If you own a newly constructed house in Sandpoint, it was likely built with energy efficiency at the top of the list. This means greater amounts of insulation and windows and doors with enhanced seals. While these improvements are fantastic for keeping your energy costs under control, they’re not so great for your indoor air quality.
Your heating and cooling system needs to operate with a filter. But if you have a flat filter, you won’t be getting adequate filtration. This model only gives the bare minimum of protection by keeping dust out of your home comfort system.
While you can get a pleated filter or one with a better MERV rating, it still might not be adequate filtration, even more so if someone in your home has allergies or other respiratory troubles.
That’s where a whole-house air purifier comes in. These systems are attached within ductwork to provide strong filtration across your house. Depending on the model you go with, you’ll be able to get rid of allergens, odors and even some viruses under certain airflow conditions.
Here are our favorite 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 top-of-the-line filtration. These filters were first created to shield scientists as they made the atomic bomb. Today, they’re a staple in hospitals and other medical settings.
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 irritants. Then, a charcoal filter takes care of odors and chemical vapors.
The PureAir™ S Air Purification System works with all HVAC brands and seamlessly integrates with your smart home. It reduces the three leading varieties of indoor air contaminants:
- Airborne particles
- Chemical odors and vapors
- Germs and bacteria, under certain airflow conditions
This air purifier can remove 99.9%* of pollutants, such as mold spores, pollen, dust and pet dander. It’s also effective at removing or destroying 90%1 of flu and cold viruses under certain airflow conditions. And, based on laboratory and field studies, it reduces and eradicates approximately 50% of your home’s odors and chemical vapors within 24 hours.
The PureAir S is equipped with sensing features that make it easy to keep up. When paired with an iComfort® S30 smart thermostat, you’ll receive an alert 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 are available in a variety of MERV ratings to match your needs. This rating determines how capable filters are at trapping contaminants. The better the number, the greater 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 removes more than 95%3 of aggravating particles from your house’s air.
The Healthy Climate 13 Media Air Cleaner is suggested for households who are looking for better protection from viruses and bacteria. This filter traps 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 removes 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 strong filtration without increasing the cost of operating your home comfort system.
These three media air cleaners work with any brand of HVAC system. Regardless, it’s important to realize that some of the thicker ones, including MERV 16 and 13, may limit your system’s airflow. This can inflate your utility bills.
3. UV Air Purifiers
The sun’s UV rays are the fault of why you get a blistering sunburn. But this type of light has a useful 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 amount of airborne microorganisms by 50% in as quickly as 45 minutes.5 This light destroys cell structure, which halts these microorganisms from flourishing and moving throughout your residence.
And this UV air purifier can also help keep your HVAC system clean and running like it should. It eliminates of germs, mold and fungi hiding within ductwork and your system itself. This UV light air purifier does all this work without creating lung-inflaming ozone.6
Breathe Easier with the Assistance of Our Air Purification Professionals
Your loved ones’ comfort and health is important to us at Age Heating & Cooling. We know there are a lot of possibilities out there. That’s why we make it simple to partner with our indoor air quality specialists. We specialize in creating solutions that meet your needs and budget, and we’d love to find out more about your residence and your air quality challenges. Call us at 208-603-2210 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.
