Our county just announced funding to push MERV 13 and higher ventilation rates in public buildings, which is great for health, but I’m already seeing returns and filter racks that are too small, sending ESP through the roof and killing clean air delivery. Anyone else upsizing ducts or moving to 4-5 inch media or a bypass HEPA to hit targets without noise and comfort issues?
I’ve had good luck retrofitting a shallow V-bank filter housing to bump face area so MERV 13 runs about 300–350 fpm; on two municipal jobs that dropped ESP about 0.25" w.c. without touching ductwork and kept noise sane. What face velocity are you seeing?
Anyone else tuning ECM static control or DCV schedules to keep total static near 0.6–0.7 inches? Before upsizing ducts, I’ve been cleaning coils/blowers, sealing return leaks, and lowering the ECM’s max static setpoint so the fan stops chasing pressure — like taking the backpack off before a run.