If you have a newly built house in Seymour, it was probably made with energy efficiency as a priority. This means increased insulation and windows and doors with improved seals. While these improvements are fantastic for keeping your energy expenses under control, they’re not so fantastic 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 getting adequate filtration. This style only provides the smallest amount of protection by blocking dust from infiltrating your HVAC system.
While you can upgrade to a pleated filter or one with a higher MERV rating, it still might not be enough filtration, especially 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 effective filtration across your house. Depending on the model you choose, you’ll be able to remove allergens, odors and even some viruses under certain airflow conditions.
Here are our best 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 guard scientists as they worked on the atomic bomb. Today, they’re necessary in hospitals and other medical operations.
The Healthy Climate HEPA Filtration System features a three-step filtration process. A prefilter draws significant irritants before the HEPA filter captures the remainder of smaller pollutants. Then, a charcoal filter eradicates odors and chemical vapors.
The PureAir™ S Air Purification System is compatible with all HVAC brands and smoothly integrates with your smart home. It fights the three leading types 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 capable of decreasing or eliminating 90%1 of flu and cold viruses under certain airflow conditions. And, according to laboratory and field studies, it decreases and destroys approximately 50% of your home’s odors and chemical vapors within 24 hours.
The PureAir S includes sensing features that make it easy to service. When paired with an iComfort® S30 smart thermostat, you’ll get a notification to change the 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 come in in a variety of MERV ratings to work with your needs. This rating calculates how effective filters are at trapping contaminants. The higher the number, the better the filtration.
The Healthy Climate Carbon Clean 16® Media Air Cleaner is ideal for homes 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 removes more than 95%3 of aggravating particles from your house’s air.
The Healthy Climate 13 Media Air Cleaner is recommended for households who are looking for better protection from viruses and bacteria. This filter removes 99% of larger particles like 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 an excellent air purifier for allergies and in houses with pets. It traps 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 deliver this effective filtration without running up the price of using your heating and cooling system.
These three media air cleaners can be used with any brand of HVAC system. However, it’s critical to be aware that some of the denser ones, including MERV 16 and 13, may limit your system’s airflow. This can increase your energy expenses.
3. UV Air Purifiers
The sun’s UV rays are to blame when you get a painful sunburn. But this wavelength of light has a helpful application when placed within your ductwork. It’s also tough enough to reduce germs, mold and fungi under certain airflow conditions.
In actuality, the Healthy Climate UV Germicidal Light can reduce the concentration of airborne microorganisms by 50% in as little as 45 minutes.5 This light damages cell structure, which halts these microorganisms from growing and moving throughout your home.
And this UV air purifier can also help keep your heating and cooling system clean and working like it should. It wipes out of germs, mold and fungi that are hidden inside ductwork and your system itself. This UV light air purifier does all these things without developing lung-aggravating ozone.6
Breathe Healthier Air with the Assistance of Our Air Purification Professionals
Your family’s comfort and health is important to us at Diedrick's Heating and Air Conditioning. We know there are many options out there. That’s why we make it easy to collaborate with our indoor air quality pros. We specialize in creating solutions tailored to your needs and budget, and we’d love to hear more about your residence and your air quality issues. Reach us at 920-833-7967 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.