If you live in a newly constructed house in Lawrence, it was likely made with energy efficiency at the top of the list. This means increased insulation and windows and doors with better seals. While these advances are fantastic for keeping your energy bills in check, they’re not so good 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 experiencing ample filtration. This style only provides the bare minimum of protection by stopping dust from getting into your home comfort system.
While you can get a pleated filter or one with a increased MERV rating, it still might not be adequate filtration, even more so if someone in your house has allergies or other respiratory issues.
That’s where a whole-house air purifier can be a great solution. These systems are installed within ductwork to provide strong filtration throughout your house. Depending on the type you select, you’ll be able to get rid of 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 premium filtration. These filters were first made to protect scientists as they made the atomic bomb. Today, they’re essential in hospitals and other medical settings.
The Healthy Climate HEPA Filtration System features a three-step filtration process. A prefilter draws larger irritants before the HEPA filter catches remaining miniscule irritants. Then, a charcoal filter takes care of odors and chemical vapors.
The PureAir™ S Air Purification System connects to all HVAC brands and smoothly integrates with your smart home. It combats the three major varieties of indoor air pollutants:
- Airborne particles
- Chemical odors and vapors
- Germs and bacteria, under certain airflow conditions
This air purifier can eliminate 99.9%* of pollutants, including mold spores, pollen, dust and pet dander. It’s also effective at decreasing or eradicating 90%1 of flu and cold viruses under certain airflow conditions. And, based on laboratory and field studies, it removes and destroys approximately 50% of your home’s odors and chemical vapors within 24 hours.
The PureAir S comes with sensing features that make it easy to maintain. When used with an iComfort® S30 smart thermostat, you’ll receive an alert to install a new filter and UVA light.2 This home air purifier must be installed 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 work with your needs. This rating measures how effective filters are at trapping contaminants. The higher the number, the finer the filtration.
The Healthy Climate Carbon Clean 16® Media Air Cleaner is recommended for families with allergy suffers and pets. This is a HEPA filter air purifier, as it has a MERV 16 rating for hospital-level filtration. And it removes more than 95%3 of irritating particles from your home’s air.
The Healthy Climate 13 Media Air Cleaner is suggested for families who are seeking improved protection from viruses and bacteria. This filter removes 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 homes with pets. It eliminates 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 offer this powerful filtration without running up the cost of using your HVAC system.
These three media air cleaners work with any brand of HVAC system. But despite that, it’s essential to realize that some of the more substantial ones, like MERV 16 and 13, may restrict your system’s airflow. This can increase 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 beneficial application when installed in your ductwork. It’s also strong enough to decrease germs, mold and fungi under certain airflow conditions.
In actuality, the Healthy Climate UV Germicidal Light can lower the number of airborne microorganisms by 50% in as short as 45 minutes.5 This light damages cell structure, which stops these microorganisms from growing and infiltrating around your house.
And this UV air purifier can also help keep your home comfort system clean and running like it should. It takes care of germs, mold and fungi that are hidden within ductwork and your system itself. This UV light air purifier accomplishes all this work without producing lung-irritating ozone.6
Breathe Easier with the Support of Our Air Purification Pros
Your loved ones’ comfort and health is important to us at Scott Temperature. We are aware there are lots of options out there. That’s why we make it uncomplicated to partner with our indoor air quality professionals. We specialize in creating solutions that meet your needs and budget, and we’d love to find out more about your house and your air quality challenges. Give us a call at 785-269-0465 now to begin.
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.