About
RV Air’s beginning roots …
Big Bend National Park was everything Eddie and Rose Rice had pictured — and then more. Every sunset rivaled the next. Road runners skittered across the road, and patches of thorny shrubs dotted the land. And that’s where the “more” came in. Only days into the Texas stretch of a four-month RV trip, Rose became sick. A visit to a nearby doctor determined Rose had environmental allergies, the body’s adverse immune response to a person’s surroundings. Unfortunately, this condition often plagues travelers when exposed to new, unfamiliar regions.
Rose’s doctor suggested replacing the RV’s air filter, and sure enough, when Eddie inspected the filter, it was flimsy and filthy, covered in dust, dirt and debris. But finding a replacement — a new, sturdier filter — wasn’t that simple. Eddie scoured Texas RV stores, only to be directed to the nearest Home Depot with the advice to cut a filter down to size, which only led to more problems — the build-up of mold in the paper filter. “It turns out home filters aren’t designed for RVs, especially when all of that filter gunk gets locked up and stored away weeks at a time,” Eddie explains. “And we all know how hot a closed-up RV can get. In 200-degree conditions, mold loves to grow.”
The birth of RV Air Filters ...
After contacting several AC manufacturers, Eddie learned these filters are only designed to keep dirt and debris out of the AC unit, not out of RV interiors. With zero suitable RV AC air filter replacements to be found, Eddie took matters into his own hands. In 2014, the former engineer put his retired skills (and the skills of a friend) to work, and that’s when RV Air was born. Now, four years and four designs later, Eddie’s air filter can be found in Walmart and Camping World stores across the United States and online at RVAir.com and Amazon.com.
Unlike standard RV air filters that utilize a thin black polypropylene filter, similar to the filter found on a hair dryer, the RV Air filter features 40 layers of unwoven polyester, each sprayed with an anti-microbial tackifier to capture particles. The result? An RV AC filter that delivers a MERV 6 rating with the ability to block particles as small as 3-10 microns (particles invisible to the naked eye), including pollen, dust, mold spores, pet dander and other allergens, making it the best air filter for allergies and asthma. Simply put, less contaminants will pass through a filter with a higher MERV rating. And while a MERV rating can range from 1-16, super high ratings can restrict airflow, which in turn can be taxing on the air conditioner, which is why Eddie has always strived for a MERV 8 rating.
Made by RV lovers — for RV lovers ...
In the end, the MERV 6 rating is a number that helps Eddie and his wife breathe easier as they travel the country, and they’re ecstatic it’s something they can share with other RVers — the best air conditioner filter for allergies that will nip environmental allergies in the bud before the sniffles ruin the road trip.
“Allergies can definitely take the fun out of camping. Kids and pets are notorious for bringing the outside in, and with retirees who full-time RV, there’s the risk of pneumonia, so we take great pride knowing we have helped hundreds of RVers breathe a little easier,” Eddie says. “It’s amazing what a good filter can do.”
