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20x25x3 air filter: actual size, MERV, and price

Printed size 20x25x3 — actual about 19¾ × 24¾ × 3 (varies by brand). Pick a pack below.

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Our pickHoneywell FC40R1011 (return grille)MERV 10 · Pack of 1$94.50$94.50 per filterLowest verified price per filter (MERV 8–13): $94.50 each, checked 17 OctBuy at Honeywell Store

Match & price

Full answer

A 20x25x3 is a three-inch-class rectangle filter. The common residential SKU is a return-grille “top-hat”: a foam or rigid gasket seats in a 1-inch grille and about 3 inches of media hangs into the duct. Do not substitute a 20x25x1. Do not mix it up with a 20x25x2 (~1.75 inches thick in a 2-inch rack). Do not mix it up with a 20x25x4 or 20x25x5 media cabinet (~3.63–4.38 inches). Buy the printed size 20x25x3. Honeywell FC40R1011 merchants print about 19.75 × 24.75 × 3; Zephyr VGF listings print 20 × 25 × 3 including the gasket and 18⅜ × 23⅜ × 3 without it.

Full answer

Honeywell / Resideo FC40R1011 return-grille media — full model hub: Honeywell FC40R. MERV 13 sister FC313R2025 — hub: Honeywell FC313R (no published actual on this size page; measure/match the label).

Same panel, swapped axes: 25x20x3. We treat 20x25x3 as the canonical label. Order 20x25x3.

Actual dimensions by brand

Actual size by brand

These numbers are copied from manufacturer or merchant product copy, not from a competitor size chart. Thickness is part of the fit: a 3-inch return-grille filter is not a 1¾ inch 2-inch rack panel and not a 4-inch cabinet cartridge.

Brand Nominal Published actual (in.) Source
Honeywell FC40R1011 MERV 10 (return grille) 20x25x3 19¾ × 24¾ × 3 (19.75 × 24.75 × 3) Filters Fast, HVAC Wholesale Direct, and Filter Outlet product copy. SameDaySupply prints 19⅞ × 24⅞ × 3 for the same model. Air Quality Honeywell Store spec sheet 68-3062-06 prints face 19¾ × 24¾ and Dim E 4⅜ for the older FC40R design; current Resideo listing is 20 × 25 × 3. Measure if the grille is tight
Zephyr VGF Z20253 MERV 13 (return grille, 2-pack) 20x25x3 Outside including gasket 20 × 25 × 3; inside without gasket 18⅜ × 23⅜ × 3 DiscountFilters Z20253-M13 product copy “Outside dimensions including gasket — actual size 20″ × 25″ × 3″; Inside dimensions — actual size — 18 3/8 × 23 3/8″ × 3″”

A Honeywell FC40R and a Zephyr VGF are not the same cut. Zephyr’s gasketed “inside” 18⅜ × 23⅜ is much smaller than Honeywell’s ~19¾ × 24¾ face. A 20x25x2 (~1.75 inches thick) will not fill a 3-inch grille pocket. A 20x25x4 (~3.63–4.38) is a different cabinet. Carrier/Bryant PGAPXCAR2025 is sold as 20x25x3 but is a media-cabinet cartridge, not this return-grille SKU. Measure the old filter if the slot is tight. Full method: how to measure.

MERV 8 vs 11 vs 13 (EPA facts)

MERV 8 vs 11 vs 13 (facts only)

MERV is ASHRAE 52.2, as summarized by EPA. Higher MERV captures a larger share of smaller particles. It also adds resistance. EPA says to pick at least MERV 13 or as high a rating as your system fan and filter slot can accommodate, and to ask an HVAC technician if you are unsure. A 3-inch MERV 13 is not HEPA. We do not claim health outcomes.

MERV EPA average capture efficiency (particle size) Typical 20x25x3 use
8 ≥20% of 1.0–3.0 µm; ≥70% of 3.0–10.0 µm Common pleated replacement when the manual does not call for higher
11 ≥20% of 0.30–1.0 µm; ≥65% of 1.0–3.0 µm; ≥85% of 3.0–10.0 µm Mid-grade 3-inch return-grille pleat (Zephyr VGF MERV 11)
13 ≥50% of 0.30–1.0 µm; ≥85% of 1.0–3.0 µm; ≥90% of 3.0–10.0 µm Higher-efficiency 3-inch; confirm the furnace/air handler can take the extra pressure drop

Source: U.S. EPA, “What is a MERV rating?”, last updated 14 Jan 2026. Honeywell FC40R1011 is MERV 10; that SKU is in the price table, not in this EPA 8/11/13 grid. Honeywell Home also sells FC313R2025 as a 20x25x3 MERV 13 return-grille filter; we found no published actual for that model, so it is omitted from the size table. Model hub: FC313R.

Where these prices came from

Pack prices checked 30 Aug 2026

Amazon rows re-checked 27 Sep 2026 against the live featured-offer buy-box in a headed browser (Buy links now open the exact listing named in each row). Other merchants keep their own stamps.

These are public shelf/cart prices we recorded on 30 Aug 2026. They are not live. Shipping, subscribe-and-save, and store-only deals will move them. Per-filter math is pack price ÷ count, rounded to the cent.

Observed range that day for ordinary 20x25x3 return-grille packs: about $32.65–$39.98/filter at MERV 11, $41.48–$41.98 at MERV 13, with the OEM Honeywell FC40R1011 MERV 10 1-pack at $94.50. Filtrete had no 20x25x3 SKU with a printed actual (1-inch, 2-inch, and 4-inch 20x25 pages only). Nordic Pure / JB Tools had no 20x25x3 listing (search 20x25x3M8 returned zero). Amazon Basics had no 20x25x3 listing with a printed actual, so that brand is omitted. No merchant we used printed a ~2.75 inch actual for this size. SupplyHouse Honeywell pages were Cloudflare-blocked, so those pack prices are omitted rather than guessed. Filters Fast FC40R1011 ($73.99) and SameDaySupply ($72.47) listed actuals but were out of stock that day, so those prices are omitted. Walmart Filtrete pages were not used for prices. Filterbuy.com size-chart pages were not used for dimensions; Filterbuy had no standard 20x25x3 product listing (their nearby SKUs are 20x25x2 at 1.75, 20x25x4 at 3.63, and 20x25.25x3.5 Aprilaire at 3.75).

Where to buy (all stores)

Where to buy

No ranking. Stock and price change. If the slot is an odd fraction that none of these actual sizes match, measure first — that is not a 20x25x3 SKU. A 20x25x1, 20x25x2, 20x25x4, or 20x25x5 is not a substitute unless the published actual depth matches the old filter.

Sources

Sources (accessed 30 Aug 2026)

  • EPA MERV table: epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/what-merv-rating (updated 14 Jan 2026)
  • Air Quality Honeywell Store FC40R1011 $94.50; spec sheet 68-3062-06 face 19¾×24¾, Dim E 4⅜ (older FC40R). Resideo FC40R1011/U dimensions 20 × 25 × 3
  • Filters Fast, HVAC Wholesale Direct, Filter Outlet: FC40R1011 actual 19¾×24¾×3. SameDaySupply: 19⅞×24⅞×3 (prices omitted; out of stock)
  • DiscountFilters Zephyr Z20253-M13 actual outside 20×25×3, inside 18⅜×23⅜×3
  • HVACFilters Zephyr 20x25x3 MERV 11 2-pack $69.95; MERV 13 2-pack $83.95 (product-page prices re-read 15 Oct 2026; the MERV 11 2-pack was $65.30 on 30 Aug)
  • Amazon Zephyr (buy-box re-checked 2 Oct 2026, same dollars) MERV 11 2-pack $79.95 (B0FNYGW3R7), MERV 11 3-pack $99.95 (B0F647P2R1), MERV 13 2-pack $82.95 (B0FNY687KK). Amazon MERV 13 3-pack page was bot-blocked, so that price is omitted
  • JB Tools search 20x25x3M8: 0 results. Amazon Basics 20x25x3 search: 20x25x1 Basics SKUs only.