If you own a newly constructed residence in Elk River, it was in all likelihood made with energy efficiency in mind. This means greater amounts of insulation and windows and doors with improved seals. While these advances are great for keeping your heating and cooling expenses 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 style only delivers the bare minimum of protection by stopping dust from getting into your home comfort system.
While you can upgrade to a pleated filter or one with a increased MERV rating, it still might not be adequate filtration, especially if someone in your house has allergies or other respiratory troubles.
That’s where a whole-house air purifier comes in. These systems are installed within ductwork to provide effective filtration across your residence. Depending on the type you go with, you’ll be able to filter allergens, odors and even some viruses under certain airflow conditions.
Here are our favorite options 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, gives top-of-the-line filtration. These filters were first created to defend scientists as they developed the atomic bomb. Today, they’re essential in hospitals and other medical settings.
The Healthy Climate HEPA Filtration System has a three-step filtration method. A prefilter draws bigger pollutants before the HEPA filter catches remaining smaller particles. Then, a charcoal filter wipes out odors and chemical vapors.
The PureAir™ S Air Purification System works with all HVAC brands and seamlessly connects with your smart home. It combats the three major varieties 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, such as mold spores, pollen, dust and pet dander. It’s also potent at reducing or eradicating 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 includes sensing features that make it simple to maintain. When linked with an iComfort® S30 smart thermostat, you’ll get a notification to install a new filter and UVA light.2 This home air purifier must be linked with communicating Lennox systems and the iComfort S30.
2. Media Air Cleaners
Lennox Healthy Climate® Media Air Cleaners are made in a variety of MERV ratings to fit your needs. This rating calculates how effective filters are at trapping contaminants. The greater the number, the better 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, as it has a MERV 16 rating for hospital-grade filtration. And it eliminates more than 95%3 of unhealthy particles from your home’s air.
The Healthy Climate 13 Media Air Cleaner is suggested for households who want stronger protection from viruses and bacteria. This filter removes 99% of larger particles including dust, pollen and lint. And up to 54% of miniscule particles down to 0.3 microns.4
The Healthy Climate 11 Media Air Cleaner is a an excellent air purifier for allergies and in houses with pets. It eliminates more than 87% of bigger particles down to 3 microns and more than 28% of finer ones down to 0.3 microns.4 It’s able to deliver this effective filtration without increasing the bill for using your heating and cooling system.
These three media air cleaners work with any brand of HVAC system. Regardless, it’s important to realize that some of the denser ones, like MERV 16 and 13, may decrease your system’s airflow. This can increase your utility costs.
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 helpful application when concealed 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 reduce the number of airborne microorganisms by 50% in as quickly as 45 minutes.5 This light damages cell structure, which stops these microorganisms from flourishing and infiltrating throughout your house.
And this UV air purifier can also help keep your home comfort system clean and working like it should. It wipes out of germs, mold and fungi hiding inside ductwork and your system itself. This UV light air purifier accomplishes all this work without producing lung-irritating ozone.6
Breathe Healthier Air with the Support of Our Air Purification Professionals
Your family’s comfort and health matters to us at Home Comfort Heating & Air. We realize there are many options out there. That’s why we make it uncomplicated to work with our indoor air quality specialists. We specialize in creating solutions that match your needs and budget, and we’d love to find out more about your home and your air quality issues. Reach us at 763-276-0617 now 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.
