Climate & Ventilation — Carbon Filters

You choose a carbon filter on the volume of air you push through it. That sounds simple until you lay the labels side by side, because the numbers on this page do not all mean the same thing. The second question arrives a year later: what do you do when the carbon is spent.

The number on the filter is not always a capacity

On a Can-Lite the number in the name is the practical capacity, which you compare straight against your fan. In the Can-Original range it is a type number: the CAN 9000 PL is not a filter for nine thousand cubic metres, it delivers two hundred in practice. Prima Klima publishes an optimal and a maximum airflow, and the first is the usable one. Read what the number represents on the product page.

Throw away, refill, or replace only the carbon

At the end of an ordinary filter's life the whole housing goes: mesh, flanges and aluminium leave with the granules. AC Infinity breaks that with refillable kits, where you replace only the Australian RC412 carbon. That is the cheaper route once you run several cycles, and the dearer one if you grow once. The same range has conventional filters too, with XL versions holding more carbon.

Can's three ranges are not one family

The Can-Original comes in steel with a dust sleeve and in plastic, with a separate flange. The Can-Lite is the light steel range, where on the larger sizes weight becomes a mounting decision: a tent frame is designed for a lamp and a fan. The Inline alone may sit anywhere in the duct rather than only at the start, which helps when there is no room at the filter position.

Small cabinets and tents

Secret Jardin supplies the DF16 CTC80 filters, chosen on airflow rather than diameter and clipping onto a DF16 flange holder. CTC is one of the few numbers that genuinely lets you compare brands. The smallest Prima Klima and Can-Lite cover the same size of space with a conventional flange. Rhino and G-Tools cover the middle.

Where the range stops

The largest filters here connect to Ø250 mm. Above that there is no carbon filter, and no fans or ducts either. If you already run such a system, the reducer to 250 mm is how you get a filter onto it.

Frequently asked questions

Can my filter be smaller than my fan?
No. A filter that is tight for your airflow lets odour through while still looking new. Choose it at or above your fan's airflow.

Is refilling really cheaper?
Per refill it is, but the kit costs more than a plain filter of the same size. Run several cycles and it pays for itself. Grow once and it does not.

Do I still need odour control alongside a filter?
If odour escapes outside your extraction, when the tent is opened or out of a drying space, a filter will not catch it. That is what odour control covers.