If you own a newly built house in Lawrence, it was in all likelihood constructed with energy efficiency in mind. This means greater amounts of insulation and windows and doors with improved seals. While these advances are good for keeping your energy bills economical, they’re not so good for your indoor air quality.
Your home comfort system needs to work with a filter. But if you have a flat filter, you won’t be receiving ample filtration. This model only provides the lowest level of protection by keeping dust out of your heating and cooling system.
While you can get a pleated filter or one with a higher MERV rating, it still might not be adequate filtration, particularly if someone in your home has allergies or other respiratory problems.
That’s where a whole-house air purifier comes in. These systems are attached within ductwork to provide effective filtration throughout your residence. Depending on the type you choose, you’ll be able to remove 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, delivers the best filtration. These filters were first created to shield scientists as they created the atomic bomb. Today, they’re necessary in hospitals and other medical buildings.
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 pollutants. Then, a charcoal filter wipes out odors and chemical vapors.
The PureAir™ S Air Purification System connects to all HVAC brands and seamlessly works with your smart home. It fights the three major varieties of indoor air irritants:
- 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 capable of reducing or eliminating 90%1 of flu and cold viruses under certain airflow conditions. And, based on laboratory and field studies, it reduces and destroys approximately 50% of residential odors and chemical vapors within 24 hours.
The PureAir S includes sensing features that make it simple to keep up. When used 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 are available in a variety of MERV ratings to work with your needs. This rating measures how effective filters are at capturing contaminants. The greater the number, the finer 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, because it has a MERV 16 rating for hospital-level filtration. And it gets rid of more than 95%3 of unhealthy particles from your house’s air.
The Healthy Climate 13 Media Air Cleaner is recommended for households who are seeking better protection from viruses and bacteria. This filter traps 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 residences 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 deliver this powerful filtration without increasing the cost of using your heating and cooling system.
These three media air cleaners are compatible with any brand of HVAC system. However, it’s important to be aware that some of the more substantial ones, like MERV 16 and 13, may decrease your system’s airflow. This can increase your utility expenses.
3. UV Air Purifiers
The sun’s UV rays are the reason why you get a painful sunburn. But this type of light has a beneficial application when installed in your ductwork. It’s also tough enough to eliminate germs, mold and fungi under certain airflow conditions.
In reality, the Healthy Climate UV Germicidal Light can decrease the number of airborne microorganisms by 50% in as fast as 45 minutes.5 This light damages cell structure, which prohibits these microorganisms from flourishing and infiltrating around your residence.
And this UV air purifier can also help keep your home comfort system clean and operating properly. It eliminates of germs, mold and fungi lurking in ductwork and your system itself. This UV light air purifier does all this work without developing lung-inflaming ozone.6
Breathe Easier with the Support of Our Air Purification Pros
Your family’s comfort and health is important to us at Scott Temperature. We are aware there are a lot of options out there. That’s why we make it uncomplicated to partner with our indoor air quality pros. We specialize in recommending solutions that meet your needs and budget, and we’d love to find out more about your residence and your air quality problems. Call us at 785-269-0465 today 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.