If you live in a newly built home in Morgantown, it was in all likelihood made with energy efficiency in mind. This means more insulation and windows and doors with better seals. While these improvements are excellent for keeping your utility costs in check, they’re not so excellent 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 type only provides the bare minimum of protection by stopping dust from getting into your heating and cooling system.
While you can install a pleated filter or one with a better MERV rating, it still might not be adequate filtration, even more so if someone in your house has allergies or other respiratory problems.
That’s where a whole-house air purifier comes in. These systems are attached within ductwork to provide powerful filtration across your residence. Depending on the type 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, delivers the best filtration. These filters were first made to protect scientists as they developed the atomic bomb. Today, they’re a must-have in hospitals and other medical settings.
The Healthy Climate HEPA Filtration System includes a three-step filtration process. A prefilter draws larger irritants before the HEPA filter catches remaining tiny pollutants. Then, a charcoal filter eradicates odors and chemical vapors.
The PureAir™ S Air Purification System is compatible with all HVAC brands and easily works with your smart home. It reduces the three major types of indoor air contaminants:
- 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 reducing or eliminating 90%1 of flu and cold viruses under certain airflow conditions. And, according to laboratory and field studies, it decreases and eliminates approximately 50% of residential 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 be notified when 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 are available in a variety of MERV ratings to match your needs. This rating measures how effective filters are at removing contaminants. The higher the number, the greater the filtration.
The Healthy Climate Carbon Clean 16® Media Air Cleaner is recommended for residences 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 residence’s air.
The Healthy Climate 13 Media Air Cleaner is recommended for families who desire improved protection from viruses and bacteria. This filter captures 99% of larger particles including dust, pollen and lint. And up to 54% of smaller 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 effective filtration without driving up the price of turning on your HVAC system.
These three media air cleaners can be used with any brand of HVAC system. But despite that, it’s essential to know that some of the more substantial ones, such as MERV 16 and 13, may limit your system’s airflow. This can hike up your energy bills.
3. UV Air Purifiers
The sun’s UV rays are to blame when you get a blistering sunburn. But this kind of light has a helpful application when placed within your ductwork. It’s also powerful enough to decrease germs, mold and fungi under certain airflow conditions.
In fact, the Healthy Climate UV Germicidal Light can reduce the amount of airborne microorganisms by 50% in as short as 45 minutes.5 This light destroys cell structure, which stops these microorganisms from flourishing and moving around 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 inside ductwork and your system itself. This UV light air purifier achieves all these things without creating lung-irritating ozone.6
Breathe Healthier Air with the Help of Our Air Purification Pros
Your loved ones’ comfort and health is our top priority at Mountain Air. We realize there are many options out there. That’s why we make it simple to work with our indoor air quality specialists. We specialize in creating solutions tailored to your needs and budget, and we’d love to hear more about your house and your air quality issues. Reach us at 304-413-1287 today to begin.
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.