If you own a newer home in Newton, it was probably made with energy efficiency in mind. This means increased insulation and windows and doors with enhanced seals. While these advances are good for keeping your energy expenses economical, they’re not so fantastic 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 enough filtration. This kind only gives the smallest amount of protection by stopping dust from getting into 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, particularly if someone in your house has allergies or other respiratory problems.
That’s where a whole-house air purifier can be a good option. These systems are placed within ductwork to provide strong filtration around your house. Depending on the model you go with, you’ll be able to remove allergens, odors and even some viruses under certain airflow conditions.
Here are our best 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, gives top-of-the-line filtration. These filters were first developed to shield scientists as they created the atomic bomb. Today, they’re a staple in hospitals and other medical operations.
The Healthy Climate HEPA Filtration System has a three-step filtration process. A prefilter attracts significant irritants before the HEPA filter captures remaining smaller pollutants. Then, a charcoal filter eradicates odors and chemical vapors.
The PureAir™ S Air Purification System works with all HVAC brands and easily works with your smart home. It combats the three key 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, like mold spores, pollen, dust and pet dander. It’s also potent at decreasing or eliminating 90%1 of flu and cold viruses under certain airflow conditions. And, as the result of laboratory and field studies, it removes and eliminates approximately 50% of residential odors and chemical vapors within 24 hours.
The PureAir S comes with sensing features that make it simple to maintain. When linked 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 installed 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 greater the number, the finer the filtration.
The Healthy Climate Carbon Clean 16® Media Air Cleaner is great for families with allergy suffers and pets. This is a HEPA filter air purifier, since it has a MERV 16 rating for hospital-grade 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 great for households who desire improved protection from viruses and bacteria. This filter captures 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 fantastic 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 finer ones down to 0.3 microns.4 It’s able to deliver this powerful filtration without driving up the bill for using your HVAC system.
These three media air cleaners work with any brand of HVAC system. However, it’s important to realize that some of the thicker ones, like MERV 16 and 13, may limit your system’s airflow. This can hike up your heating and cooling bills.
3. UV Air Purifiers
The sun’s UV rays are the fault of why you get a blistering sunburn. But this wavelength of light has a useful application when installed in your ductwork. It’s also tough enough to decrease germs, mold and fungi under certain airflow conditions.
In reality, the Healthy Climate UV Germicidal Light can reduce the number of airborne microorganisms by 50% in as quickly as 45 minutes.5 This light wrecks cell structure, which prohibits these microorganisms from growing and moving across your residence.
And this UV air purifier can also help keep your heating and cooling system clean and working properly. It eliminates of germs, mold and fungi hiding inside ductwork and your system itself. This UV light air purifier achieves all these things without producing lung-aggravating ozone.6
Breathe Easier with the Help of Our Air Purification Pros
Your family’s comfort and health is important to us at Brookwood Inc. We are aware there are lots of options out there. That’s why we make it uncomplicated to work with our indoor air quality pros. We specialize in recommending solutions that match your needs and budget, and we’d love to hear more about your house and your air quality issues. Call us at 641-316-9803 today 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.
