If you live in a newly built house in Marshalltown, it was in all likelihood made with energy efficiency at the top of the list. This means more insulation and windows and doors with enhanced seals. While these enhancements are excellent for keeping your utility costs reasonable, they’re not so great for your indoor air quality.
Your home comfort system needs to operate with a filter. But if you have a flat filter, you won’t be receiving ample filtration. This type only provides the lowest level of protection by keeping dust out of your home comfort system.
While you can install a pleated filter or one with a increased MERV rating, it still might not be enough filtration, even more so if someone in your house has allergies or other respiratory troubles.
That’s where a whole-house air purifier can be a great solution. These systems are installed within ductwork to provide powerful filtration throughout your residence. Depending on the model you select, you’ll be able to remove allergens, odors and even some viruses under certain airflow conditions.
Here are our favorite systems 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, delivers the best filtration. These filters were first made to shield scientists as they created the atomic bomb. Today, they’re necessary in hospitals and other medical facilities.
The Healthy Climate HEPA Filtration System includes a three-step filtration procedure. A prefilter catches bigger pollutants before the HEPA filter captures the remainder of miniscule particles. Then, a charcoal filter takes care of odors and chemical vapors.
The PureAir™ S Air Purification System works with all HVAC brands and easily works with your smart home. It reduces the three key types of indoor air contaminants:
- Airborne particles
- Chemical odors and vapors
- Germs and bacteria, under certain airflow conditions
This air purifier can get rid of 99.9%* of pollutants, including mold spores, pollen, dust and pet dander. It’s also capable of reducing or destroying 90%1 of flu and cold viruses under certain airflow conditions. And, as the result of laboratory and field studies, it reduces and destroys approximately 50% of household odors and chemical vapors within 24 hours.
The PureAir S is equipped with sensing features that make it easy to service. When linked with an iComfort® S30 smart thermostat, you’ll get a notification to change the 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 are available in a variety of MERV ratings to work with your needs. This rating calculates how capable filters are at trapping contaminants. The higher the number, the finer the filtration.
The Healthy Climate Carbon Clean 16® Media Air Cleaner is great for households with allergy suffers and pets. This is a HEPA filter air purifier, because it has a MERV 16 rating for hospital-level filtration. And it eliminates more than 95%3 of unhealthy particles from your home’s air.
The Healthy Climate 13 Media Air Cleaner is recommended for families who desire improved protection from viruses and bacteria. This filter catches 99% of larger particles such as 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 fantastic 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 miniscule ones down to 0.3 microns.4 It’s able to offer this strong filtration without increasing the bill for using your heating and cooling system.
These three media air cleaners are compatible with any brand of HVAC system. Regardless, it’s essential to know that some of the thicker ones, including MERV 16 and 13, may restrict your system’s airflow. This can inflate your heating and cooling costs.
3. UV Air Purifiers
The sun’s UV rays are to blame when you get a blistering sunburn. But this kind of light has a useful application when placed in your ductwork. It’s also strong enough to eliminate germs, mold and fungi under certain airflow conditions.
In reality, the Healthy Climate UV Germicidal Light can lower the concentration of airborne microorganisms by 50% in as fast as 45 minutes.5 This light destroys cell structure, which prohibits these microorganisms from multiplying and infiltrating throughout your residence.
And this UV air purifier can also help keep your HVAC system clean and running efficiently. It takes care of germs, mold and fungi lurking in ductwork and your system itself. This UV light air purifier achieves all these tasks without producing lung-irritating ozone.6
Breathe Healthier Air with the Help of Our Air Purification Professionals
Your family’s comfort and health matters to us at B & G HVAC. We realize there are many options out there. That’s why we make it uncomplicated to collaborate with our indoor air quality pros. We specialize in recommending solutions that meet your needs and budget, and we’d love to hear more about your home and your air quality challenges. Call us at 641-316-3360 right away 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.
