If you own a newer house in Cambridge, it was in all likelihood made with energy efficiency in mind. This means more insulation and windows and doors with improved seals. While these enhancements are great for keeping your utility bills under control, they’re not so fantastic 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 getting enough filtration. This type only delivers the smallest amount 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, even more so if someone in your home has allergies or other respiratory problems.

That’s where a whole-house air purifier can be a great solution. These systems are attached within ductwork to provide strong filtration around your home. Depending on the kind you go with, you’ll be able to filter allergens, odors and even some viruses under certain airflow conditions.

Here are our top styles 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 made to guard scientists as they developed the atomic bomb. Today, they’re essential in hospitals and other medical applications.

The Healthy Climate HEPA Filtration System includes a three-step filtration method. A prefilter catches bigger irritants before the HEPA filter captures remaining smaller pollutants. Then, a charcoal filter wipes out odors and chemical vapors.

The PureAir™ S Air Purification System works with all HVAC brands and smoothly works with your smart home. It combats the three major kinds of indoor air irritants:

  • 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 potent at removing or eradicating 90%1 of flu and cold viruses under certain airflow conditions. And, based on laboratory and field studies, it decreases and eliminates approximately 50% of household odors and chemical vapors within 24 hours.

The PureAir S comes with sensing features that make it uncomplicated to keep up. 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 installed 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 match your needs. This rating measures how good filters are at removing contaminants. The better the number, the greater 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, because it has a MERV 16 rating for hospital-grade filtration. And it gets rid of more than 95%3 of irritating particles from your home’s air.

The Healthy Climate 13 Media Air Cleaner is suggested for households who are seeking improved protection from viruses and bacteria. This filter traps 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 a fantastic air purifier for allergies and in residences with pets. It removes 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 provide this strong filtration without driving up the cost of operating your HVAC system.

These three media air cleaners can be used with any brand of HVAC system. Regardless, it’s important to be aware that some of the thicker ones, including MERV 16 and 13, may restrict your system’s airflow. This can inflate your utility costs.

3. UV Air Purifiers

The sun’s UV rays are the fault of why you get a stinging sunburn. But this kind of light has a useful application when concealed inside your ductwork. It’s also strong enough to decrease germs, mold and fungi under certain airflow conditions.

In fact, the Healthy Climate UV Germicidal Light can decrease the number of airborne microorganisms by 50% in as little as 45 minutes.5 This light damages cell structure, which halts these microorganisms from growing and spreading throughout your residence.

And this UV air purifier can also help keep your heating and cooling system clean and running properly. It takes care of germs, mold and fungi lurking within ductwork and your system itself. This UV light air purifier achieves all these tasks without making lung-aggravating ozone.6

Breathe Easier with the Help of Our Air Purification Professionals

Your household’s comfort and health is important to us at Pliescott HVAC Services LLC. We are aware there are lots of solutions out there. That’s why we make it uncomplicated to partner with our indoor air quality specialists. We specialize in recommending solutions that meet your needs and budget, and we’d love to hear more about your residence and your air quality problems. Reach us at 410-228-4822 now to start the process.


1Based on laboratory and field studies.

2
PureAir™ S requires the iComfort® S30 and a communicating indoor unit.


3
Leading 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.


4
Based on lab tests conducted on filters with conditions included in ASHRAE standard 52.2 for E1 and E3 size ranges.


5
Based on constant circulation of air in the home, 3,000-square-foot home with a 5-ton air handler.


6
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Ozone Generators that are Sold as Air Cleaners: An Assessment of Effective and Health Consequences,” August 2006.