If you own a newer home in Dundas and Northfield, it was likely built with energy efficiency as a priority. This means greater amounts of insulation and windows and doors with improved seals. While these advances are excellent for keeping your heating and cooling bills economical, they’re not so excellent 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 receiving enough filtration. This model only provides the bare minimum of protection by stopping dust from getting into your heating and cooling system.
While you can upgrade to a pleated filter or one with a better MERV rating, it still might not be adequate filtration, especially if someone in your house has allergies or other respiratory issues.
That’s where a whole-house air purifier can be a great solution. These systems are attached within ductwork to provide mighty filtration across your residence. Depending on the type you select, you’ll be able to filter 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 the best filtration. These filters were first created to defend scientists as they developed the atomic bomb. Today, they’re a must-have in hospitals and other medical buildings.
The Healthy Climate HEPA Filtration System includes a three-step filtration procedure. A prefilter draws bigger particles before the HEPA filter captures the remainder of tiny pollutants. Then, a charcoal filter takes care of odors and chemical vapors.
The PureAir™ S Air Purification System connects to all HVAC brands and smoothly links to your smart home. It combats the three major types 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, including mold spores, pollen, dust and pet dander. It’s also potent at decreasing or destroying 90%1 of flu and cold viruses under certain airflow conditions. And, as the result of laboratory and field studies, it decreases and eradicates approximately 50% of residential 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 receive an alert to replace 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 trapping contaminants. The higher the number, the better the filtration.
The Healthy Climate Carbon Clean 16® Media Air Cleaner is recommended for families with allergy suffers and pets. This is a HEPA filter air purifier, as it has a MERV 16 rating for hospital-strength filtration. And it removes more than 95%3 of irritating particles from your residence’s air.
The Healthy Climate 13 Media Air Cleaner is great for households who are seeking improved protection from viruses and bacteria. This filter captures 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 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 smaller ones down to 0.3 microns.4 It’s able to offer this effective filtration without increasing the bill for operating your heating and cooling system.
These three media air cleaners work with any brand of HVAC system. Regardless, it’s essential to know that some of the denser ones, including MERV 16 and 13, may restrict your system’s airflow. This can increase your heating and cooling bills.
3. UV Air Purifiers
The sun’s UV rays are the fault of why you get a stinging sunburn. But this kind of light has a helpful application when placed inside your ductwork. It’s also powerful enough to reduce germs, mold and fungi under certain airflow conditions.
In fact, the Healthy Climate UV Germicidal Light can decrease the concentration of airborne microorganisms by 50% in as quickly as 45 minutes.5 This light wrecks cell structure, which stops these microorganisms from growing and moving throughout your home.
And this UV air purifier can also help keep your home comfort system clean and operating properly. It wipes out of germs, mold and fungi hiding within ductwork and your system itself. This UV light air purifier accomplishes all these things without producing lung-inflaming ozone.6
Breathe Healthier Air with the Support of Our Air Purification Professionals
Your household’s comfort and health matters to us at Better Air. We know there are many options out there. That’s why we make it uncomplicated to collaborate with our indoor air quality specialists. We specialize in recommending solutions that meet your needs and budget, and we’d love to find out more about your home and your air quality challenges. Reach us at 507-663-1208 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.