Hi my electronic air cleaner is in the attic and
I would like to replace the electronic cells with regular Merv media, each cell is 16 x 26 x 5

This means if I would like to replace all of them I would need to purchase 4 at that size, The problem with this is that they are very pricey, Amazon sells 4 filters for $80

My question is do I have to actually remove these metal cells and replace with media filter or can I use the other pre filter compartment which is 2 feet to the right, that compartment is only 1 inch in depth so the filters would end up being half the cost.