker again for the cardboard and cutting it out, and i have this tape squeegee, which is optional, not necessary, but nice to have.
First, what we want to do is cut out the cardboard box so to know the dimensions, we'll measure the filters it's going to be 21 and a half by 21 and a half. Let's go ahead and set these aside. Now. I've already made a few of these.
So this is not necessarily ideal the handle, so what we'll do is we'll just put a couple pieces of tape over it. This is uh square enough for our purposes, so we'll just go off of that. I believe this box is 22 by 22, so it fits well for what we're trying to do so measure at 21 and a half 21 and a half try not to drop your marker and go ahead and make a straight line. Now.
We're gon na have another dimension, 21 and a half by 21.5. This is nice, a nice guide. I find that cardboard boxes are remarkably square, so we'll just go ahead and just cut along that line. First time is just score. It second times to cut through it's important to have a sharp knife. Cardboard will dull a knife rather quickly, so i would not use you know if you have a nice pocket knife or something i would try not to use that all right. So now we need to go 21 and a half in this direction. Now we have our platform cardboard platform cut out, so what i like to do, whenever i'm doing something like this taping stuff together, i like to make several tabs just to kind of hold stuff together for me, so we'll make roughly do eight of these or so And uh it'll serve as like a helping hand.
All right. You want to also pay attention to the direction of airflow, so the direction of airflow is this way. This is going to be the outside of the filter box and when you line these up they're going to stagger, i don't have a better term for it. It's going to be like this, so it's going to be 21 and a half by 21.5 square.
So you just want to make sure this is lined up, i'm kind of putting a significant amount of downward pressure on it, and i'm also pulling it together here and then we'll just get a a piece of tape just to hold it in place, just rotate. It now pay attention over here, so you do not want it like this, for instance, where they're both on the outside you want it staggered again same thing: downward pressure pulling it in get a piece of tape to hold it rotate, and this one will line up Like that, okay, so now we have our box and what we need to do is just go ahead and finish taping all these sides together to give it some strength and to prevent any air from bypassing if you have a squeegee. This is where you would go ahead and use it. Uh tape is pressure sensitive, so this does actually help it to stick it's taped together.
Now we can install the base, it doesn't matter which side it goes on. One side will have the base. One side will have the fan you want to make sure it's lined up relatively well, and what i like to do is just have a little bit of overlap on either side on these corners about a half inch to an inch try to get the tape somewhere. In the middle ish, this will be the base, so, if at all possible, try to keep this part the x, the excess tape from being on this part give it a more stable base.
There you go, the base is complete notice. All the arrows are facing in because air is going to come in and then go up now. We're ready for our box fan again. It's very important that we attach this filter box to the suction side of the box.
Fan easiest way to tell that is to plug it in turn it on and see which way the air is going. So we want the air to go this way line. The box fan up. As you can see, this fan fits very well to the footprint of this filter box and again we can use some of these tabs if you have any extras to just kind of hold it in place. Oh no, you just got a shot into the garage. It's a disaster, so these corners, what i try to do is get a piece and not worry about taking care of the corners with this piece for this model right here we have to kind of navigate the cord. So what i've do i've been doing is kind of take take note where it is rip the tape a little bit kind of get the tape around it and then go back with a piece over it. You're also going to want to take care of these holes.
Uh, just air bypass, not the end of the world, but why not? Now we can do our corners. What you want to do is get a piece. You know six inches or so get two pieces, double them up and then go ahead and apply it make sure you work it in nice and good. So we'll go ahead and make three more of these.
There you go all done, see it's pretty durable. It's pretty stable and uh. It has lots of filter, surface area. Okay, it's that easy thanks for watching hope.
You found this useful and i'll see you on the next video you.
Very cool. Needed a cost effective solution for temporary use – remove dust in attic without having to buy an air purifier
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We just changing the name of shit we find on the internet now?
much cheaper then $500-1k 5 stage filters i was going to get for work Are you in Kanata ?
Excellent video content and information. California fires are causing hazardous air quality and this is a helpful way to clean our inside house air
Neil, I suggest removing the plastic grill that's on the intake (back) side of the fan. The perimeter of the fan cabinet will fit better against the edges of the filters. And that back-side plastic grill serves no purpose anyway after the fan is connected to the filter box.
Wouldn't it be a good idea to remove the intake side plastic grill? Would it increase airflow?
Corsi Rosenthal box โฆ not Comparetto box
Why is there no kit for sale at Walmart or Lowe's or home Depot or…?
How often do you have to change the filters if used daily?
Nice! But like every retail fan configuration is WRONG!… With any filtration fan blowing from the top or sides outwards, all you're doing is blowing all the dust all over the place. The fan blowing outward trying to bring in air through the filters is not strong enough to suck particles/dust from the sides, it just doesn't work, smoke maybe but not dust. I've checked this on several like BlueAir and others from $300 to $600 systems, none of them work. The direction of fan blades should be reversed sucking air in, bringing the air directly downward. This will provide greater ability to catch dust/particles floating in the air. Particles do not float on the floor. Try it!
My be a stupid Question but why do you need a cardboard base?
Thanks For sharing video. Concern about changing filters. Would then have to rebuild the whole thing. Again appreciate the video. Service area Nepean??
There is a circle molded into the front grille which is the same diameter as the fan blades, you should block off the corners on the front grille which are outside of that circle. This will reduce turbulence and reduce the amount of unfiltered air being sucked in through the front grille.
question: is the cardboard base necessary? is it just to maintain rigidity? i was thinking of just skipping the base
Super simple. I just made mine and I love it. Thank you
On all the videos on this subject yours is the best ๐๐๐ Service area Ottawa??
these are exactly the similar parts used in blue air.
Good job!
Great video. thanks for taking the time to make it.
Neil Comparetto, Master of Tape Are you in Nepean ?
Duct tape the fan case first so you can remove easier
see where you rip the tape a little bit well for the corners you want to cut the edges so yo have no wrinkles HEHE.
. I used 1500 allergy, bacteria, virus AIR FILTER…..my upgrade has activated carbon …cause its for home use. also gonna add UV light.
MAKE SURE ARROWS POINT INSIDE. I had one i had to take cut out cause i put it wrong way lol.
when attaching the fan i make scissor relief cuts in duct tape to make better seals.
Whats the filter type?
How long before you change filters?
Whats the costs?
This is a great idea. Thanks a lot.
how often should the filters be changed?
thinking about building one of these to replace my small air purifier which only has a CADR of 70. considering a single filter box fan purifier has a CADR of nearly 200, I reckon this design would be comparable to a high-end purifier like a blue 211+
Great video just wanted to know what duct tape you used seems to rip easy with your hands?
so when it comes time to change is it a pain with all that tape…….? Also, can you vacuum the sides carefully to extend the life of the filters? This looks really cool XD
wouldn't it work better to turn fan the other way so you are sucking in room air and blowing it out the filters? Are you in Barrhaven ?
what would be the ideal fan power for efficiency? 40W or 50W would be enough?
Light to carry and a fraction of the price of one of those shop air cleaners. I also saw a video on the effectiveness of these things. The home made ones are just about as good.
Have you thought about doing a wooden set up like that?
Just did this and added the honeywell prefilter with activated carbon – hoping for the best thanks is for the great video!
Great idea. I'm going to build one. Besides airflow, are there other downsides to using 1 inch filters instead of 2 inch?
thank you for this!!! do you think it will work to get rid of mycotoxins in the air? Service area Orleans??
Thank you.
Love it, it's easy, it's relatively inexpensive and it works. Made it in 20 minutes or so. Box fan $30-40. Filters $20-30 each Canadian bells. I bought my fan at Canadian Tire and filters from HD both online and picked up in person. I added coverings to the corners to minimize air going into the fan from output side. I used packing tape. The cube is sturdy with cardboard base made from fan box.
Filters rated good for 3 months, I used 3M 1900 versions for best filtration I can afford. 20"x16"X1", 20 width and 16" height for my cube + 4" thickness of my fan… You get the idea.
Your cost will vary based on what you can afford. This video inspired me to spend my hard earned bells in a great way, sorry manufacturers trying to sell expensive devices I have bells left over for something else!
To save some time….. couldnโt you just connect all the filters together with duct tape then place your cube on top of a piece of large cardboard, trace an outline of the cube, lift and cut. No t-square (well, maybe to cut a fast straight line), no measurements……Easy peasy. Service area Kanata??
I used 20×30 filters. They were the same price as 20×20 but gave me 800 square inches more filter area, 20×10 x 4 sides. it was 10 inches taller.
Love this and am making one. The design is fantastic and it's easy to make!
Video production note – it would really help if you could hold the camera steady. The constant back-and-forth motion was making me seasick.
I taped one 20x20X4 on the back. Maybe not quite the airflow this thing does but probably close and a whole lot easier / cheaper / smaller.
So I just ordered some MERV13 filters to make this. Most interested in keeping dust down during paint and remodel projects in my house. Given the price of higher MERV filters, would it make sense to add less restrictive filters as a first layer pre-filter (even the cheap non-pleated ones) and change them more often? I know it might tax the fan and shorten its life, but right now Iโve spent twice as much on filters as the fan.
I have a wood shop. Would this not be practical because of how fast it would probably clog with saw dust?
Dude you are blowing up like a stick of TNT ๐งจ! I came to YouTube after watching This old house. They made a segment from your creation and gave you a mention. Good job, Iโm building this. Thanks.
If I work in a small space with just one window, where is the best/safest spot to place this? Near the window or doorway?
Wouldnt it move more air to clean if you flip over the fan and allowed the suction to be on the top and it blows into the box filtering fresh air getting pushed out of the filter instead of the fan blowing out??
Very clever
Merv 13 are $20 a in my area, so this would cost roughly $90-$100 to build. Why do this instead of buying an air purifier instead? (Serious question, I would like to know the benefits) Are you in Ottawa ?
That's pretty cool.
A quick setup if you don't have one with you.