TL;DR
MERV, the Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value, is the ASHRAE 52.2 scale from 1 to 20 that rates how effectively an air filter captures particles of different sizes. Ratings of 8 to 13 cover most homes — 13 captures a meaningful share of smoke and virus-carrying particles — while hospital and cleanroom filters score higher.
What it means
MERV, the Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value, is the ASHRAE 52.2 scale from 1 to 20 that rates how effectively an air filter captures particles of different sizes. Ratings of 8 to 13 cover most homes — 13 captures a meaningful share of smoke and virus-carrying particles — while hospital and cleanroom filters score higher. Restoration crews specify high values on air scrubbers during mold and fire work, and HVAC techs balance the rating against the blower's tolerance for added resistance.
Where it sits in the glossary
MERV is part of the Trade jargon group inside the ProFix Directory glossary. Browse every term in this category from the glossary index.
Why Ohio homeowners should know it
This is a term Ohio homeowners encounter when reading contractor quotes, hiring paperwork, or inspection reports. Understanding it well enough to ask one good follow-up question is usually all the protection a homeowner needs.
ProFix Directory keeps definitions short on the index page and saves the longer context — Ohio-specific rules, where the term comes from, and which ProFix tools touch it — for these per-term pages so the term is easy to cite and easy to share.
ProFix tools that touch this term
See also
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