How Do Costco's Kirkland Furnace Filters Stack Up Against Other Brands?

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If you're a loyal shopper at the Costco membership warehouse, you're familiar with its house brand, Kirkland. Some Kirkland items are worth buying, and some aren't because of questions about quality. Still, their low price point makes them a tempting option to at least try.

And if you find yourself spending more than you believe you should on furnace filters, Costco offers a Kirkland product that may fit your budget better. The Kirkland Signature 2200 High Performance Furnace Filters cost about $10 apiece in a four-pack on the retailer's website, regardless of which size you select. For comparison, Costco offers some similarly sized 3M-branded Filtrete filters for about $12.50 apiece. According to reviewers, 3M has some of the top-rated furnace filters that are worth buying. Honeywell is another trusted brand name with highly rated air filtration products, and you pay about $12 apiece for its similarly sized filters on Amazon.

Is it worth it to buy an expensive furnace filter, or should you consider a slightly cheaper option from Kirkland? Before we delve into what reviewers have to say about the pros and cons of the Kirkland furnace filters, you'll want to make sure they will fit your furnace. The most common size of filter for residential use is 20-by-20 inches with 1 inch of thickness, though there are others as well. If Kirkland offers a size that matches your needs, learn more about their strengths and weaknesses compared to other brands.

For many reviewers who like the Costco Kirkland-branded furnace filters over other brands, the cost is the primary reason. "I originally bought these over the 3M version, which is more expensive than the Kirkland brand, a few months back," wrote one Costco reviewer. "Everything I have purchased under the Kirkland brand has been great and ... these filters have lived up to my expectations — will definitely buy them again."

For people who need the highest level of indoor air quality because of breathing sensitivities, a few reviewers at the Costco website say the Kirkland filters captured a comparable level of dust and other contaminants to the 3M models. "These air filters are just as good, if not better, than the 3M Filtrete air filters," one reviewer wrote. "They are sturdy and capture a great deal of grime." It is important to remember that if you use a dense filter that captures more contaminants, you'll be restricting airflow through the system. If your HVAC unit cannot handle the more restrictive design, you might end up with higher energy bills or damaging the system.

One other advantage of the Kirkland filter versus a brand like the 3M Filtrete is the ease of installation. You can install the Kirkland model in either direction because it has dual airflow technology. With the 3M Filtrete design, you can only insert it in the direction that matches the printed arrows on the edges. Inadvertently inserting a filter backward can significantly decrease airflow.

On the Costco website, the Kirkland filters have a 4.6-star rating from customer reviewers. While high, that rating is still lower than the 4.8-star rating for the 3M Filtrete filters. Both products have more than 2,000 review ratings, but the Kirkland brand has about twice as many 1-star reviews as the 3M Filtrete brand.

One of the primary complaints from customers who bought the Kirkland models is slightly inaccurate sizing. One Costco reviewer said the filters were smaller than the listed measurement on the package. "These filters are not true to dimension, unlike the 3M filters Costco sells, and were a full ¼-inch short in each direction," the reviewer says. "I'll go back to purchasing the 3M brand filters from Costco like I always have and that fit perfectly," they added. Using a filter that's too small might not block all the dust and other allergens traveling through your HVAC system's ducts and can cause musty odors.

Another potentially negative aspect of the Kirkland product is that its MERV rating is not listed on the Costco website. MERV measures the ability of the filter to capture small, medium, and large particles, with higher rating numbers being the most restrictive. One Reddit user said the Kirkland models were too restrictive for their furnace, necessitating an HVAC service call. This made the lack of a published MERV rating a costly problem after paying the bill for service.