Actual Size: 15.5x19.5x0.75
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Available In MERV Rating: 8, 11, 13, Odor Eliminator
Made in the USA
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 MERV 8 |  MERV 11 |  MERV 13 |  Odor Eliminator | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Standard Residential/Commercial Healthy Families | Superior Residential/Commercial Allergy Sufferers | Optimal Residential/Commercial Hospital Grade | ODOR ELIMINATOR Residential/Commercial Household Odors |
| Comparable ratings | MPR 600 & FPR 5 | MPR 1000-1200 & FPR 7 | MPR 1500 - 1900 & FPR 10 | MPR 1000-1200 & FPR 7 |
| Filtration | Captures 90% of Airborne Particles | Captures 95% of Airborne Particles | Captures 98% of Airborne Particles | Captures 95% of Airborne Particles |
| Dust, lint & debris | ||||
| Mold, pollen | ||||
| Dander, dust mites | ||||
| Smoke & Smog | ||||
| Bacteria | ||||
| Odor, vocs |
Generally, we recommend you replace your air filters every 90 days. Find out below if you should change your filters more often.
Change your filter every
6 weeks
to ensure indoor air quality is at its best.
Change your filter every
2 months
to avoid shedding and odor buildup.
Change your filter every
2-3 months
as having clean air is even more important with children in your home.
Change your filter every
6 weeks
to ensure indoor air quality is at its best.
Change your filter every
2 months
to avoid shedding and odor buildup.
Change your filter every
2-3 months
as having clean air is even more important with children in your home.
A 16x20x1 air filter is a one-inch pleated HVAC filter that measures 15½" × 19½" × ¾". Filterbuy cuts, pleats, and frames them to order in our own US plants in MERV 8, MERV 11, MERV 13, and Odor Eliminator, starting at $6.24 per filter. Your HVAC manual lists the ratings your system takes, so check it the same way you'd check the size.
16x20x1 is the nominal size, which is the name you order by. The actual cut is 15½" × 19½" × ¾", and that clearance is what lets the filter slide into the slot.
MERV 8 captures 90% of airborne particles, MERV 11 captures 95%, and MERV 13 captures 98%.
MERV 8 is the standard choice for most homes. MERV 11 is built for allergy sufferers. MERV 13 is the one to look at for smoke, and the Odor Eliminator is for odors.
Check your HVAC manual for filter compatibility before you order, the same way you'd confirm the size.
Bought twelve at a time, a 16x20x1 works out to about $24.96 a year at 90-day changes, or roughly seven cents a day.
A 16x20x1 air filter is a one-inch pleated HVAC filter with nominal dimensions of 16 by 20 by 1 inches and an actual cut of 15½" × 19½" × ¾". It sits in the return air path and catches particles before they travel through the rest of your system. You'll see it sold as both a furnace filter and an air conditioner filter. It's the same part.
The undercut is deliberate. We cut to 15½ by 19½ so the filter slides into a stamped slot without binding, and that small bit of clearance is what lets one filter fit a range of cabinets. It's also the thing our support team explains more than anything else on this size, which is why the number sits at the top of this page.
At 320 square inches, the 16x20x1 is one of the smaller standard sizes. That's why it shows up in apartments and condos, in townhouses, and often as the second filter in a home with two return grilles.
Filterbuy cuts, pleats, and frames every filter to order in our own US plants. We're a manufacturer rather than a reseller, and we build more than 600 sizes.
All four Filterbuy 16x20x1 options fit the same slot, so this comes down to which one suits your home. MERV is the industry rating scale set by ASHRAE, and the higher the number, the more the filter captures.
MERV 8 — Tier: Standard. Use: Residential / Commercial. Best for: Healthy Families. Comparable ratings: MPR 600 & FPR 5. Filtration: Captures 90% of Airborne Particles.
MERV 11 — Tier: Superior. Use: Residential / Commercial. Best for: Allergy Sufferers. Comparable ratings: MPR 1000–1200 & FPR 7. Filtration: Captures 95% of Airborne Particles.
MERV 13 — Tier: Optimal. Use: Residential / Commercial. Best for: Hospital Grade. Comparable ratings: MPR 1500–1900 & FPR 10. Filtration: Captures 98% of Airborne Particles.
Check your HVAC manual for filter compatibility before you order. It lists the ratings your system takes, and confirming it is a normal fit check, no different from confirming the size. Do it once and you'll know which of these to reorder from then on.
The best home air filter is the one built for your situation, and for a 16x20x1 that means picking a tier below and checking it against your HVAC manual. The American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology points to MERV 11 to 13 for whole-house filtration.
Most homes: MERV 8, changed every 90 days.
Pets or pollen: MERV 11, changed every 60 days.
Allergy sufferers: MERV 11, changed every 60 days.
Smoke: MERV 13, changed every 45 days.
Odors from cooking or pets: Odor Eliminator, changed every 45 days.
Yes, if the filter you're replacing measures 15½" × 19½" × ¾". Finding your size is usually the easy part: slide the old filter out and read the numbers printed along the frame. If there isn't one in the slot, measure the slot instead and round up to the nearest inch.
One Filterbuy 16x20x1 covers the furnace and the air conditioner both, because in a central system the two share a single air handler and return duct.
Filterbuy 16x20x1 filters fit systems that take a 16x20x1, and that includes slots currently holding a Filtrete, Honeywell, or store-brand filter of the same nominal size. Actual cuts vary a little between manufacturers, though, so it's worth a look before you switch.
Filterbuy dimensions are our own cut spec. Other figures are as published by those manufacturers and their retailers. Filterbuy is an independent manufacturer and is not affiliated with or endorsed by 3M, Filtrete, or Honeywell.
Ours is cut a touch smaller across the group, which is what lets it seat in a tight or slightly out-of-square slot without anyone forcing it. Slide it in and check the fit along the frame. If you can see daylight at the edge, a custom air filter cut to your exact opening will close it.
No, and it's the question we field most once allergy season starts. Filterbuy 16x20x1 pleated filters are disposable, and washing one ruins it. We apply an electrostatic charge to the media during manufacturing, and water strips that charge straight back off. The filter comes out looking fine and doesn't perform the way it did when you bought it. It also holds moisture in the frame, which puts damp cardboard into your return duct.
Washable 16x20x1 filters are a different product: metal or plastic panels built to be rinsed, and they sit well below the tiers above on the MERV scale. The ACAAI notes it's nearly impossible to clean a permanent filter of the particles that cause allergies. A washable panel has its place in a workshop. For a home, a pleated filter you swap on a schedule is the simpler answer.
A Filterbuy 16x20x1 costs between $24.96 and $83.96 a year at the 90-day interval, and the only variable is how many you buy at once. Four cover a year. We ship factory direct, so there's no retailer margin stacked on top.
MERV 8 pricing at four changes per year. MERV 11 and MERV 13 follow the same quantity structure.
Cheap air filters aren't always the cheapest. Buying one at a time costs more than three times the case price, and a thin fiberglass panel is cheap because there's very little in it. A Filterbuy 16x20x1 is inexpensive because you're paying for the filter and not the shelf it sat on.
Home air filter replacement on a 16x20x1 runs every 90 days in a standard household, every 60 with a pet, and every 45 if you're on MERV 13. Basements run dustier, so use 60 there.
Check it monthly while you're nearby. Hold the filter up to a light, and if light doesn't come through the pleats, it's time. That takes about five seconds and it beats counting days.
A 16x20x1 filter cleans air only while your system is moving air through it. The EPA notes that HVAC systems typically run less than 25% of the time across the heating and cooling seasons. Your filter works for a fraction of the day and sits idle for the rest.
The fix costs nothing. Switch the thermostat fan from AUTO to ON, or use a circulate setting if you have one, and the blower keeps drawing air across the filter between heating and cooling calls. The filter will fill up sooner, so move to the shorter end of the intervals above while you're running it that way.
This matters more on a 16x20x1 than on a bigger filter, since a smaller system in a smaller space hits its setpoint sooner and runs less. Switching the fan on is the cheapest upgrade available to anyone running one, and it costs you nothing to try.
Two findings from federal research behind the guidance above.
88% of U.S. households use air conditioning, and two-thirds use central AC or a central heat pump. (U.S. Energy Information Administration, 2020 RECS)
Apartments in buildings of five or more units: 85% use AC. Two-to-four-unit buildings: 80%. Single-family detached homes: 90%.
A smaller home is still a filtered home, and 16x20x1 is one of the 600-plus sizes Filterbuy builds for them.
During wildfire smoke events, indoor fine particle levels run about 55% to 60% of outdoor levels with doors and windows shut and no air cleaner running, ranging 30% to 100% across homes. (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency)
MERV 13 is the Filterbuy tier built for smoke. Check your HVAC manual to confirm your system takes it.
Most home centers stock 16x20x1, including Home Depot, Lowe's, Walmart, and Ace Hardware, though usually in a narrow slice of ratings at $8 to $18 each. That's the right answer when you need a filter in the next hour. If you can wait, Filterbuy ships all four ratings with fast and free 2-day delivery to most US states, starting at $6.24 each. An air filter subscription through Auto Delivery sends them every 30, 60, or 90 days at 5% off.
Yes, they're the same filter. Manufacturers list length and width in either order, so a 16x20x1 fits a 20x16x1 slot either way round.
No. A central system runs heating and cooling through one blower and one return, so a single 16x20x1 covers both. An air conditioner filter and a furnace filter in this size are the same product under two names.
That depends on the tier. MERV 8 captures 90% of airborne particles, MERV 11 captures 95%, and MERV 13 captures 98%. The Odor Eliminator adds an activated carbon layer for odors.
Both grilles need a filter, and both need changing on the same schedule. Your HVAC manual will tell you which ratings the system takes in each position.
We cut custom air filters to the eighth of an inch. Measure the old filter, or the slot if there isn't one, and order to those numbers.
MERV. Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value, the industry rating scale set by ASHRAE. Higher numbers capture more.
MPR. Microparticle Performance Rating, a rating system used by 3M on Filtrete filters. It isn't interchangeable with MERV.
FPR. Filter Performance Rating, a rating system used by The Home Depot on Honeywell and house-brand filters.
Nominal size. The rounded size printed on the filter frame, such as 16x20x1. It's the name you order by.
Actual size. The true cut of the filter, 15½" × 19½" × ¾" on a Filterbuy 16x20x1. It's what has to fit the slot.
Face area. Length times width of the filter surface, 320 square inches on a 16x20x1.
Odor Eliminator. A Filterbuy pleated filter with an activated carbon layer added for odors.
ASHRAE. The American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers, which sets the MERV scale.
Michelle Wan is Filterbuy's Brand Manager and Air Quality Writer, working alongside the company's US manufacturing team to turn MERV ratings and HVAC questions into advice homeowners can act on. Technically reviewed by David Clark, Licensed HVAC Technician.
Author: Michelle Wan, Brand Manager and Air Quality Writer | Technically Reviewed By: David Clark, Licensed HVAC Technician
Published: August 17, 2026 | Updated: August 26, 2026
