About Us

Founded in 1937 in Detroit, Michigan by Art and Grace Redner, General Filters, Inc. began manufacturing oil filters out of their small home in Detroit.  The original filter was an after-market bypass oil filter that offered the latest in a replaceable wool filter cartridge.

The product addressed an important need: to reduce the frequency of oil changes.  Most cars sold in the 1930's did not come with oil filters and required oil changes every 500 to 1,000 miles.  The business quickly grew, and they moved to a storefront operation that offered while-you-wait filter installation while also expanding into the fuel oil filter market to accommodate residential boilers.

During World War II, General Filters did its part to help Detroit become the "Arsenal of Democracy".  The company designed and built a portable filtration system for the Allied fighter planes and bombers operating in the difficult environment of North Africa. The filter was mounted on the back of a jeep and could be driven to each plane to filter the oil, significantly reducing service time and increasing the number of missions each plane could fly on a daily basis. 

This experience changed the focus of General Filters from a service company to a true manufacturing company.  Continued growth required relocation, twice to larger facilities in Detroit. In 1953 the company moved to its present location in Novi, Michigan, at that time just a small town with many farms and orchards.  A national sales force was established in the US market and Canadian General Filters Products was established in Toronto to serve the Canadian market.

General Filters, Inc. moved into the Indoor Air Quality (IAQ) market by manufacturing and marketing GeneralAire® whole-house humidifiers in the early 1950's. Over the years residential home construction had improved, better insulating and protecting the interior of homes from outdoor temperatures and debris. Consequently, these new construction methods created an ever-growing need for better Indoor Air Quality and for residential home heating and cooling systems to be much more diverse and sophisticated. Using the latest technology available, GeneralAire® premium brand whole-house humidifiers, air cleaners, dehumidifiers, and air purifiers have become the complete line of dependable, high quality IAQ solutions for today's energy-efficient homes. GeneralAire® indoor air quality products allow you to Breathe Healthier® in the comfort of your own home.

Gar-Ber Spin-On, highly efficient residential fuel oil filters were pioneered by Jim and John Berg. Acquired by General Filters in 2006, Gar-Ber brand spin-on fuel oil filters exceed the standard for filtration of fuel oil in home heating appliances. Today, Gar-Ber is manufactured by General Filters, Inc. to the same high-quality specifications as the Berg Brothers produced over the years. Innovative and highly reliable, you can always count on Gar-Ber to be superior in quality and best in performance.

Unifilter® Fuel Oil Filters were developed to challenge the generic imitators that entered the home fuel oil filtration market. A lower-cost alternative to the General Brand Filter, Unifilter® is a highly dependable fuel oil filter that rivals any generic brand in the market today. You can count on your home's oil furnace to run smoothly with Unifilter® filtration.

In 2014, General Filters, Inc. acquired Air & Energy Products, expanding their breadth of residential, whole house dehumidifiers. Two new models were added to the lineup: the HealthyAire DH70 (removing as much as 70 pints of moisture per day) and the DH95 (removing as much as 95 pints per day). The units include a MERV 11 air filter that continually protects the interior of the unit. With a compact design, they effectively remove excess moisture and can be placed in crawl spaces, attics, basements, or other areas of the home where space is tight.  New Wi-Fi and touch screen control dehumidifiers were introduced in 2018 under the GeneralAire® brand; the DH75 and DH100.  More compact than previous units, they are the first dehumidifiers in the market to offer Wi-Fi control.

General Filters acquired Second Wind™ Air Purifiers in 2018 to better control pricing and quality of their UV air purifier line.  The line offers a wide range of both residential and commercial options.