If you have a newly built house in Cambridge, it was probably built with energy efficiency in mind. This means increased insulation and windows and doors with improved seals. While these improvements are excellent for keeping your energy bills in check, they’re not so good for your indoor air quality.
Your home comfort system needs to run with a filter. But if you have a flat filter, you won’t be experiencing ample filtration. This style only delivers the bare minimum of protection by blocking dust from infiltrating your HVAC system.
While you can get a pleated filter or one with a higher MERV rating, it still might not be ample filtration, particularly 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 placed within ductwork to provide mighty filtration around 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 top 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, provides premium filtration. These filters were first created to protect scientists as they developed the atomic bomb. Today, they’re a must-have in hospitals and other medical operations.
The Healthy Climate HEPA Filtration System features a three-step filtration process. A prefilter draws significant pollutants before the HEPA filter captures the rest of miniscule irritants. Then, a charcoal filter wipes out odors and chemical vapors.
The PureAir™ S Air Purification System connects to all HVAC brands and seamlessly links to 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 get rid of 99.9%* of pollutants, like mold spores, pollen, dust and pet dander. It’s also effective at removing or eradicating 90%1 of flu and cold viruses under certain airflow conditions. And, according to laboratory and field studies, it reduces and destroys approximately 50% of household odors and chemical vapors within 24 hours.
The PureAir S includes sensing features that make it uncomplicated to keep up. When linked with an iComfort® S30 smart thermostat, you’ll be notified when to replace the 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 fit your needs. This rating calculates how effective filters are at trapping contaminants. The better the number, the better the filtration.
The Healthy Climate Carbon Clean 16® Media Air Cleaner is ideal for residences with allergy suffers and pets. This is a HEPA filter air purifier, since it has a MERV 16 rating for hospital-strength filtration. And it gets rid of more than 95%3 of unhealthy particles from your residence’s air.
The Healthy Climate 13 Media Air Cleaner is great for homes who are seeking enhanced protection from viruses and bacteria. This filter traps 99% of larger particles such as dust, pollen and lint. And up to 54% of finer 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 smaller ones down to 0.3 microns.4 It’s able to offer this strong filtration without increasing the cost of operating your heating and cooling system.
These three media air cleaners can be used with any brand of HVAC system. Regardless, it’s essential to be aware that some of the denser ones, including MERV 16 and 13, may decrease your system’s airflow. This can inflate your heating and cooling expenses.
3. UV Air Purifiers
The sun’s UV rays are the reason why you get a stinging sunburn. But this kind of light has a beneficial application when placed within your ductwork. It’s also powerful enough to decrease germs, mold and fungi under certain airflow conditions.
In reality, the Healthy Climate UV Germicidal Light can lower the number of airborne microorganisms by 50% in as little as 45 minutes.5 This light wrecks cell structure, which prohibits these microorganisms from flourishing and moving around your house.
And this UV air purifier can also help keep your home comfort system clean and running properly. It wipes out of germs, mold and fungi hiding within ductwork and your system itself. This UV light air purifier does all these tasks without producing lung-irritating ozone.6
Breathe Healthier Air with the Support of Our Air Purification Pros
Your household’s comfort and health is important to us at Pliescott HVAC Services LLC. We realize there are lots of possibilities out there. That’s why we make it uncomplicated to work with our indoor air quality specialists. We specialize in developing solutions that meet your needs and budget, and we’d love to learn more about your residence and your air quality issues. Reach us at 410-228-4822 right away to get started.
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.