Actual Size: 19.5x24.5x1.75
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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.
Actual cut: 19½" × 24½" × 1¾"
Author: Michelle Wan, Brand Manager and Air Quality Writer | Technically Reviewed By: David Clark, Licensed HVAC Technician
Published: August 24, 2026 | Updated: August 24, 2026
A 20x25x2 air filter is a two-inch pleated HVAC filter with an actual cut of 19½" × 24½" × 1¾". Filterbuy makes this size in MERV 8, MERV 11, and MERV 13, cut, pleated, and framed to order in our own US plants. Most homes change it every 90 days. Prices start at $9.58 per filter, with fast and free 2-day delivery to most US states.
20x25x2 is the ordering name. The actual cut is 19½" × 24½" × 1¾", and that bit of clearance is what makes the filter fit.
Your filter slot decides the depth, so a 20x25x2 and a 20x25x1 aren’t interchangeable.
One 20x25x2 is your furnace filter and your air conditioner filter at the same time, because a central system runs both through a single slot.
MERV 8 is the standard choice for most homes, MERV 11 is made for allergy sufferers, and MERV 13 is the one to pick for smoke.
Check your HVAC manual to confirm which rating your system takes, the same way you’d confirm a size.
A 20x25x2 air filter is a two-inch-deep pleated HVAC filter with a nominal size of 20 by 25 by 2 inches and an actual cut of 19½" × 24½" × 1¾". It sits in the return air path and catches particles before they reach the blower and the coil. Two-inch filters usually live in a cabinet at the air handler rather than behind a wall grille.
Nominal size is the name you order by. The actual cut is smaller on purpose, and that clearance is what lets the filter slide in and seat the way it should. Filterbuy cuts, pleats, and frames every filter to order in our own US plants, so we set that clearance ourselves.
Yes, if 20x25x2 is the size your system takes. One Filterbuy 20x25x2 is your 20x25x2 furnace air filter and your 20x25x2 air conditioner filter at once, because a central system runs heating and cooling through one blower and one slot. There’s no second filter to buy.
Finding your size is the easy part. Measure the old filter first, and if there isn’t one in the cabinet, measure the slot instead. Round each dimension up to the nearest inch and you’ve got your nominal size. Here’s how to measure an air filter if you want it step by step.
If your size isn’t on the list, we cut custom sizes to the eighth of an inch.
Filterbuy 20x25x2 filters are compatible with systems that take a 20x25x2 filter, including models from Honeywell, Filtrete, Rheem, Trane, Lennox, and Carrier. Filterbuy is an independent manufacturer and is not affiliated with or endorsed by these companies.
MERV 8 is the standard choice for most homes. MERV 11 is made for allergy sufferers, and it’s also the one people choose for pets and pollen. MERV 13 is the pick for smoke. All three come in the same 20x25x2 cut, so you’re choosing filtration, not fit.
Check your HVAC manual to confirm which rating your system takes, the same way you would confirm a size.
MPR and FPR are rating systems run by other companies, not by us. If your current filter shows one of those numbers, the table above lines it up with the MERV rating that matches. We don’t make our Odor Eliminator carbon filter in 20x25x2 yet. Carbon is what handles odors, so if odor is the thing bothering you and there’s a one-inch slot elsewhere in the return path, put one there.
A 20x25x2 is one inch deeper than a 20x25x1 and carries more pleated media in the same 20 by 25 opening. The two aren’t alternatives to each other, though. Your cabinet was built for one depth or the other, and that’s the one you order.
A Filterbuy 20x25x2 runs between $38.32 and $107.96 a year at the 90-day interval, depending on how many you buy at once, since four filters cover a year. We’ve done the math for you below.
MERV 8 pricing at four changes per year. MERV 11 and MERV 13 follow the same quantity structure.
Most homes change a 20x25x2 every 90 days. Bump that to 60 days if you’ve got a pet, and 45 if you’ve got several or someone in the house is sensitive to what’s in the air. Basement mechanical rooms load up faster, so use 60 there either way. Here’s how to swap one out.
Check it monthly through heavy heating and cooling months. Hold the filter up to a light, and if light doesn’t pass through the pleats, it’s time.
Don’t wash or vacuum a pleated filter. We charge the media electrostatically on the line and water strips that charge off for good, so a rinsed filter won’t work like a new one. The American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology makes the same point about permanent filters, which are difficult to get properly clean.
If you’ve searched for 20x25x2 air filters near you or a nearby store that stocks the size and come up short, you’re not imagining it. Two inches is a less common depth than one inch, so shelves carry it thinly and often in a single rating.
Filterbuy 20x25x2 air filters ship direct from our own US plants, with fast and free 2-day delivery to most US states. All three ratings stay in stock in the exact cut. If you’d rather not think about it again, Auto Delivery sends the next set every 30, 60, or 90 days at 5 percent off. Breathe easy and get on with your week.
Three independent findings on indoor air, for context.
1. Indoor air is where most of your exposure happens.
90 percent of the average American’s time is spent indoors.
Indoor levels of some pollutants run 2 to 5 times higher than outdoor levels.
Source: U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
2. Allergens turn up in almost every U.S. home.
More than 90 percent of homes had three or more detectable allergens.
73 percent had at least one allergen at elevated levels.
Source: National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences. NHANES data, bedrooms of nearly 7,000 homes.
3. Outdoor particle pollution is widespread.
152.3 million Americans, 44 percent, live in counties failing for ozone or particle pollution.
75.9 million live where year-round particle pollution fails the national standard.
Source: American Lung Association, State of the Air 2026.
Yes, they’re the same filter. Manufacturers list length and width in either order, so if yours reads 25x20x2, order 20x25x2.
No. The slot is built for a single two-inch filter. Two one-inch filters won’t seat properly, and the gap they leave at the edges lets air slip past the media.
Not reliably. A ¾" filter in a 1¾" track has an inch of play, so it shifts and lets air pass around the frame. Even a half-inch gap can cut filtration effectiveness by 20 to 30 percent, so it’s worth ordering the depth your cabinet was built for.
Not by swapping filters. A two-inch filter needs a two-inch track, and forcing one into a one-inch slot bows the frame. The real upgrade is a media cabinet fitted at the air handler by an HVAC technician. If that’s not in your plans, run a Filterbuy 20x25x1 and change it on a shorter interval instead.
Some homes have one filter at the return grille and a second at the air handler, and both need changing. Check your HVAC manual to confirm which rating each slot takes.
The arrow points toward the furnace or air handler, which is the direction air travels as it leaves the return duct. Note which way it faces before you pull the old filter out.
MERV 11 is our Superior tier and it’s the one made for allergy sufferers. It captures 95% of airborne particles, and it’s comparable to MPR 1000–1200 and FPR 7. Check your HVAC manual to confirm your system takes it.
MERV. Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value, the industry scale that rates how much a filter captures. Higher numbers capture more.
Nominal size. The rounded size printed on the filter frame, such as 20x25x2. It’s the name you order by.
Actual cut. The filter’s true measured size. A 20x25x2 is cut to 19½" × 24½" × 1¾".
MPR. Microparticle Performance Rating, a scale run by 3M and used on Filtrete filters. It’s not the same scale as MERV.
FPR. Filter Performance Rating, a scale used by The Home Depot on Honeywell and house-brand filters.
Michelle Wan is Filterbuy’s Brand Manager and Air Quality Writer. She works with our US manufacturing team to turn MERV ratings and filter sizing into advice homeowners can act on. Technically reviewed by David Clark, Licensed HVAC Technician.
