Actual Size: 15.5x24.5x1.75
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Available In MERV Rating: 8, 11, 13
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 MERV 8 |  MERV 11 |  MERV 13 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best for | Standard Residential/Commercial Healthy Families | Superior Residential/Commercial Allergy Sufferers | Optimal Residential/Commercial Hospital Grade |
| Comparable ratings | MPR 600 & FPR 5 | MPR 1000-1200 & FPR 7 | MPR 1500 - 1900 & FPR 10 |
| Filtration | Captures 90% of Airborne Particles | Captures 95% of Airborne Particles | Captures 98% 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.
Author: Michelle Wan, Brand Manager and Air Quality Writer, Filterbuy | Technically reviewed by David Clark, Licensed HVAC Technician, Filterbuy HVAC Solutions | Updated September 4, 2026
A 16x25x2 air filter is a two-inch-deep pleated HVAC filter for a slot roughly 16 by 25 inches. It’s your furnace filter and your air conditioner filter at once, because a central system runs both through one blower and one slot. The Filterbuy 16x25x2 measures 15.5 × 24.5 × 1.75 inches and comes in MERV 8, 11 and 13. Most homes change it every 60 to 90 days.
Order by the nominal size, 16x25x2. The filter itself measures 15.5 × 24.5 × 1.75 inches, and that clearance is what lets it slide in and still seal.
In a central forced-air home, furnace filter, AC filter and HVAC filter all name the same part. Depth is the one thing you can’t swap.
Every brand publishing an actual size for 16x25x2 lists 15.5 × 24.5 × 1.75 inches, so switching brands here is a straight swap.
Check your HVAC manual to confirm which filters your system takes. It’s the same quick check as confirming your size.
If the filter you’re pulling out reads 16x25x2 on the frame, this one fits. Finding your size takes about a minute.
Turn the system off at the thermostat and open the filter access door.
Read the size printed along the edge of the old filter’s frame. That’s your nominal size, and it’s what you order.
If there’s no filter in there, measure the slot opening instead and round up to the nearest whole inch.
A slot that comes to roughly 16 by 25 inches and 2 inches deep takes a 16x25x2. If you can’t find the slot at all, our guide to finding your HVAC air filter location walks through every place it hides, and our guide to measuring an air filter covers the awkward cases.
A one-inch slot takes 16x25x1 air filters and a four-inch slot takes 16x25x4 air filters. If your measurement lands on a fraction, we cut custom air filters to the eighth of an inch, so you don’t have to round and lose the seal.
“Which way does the arrow on a 16x25x2 filter point?
“The arrow on a 16x25x2 air filter should point toward the furnace or air handler, following the direction of airflow. You’ll find the arrow printed along the edge of the filter frame. If you’re unsure which way the air flows, turn on the fan and hold a tissue near the open filter slot, the airflow will show you the direction. “
— Filterbuy Customer Service
Every brand Filterbuy could find that publishes an actual size for 16x25x2 lists the same three numbers, 15.5 by 24.5 by 1.75 inches. That’s unusual, and it’s worth knowing before you spend time measuring. Switching from Filtrete, Nordic Pure or Filter King in this size is a straight swap.
Actual sizes from each manufacturer's published retail listings, September 2026. Honeywell, Filtrete, Nordic Pure and Filter King are trademarks of their respective owners; Filterbuy is an independent manufacturer and is not affiliated with them. Measure your slot before ordering.
Don’t carry that assumption to other sizes. At 20x25x1 the same brands part company, with Filterbuy cutting 19.50, Filtrete 19.68 and Amazon Basics 19.75. The agreement belongs to this size alone, which is why we publish the numbers instead of asking you to take our word for it.
MERV 8 is the standard choice for most homes. MERV 11 is our tier for allergies and asthma, and it’s the one to pick if you’ve got pets or pollen coming in. MERV 13 is the optimal tier, and it’s the one we point at smoke. If odors are what you’re dealing with, our Odor Eliminator carbon filters handle those instead, because MERV rates solid particles rather than gases.
MPR and FPR are third-party rating systems developed by other companies, shown here for comparison only.
Before you order, check your HVAC manual to confirm which filters your system takes. It’s the same quick check as confirming your size, and it takes about a minute. If you’ve got questions about allergies, asthma or anything else health-related, talk to a qualified professional.
Every 60 to 90 days in a standard home, and every 30 to 45 once there are pets. The EPA puts the manufacturer norm at 60 to 90 days and adds the part that matters most, which is to shorten the interval whenever the filter looks soiled as you pull it. These things stack, so two pets in a humid climate means the short end.
Judge it against white paper rather than a lamp. Holding a filter up to a light is the most-repeated tip on the internet, and it isn’t much use. A new pleated filter already blocks plenty of light, and a loaded one still passes light between the pleats. Against paper you see the color change straight away, and the American Lung Association recommends that exact comparison. Smoke loads a filter in days, so check your local air quality and adjust when AQI is high.
Turn off your HVAC system at the thermostat.
Remove the old filter by sliding it out of the filter slot.
Check the airflow arrow on the new filter.
Insert the new filter with the arrow pointing toward the furnace or air handler.
Write the installation date on the filter frame so you know when it was replaced.
Close the filter compartment and turn the system back on.
The whole process usually takes about two minutes and requires no tools.
For more detail, see our step-by-step instructions for replacing your air filter or our guide to changing a furnace filter
If your system has a two-inch slot, yes. A 16x25x2 gives you 1.75 inches of media against 0.75 on a 16x25x1, so it holds more dust between changes. You can’t stack two 1-inch filters to make up the depth, and you’ll want to check your HVAC manual before you switch depths.
The table raises an obvious question, so here’s the honest answer: we publish the same 60 to 90 day band for both depths, and the 2-inch doesn’t double it. What the extra depth buys you is margin. Pleat count is where most people go wrong, too. A Filterbuy 1-inch carries 14 pleats per foot and the 2-inch only 10, because each 2-inch pleat is far deeper. Compare 2-inch, 1-inch and 4-inch air filters, or the other common two-inch size, 20x25x2.
Three findings from US federal sources, for context on why the filter in your return matters.
Americans spend about 90% of their time indoors, and the EPA reports that some pollutants run two to five times higher inside than out. Source: US EPA, Report on the Environment.
ENERGY STAR asks for MERV 6 or higher, and the DOE Zero Energy Ready Home and EPA Indoor airPLUS programs both set the bar at MERV 8. Source: US DOE Building America Solution Center.
During smoky periods the EPA recommends upgrading to a filter rated MERV 13 or higher. Source: US EPA, Preparing for Smoke and Heat.
They are. In a forced-air home the furnace and air conditioner share one blower, one duct system and one filter slot, so all three names describe the same part on the same schedule. Only the name changes with the season.
Nominal and actual size. Nominal is the rounded number on the frame and the one you order. Actual is what the filter measures. A 16x25x2 comes to 15.5 × 24.5 × 1.75 inches.
MERV. Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value, the industry scale for how much airborne particulate a filter captures. Higher numbers capture more.
MPR and FPR. Third-party rating systems developed by other companies, MPR by 3M and FPR by The Home Depot. Neither is MERV, so equivalents are approximate.
Pleated filter. Media folded into pleats for more surface area, so it captures far more than a flat panel of the same size.
Michelle Wan is Brand Manager and Air Quality Writer at Filterbuy. She works with our US manufacturing teams, so she writes from how filters are built and used rather than from spec sheets. Reviewed by David Clark, Licensed HVAC Technician, Filterbuy HVAC Solutions.
Filterbuy is a family-owned American manufacturer, not a reseller. Every filter is cut, pleated and framed to order in our own US plants, with fast, free 2-day delivery to most US states. See our shipping, returns and cancellations policy for details.
Questions about fit? Call (855) 345-8289 or email info@filterbuy.com.
