If you have a newly built residence in Alliance, it was probably made with energy efficiency in mind. This means greater amounts of insulation and windows and doors with enhanced seals. While these advances are fantastic for keeping your energy expenses in check, they’re not so fantastic for your indoor air quality.
Your heating and cooling system needs to work with a filter. But if you have a flat filter, you won’t be getting enough filtration. This type only provides the smallest amount of protection by blocking dust from infiltrating your home comfort system.
While you can install a pleated filter or one with a better MERV rating, it still might not be ample filtration, particularly if someone in your residence has allergies or other respiratory troubles.
That’s where a whole-house air purifier comes in. These systems are installed within ductwork to provide strong filtration across your home. Depending on the kind you go with, you’ll be able to get rid of allergens, odors and even some viruses under certain airflow conditions.
Here are our favorite solutions from Lennox, an industry leader in air purification.
Best Air Purifiers from Lennox
1. HEPA Air Purifiers
A HEPA air purifier, like the Healthy Climate® High-Efficiency Particulate Air Filtration System, provides premium filtration. These filters were first created to guard scientists as they made the atomic bomb. Today, they’re a staple in hospitals and other medical facilities.
The Healthy Climate HEPA Filtration System has a three-step filtration method. A prefilter attracts bigger irritants before the HEPA filter catches the rest of miniscule irritants. Then, a charcoal filter wipes out odors and chemical vapors.
The PureAir™ S Air Purification System is compatible with all HVAC brands and easily integrates with your smart home. It combats the three leading varieties of indoor air pollutants:
- Airborne particles
- Chemical odors and vapors
- Germs and bacteria, under certain airflow conditions
This air purifier can remove 99.9%* of pollutants, including mold spores, pollen, dust and pet dander. It’s also potent at reducing or eliminating 90%1 of flu and cold viruses under certain airflow conditions. And, according to laboratory and field studies, it removes and eradicates approximately 50% of residential odors and chemical vapors within 24 hours.
The PureAir S is equipped with sensing features that make it uncomplicated to service. When paired with an iComfort® S30 smart thermostat, you’ll be notified when to install a new filter and UVA light.2 This home air purifier must be used with communicating Lennox systems and the iComfort S30.
2. Media Air Cleaners
Lennox Healthy Climate® Media Air Cleaners come in in a variety of MERV ratings to match your needs. This rating calculates how good filters are at capturing contaminants. The higher the number, the greater the filtration.
The Healthy Climate Carbon Clean 16® Media Air Cleaner is recommended for households with allergy suffers and pets. This is a HEPA filter air purifier, since it has a MERV 16 rating for hospital-strength filtration. And it removes more than 95%3 of aggravating particles from your residence’s air.
The Healthy Climate 13 Media Air Cleaner is great for homes who are looking for stronger protection from viruses and bacteria. This filter catches 99% of larger particles including dust, pollen and lint. And up to 54% of smaller particles down to 0.3 microns.4
The Healthy Climate 11 Media Air Cleaner is a a great air purifier for allergies and in houses with pets. It catches more than 87% of bigger particles down to 3 microns and more than 28% of smaller ones down to 0.3 microns.4 It’s able to provide this strong filtration without driving up the cost of turning on your HVAC system.
These three media air cleaners can be used with any brand of HVAC system. Regardless, it’s critical to know that some of the thicker ones, including MERV 16 and 13, may limit your system’s airflow. This can inflate your heating and cooling bills.
3. UV Air Purifiers
The sun’s UV rays are to blame when you get a stinging sunburn. But this wavelength of light has a helpful application when concealed within your ductwork. It’s also powerful enough to reduce germs, mold and fungi under certain airflow conditions.
In actuality, the Healthy Climate UV Germicidal Light can decrease the number of airborne microorganisms by 50% in as short as 45 minutes.5 This light wrecks cell structure, which prohibits these microorganisms from multiplying and spreading around your home.
And this UV air purifier can also help keep your HVAC system clean and operating efficiently. It takes care of germs, mold and fungi lurking inside ductwork and your system itself. This UV light air purifier does all these things without making lung-aggravating ozone.6
Breathe Easier with the Support of Our Air Purification Pros
Your loved ones’ comfort and health is important to us at Jack's Heating, Cooling, Stoves & Fireplaces. We realize there are a lot of possibilities out there. That’s why we make it uncomplicated to work with our indoor air quality pros. We specialize in recommending solutions that match your needs and budget, and we’d love to hear more about your house and your air quality challenges. Call us at 308-762-1613 today to start the process.
1Based on laboratory and field studies.
2PureAir™ S requires the iComfort® S30 and a communicating indoor unit.
3Leading consumer magazine, January 2012. Based on the published CADR, which is the standardized measurement system to determine the cubic feet of clean air produced per minute. Particles captured range in size down to 0.3 micron. One micron = 1/25,000 of an inch in diameter.
4Based on lab tests conducted on filters with conditions included in ASHRAE standard 52.2 for E1 and E3 size ranges.
5Based on constant circulation of air in the home, 3,000-square-foot home with a 5-ton air handler.
6U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Ozone Generators that are Sold as Air Cleaners: An Assessment of Effective and Health Consequences,” August 2006.