If you live in a newly constructed house in Arlington, it was probably made with energy efficiency in mind. This means more insulation and windows and doors with improved seals. While these enhancements are fantastic for keeping your heating and cooling expenses economical, they’re not so fantastic for your indoor air quality.
Your HVAC system needs to operate with a filter. But if you install a flat filter, you won’t be experiencing enough filtration. This type only provides the bare minimum of protection by keeping dust out of your home comfort system.
While you can upgrade to a pleated filter or one with a better MERV rating, it still might not be ample filtration, especially if someone in your home has allergies or other respiratory problems.
That’s where a whole-house air purifier can be a good option. These systems are attached within ductwork to deliver mighty filtration across your home. 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 options 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 necessary in hospitals and other medical operations.
The Healthy Climate HEPA Filtration System features a three-step filtration process. A prefilter catches bigger particles before the HEPA filter catches the rest of miniscule pollutants. Then, a charcoal filter takes care of odors and chemical vapors.
The PureAir™ S Air Purification System is compatible with all HVAC brands and easily works with with your smart home. It combats the three major 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, such as mold spores, pollen, dust and pet dander. It’s also potent at reducing or eradicating 90%1 of flu and cold viruses under certain airflow conditions. And, based on laboratory and field studies, it removes and destroys approximately 50% of your home’s odors and chemical vapors within 24 hours.
The PureAir S is equipped with sensing features that make it simple to serviced. When linked with an iComfort® S30 smart thermostat, you’ll receive an alert to install a new 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 made in a variety of MERV ratings to fit your needs. This rating measures how capable filters are at capturing contaminants. The greater 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, because it has a MERV 16 rating for hospital-strength filtration. And it eliminates more than 95%3 of aggravating particles from your residence’s air.
The Healthy Climate 13 Media Air Cleaner is suggested for families who are seeking enhanced protection from viruses and bacteria. This filter traps 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 an excellent air purifier for allergies and in homes with pets. It removes 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 provide this strong filtration without running up the cost of using your heating and cooling system.
These three media air cleaners are compatible with any brand of HVAC system. But despite that, it’s essential to know that some of the denser ones, such as MERV 16 and 13, may limit your system’s airflow. This can hike up your heating and cooling costs.
3. UV Air Purifiers
The sun’s UV rays are to blame when you get a painful sunburn. But this type of light has a helpful application when concealed within your ductwork. It’s also strong enough to reduce 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 fast as 45 minutes.5 This light damages cell structure, which stops these microorganisms from flourishing and spreading around your house.
And this UV air purifier can also help keep your home comfort system clean and operating like it should. It eliminates of germs, mold and fungi lurking within ductwork and your system itself. This UV light air purifier does all these tasks without creating lung-inflaming ozone.6
Breathe Easier with the Support of Our Air Purification Specialists
Your loved ones’ comfort and health matters to us at Service Max Heating & Air Conditioning. We realize there are a lot of possibilities out there. That’s why we make it easy to partner with our indoor air quality professionals. We specialize in creating solutions tailored to your needs and budget, and we’d love to learn more about your home and your air quality problems. Give us a call at 360-255-5857 right away 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.