Why Are Some Baghouse Filters More Expensive Than Others?
Baghouse.com sells a lot of filters each year, including thousands of bag filters and cartridge filters in the most common configurations as well as just about every type of unusual or obsolete filters that are still found in baghouses around the country.
While we are one of the most experienced companies in the industry, with a huge network of filter fabrication shops and the economies of scale that come with large volume manufacturing, our filter prices are not always the cheapest – why not?
The answer comes down to two factors: filter design and filter quality.
Filter Design: The Right Filter for the Application
Baghouse filters are used in a vast range of industries and applications
Baghouse filters are used in a dizzying range of industries and applications, from nut processing to aerospace manufacturing to battery recycling to silica mining. Every application has a specific dust type, air temperature, air flow and velocity, dust content, and chemical profile that must be understood to properly identify the correct filter media for the application. To further complicate matters, just about every dust collector manufacturer designs their equipment to use a very specific filter size and configuration – from shaker filters with hangers, to top-load baghouses with snap-bands and cages, to bottom-load baghouses with thimbles and band clamps. The variables are virtually endless.
The cost of your filters of the lifetime of a dust collector depends on having the correct filters installed. Use the wrong filter media and the filters will be damaged quicker – the wrong configuration or size and they will leak, requiring replacement sooner.
Some filter designs are less expensive than others – a standard top-load bag filter made from 16-ounce polyester fabric is produced in large volumes and is thus less costly than a specialty fabric (Aramid, for example). However, if your gas temperature spikes higher than 275 degrees F. Using the wrong filter will result in an early failure and the cost of a new set of bags.
Summary: Selecting the correct filter design will result in the lowest total cost of filters in the long run.
Filter Quality: Risks of Selecting the Lowest Bidder
Assuming you have selected the correct filter media, filter configuration, and size, your purchasing decision should just be to select the lowest price offer right? Not so fast – just like some car manufacturers offer better quality than others, not all filter makers are equal. The biggest differentiator is quality.
Baghouse.com personnel recently evaluated a dust collection system at a new customer. The customer wanted to know why their filters had failed prematurely. The baghouse was processing gypsum dust with a very fine particle size requiring a PTFE membrane, used for high-efficiency filtration of fine dust. However, shortly after installing the filters, the customer noticed that their emission limits were well over their permitted limit.
Microscope view of this filter shows PTFE (white) was sprayed on, not applied via a membrane.
Baghouse.com sent a filter sample to the lab and discovered that, instead of a PTFE filter membrane, the filter manufacturer had sprayed on a PTFE layer which left large gaps in the PTFE coverage of the filters, allowing dust to pass through and into the atmosphere. The purchasing specialist at this customer had chosen these filters due to the lowest quoted price, but the result was the purchase of a new set of higher-quality filters, much sooner than anticipated.
Summary: Focus on long-term cost, not just the lowest price tag.
Expertise & Quality
At Baghouse.com, our mission is to be the most trusted name in dust collection. That means that we never offer a sub-par product, either an improperly designed filter or a low-quality filter, to win business from our competitors.
With our 40 years in the industry, our team of experts will ensure that any filter we sell is the correct design for your application. Additionally, the filters we sell are the highest quality and made in the USA. We expect our customer relationships to last a lifetime, not just until we get a PO in hand. We may not always be the lowest bidder, but we strive to offer the most long-term value for our customers.
