If you live in a newly built home in Pella, it was probably made with energy efficiency in mind. This means more insulation and windows and doors with enhanced seals. While these enhancements are excellent for keeping your utility bills economical, they’re not so excellent for your indoor air quality.
Your HVAC system needs to operate with a filter. But if you have a flat filter, you won’t be receiving ample filtration. This kind only gives the lowest level of protection by blocking dust from infiltrating your home comfort system.
While you can get a pleated filter or one with a increased MERV rating, it still might not be ample filtration, particularly if someone in your residence has allergies or other respiratory troubles.
That’s where a whole-house air purifier can be a great solution. These systems are attached within ductwork to provide effective filtration around your home. Depending on the kind you select, you’ll be able to get rid of allergens, odors and even some viruses under certain airflow conditions.
Here are our favorite systems 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 premium filtration. These filters were first created to protect scientists as they worked on the atomic bomb. Today, they’re a staple in hospitals and other medical settings.
The Healthy Climate HEPA Filtration System includes a three-step filtration process. A prefilter catches bigger irritants before the HEPA filter traps remaining smaller particles. 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 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, including mold spores, pollen, dust and pet dander. It’s also effective at decreasing or eradicating 90%1 of flu and cold viruses under certain airflow conditions. And, based on laboratory and field studies, it decreases and eradicates approximately 50% of household odors and chemical vapors within 24 hours.
The PureAir S includes sensing features that make it easy to maintain. When used 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 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 measures how effective filters are at removing contaminants. The greater 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-strength filtration. And it gets rid of more than 95%3 of aggravating particles from your house’s air.
The Healthy Climate 13 Media Air Cleaner is recommended for households who want improved protection from viruses and bacteria. This filter removes 99% of larger particles like 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 great 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 miniscule ones down to 0.3 microns.4 It’s able to provide this powerful filtration without driving up the price of operating your home comfort system.
These three media air cleaners are compatible with any brand of HVAC system. Regardless, it’s essential to realize that some of the more substantial ones, including MERV 16 and 13, may restrict your system’s airflow. This can increase your utility bills.
3. UV Air Purifiers
The sun’s UV rays are the fault of why you get a stinging sunburn. But this wavelength of light has a helpful application when concealed inside 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 number of airborne microorganisms by 50% in as little as 45 minutes.5 This light wrecks cell structure, which halts these microorganisms from flourishing and spreading across your home.
And this UV air purifier can also help keep your home comfort system clean and operating efficiently. It wipes out of germs, mold and fungi hiding in ductwork and your system itself. This UV light air purifier accomplishes all these tasks without making lung-irritating ozone.6
Breathe Better with the Help of Our Air Purification Specialists
Your household’s comfort and health matters to us at Van Haaften Plumbing & Heating. We know there are many options out there. That’s why we make it easy to collaborate with our indoor air quality professionals. We specialize in making solutions tailored to your needs and budget, and we’d love to hear more about your home and your air quality challenges. Reach us at 641-628-3621 now 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.
