If you own a newer house in Laurel, it was likely constructed with energy efficiency as a priority. This means more insulation and windows and doors with enhanced seals. While these advances are good for keeping your utility expenses affordable, they’re not so great for your indoor air quality.
Your heating and cooling system needs to run with a filter. But if you have a flat filter, you won’t be getting enough filtration. This model only provides the smallest amount of protection by keeping dust out of 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, particularly 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 effective filtration around your house. 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 best solutions 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 developed to defend scientists as they worked on the atomic bomb. Today, they’re essential in hospitals and other medical settings.
The Healthy Climate HEPA Filtration System features a three-step filtration method. A prefilter attracts larger pollutants before the HEPA filter traps remaining tiny irritants. Then, a charcoal filter takes care of odors and chemical vapors.
The PureAir™ S Air Purification System is compatible with all HVAC brands and smoothly integrates with 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 remove 99.9%* of pollutants, like mold spores, pollen, dust and pet dander. It’s also capable of reducing or eradicating 90%1 of flu and cold viruses under certain airflow conditions. And, according to laboratory and field studies, it decreases and eradicates approximately 50% of your home’s odors and chemical vapors within 24 hours.
The PureAir S includes sensing features that make it simple to maintain. When linked 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 linked 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 fit your needs. This rating measures how effective filters are at capturing contaminants. The higher the number, the better the filtration.
The Healthy Climate Carbon Clean 16® Media Air Cleaner is great for homes with allergy suffers and pets. This is a HEPA filter air purifier, since it has a MERV 16 rating for hospital-strength filtration. And it eliminates more than 95%3 of aggravating particles from your house’s air.
The Healthy Climate 13 Media Air Cleaner is recommended for families who are seeking enhanced 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 homes 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 effective filtration without running up the bill for operating 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 realize that some of the denser ones, like MERV 16 and 13, may decrease your system’s airflow. This can increase your heating and cooling bills.
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 beneficial application when concealed inside your ductwork. It’s also tough enough to decrease germs, mold and fungi under certain airflow conditions.
In actuality, the Healthy Climate UV Germicidal Light can decrease the amount of airborne microorganisms by 50% in as short as 45 minutes.5 This light damages cell structure, which stops these microorganisms from flourishing and spreading throughout your house.
And this UV air purifier can also help keep your home comfort system clean and operating like it should. It takes care of germs, mold and fungi that are hidden 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 Assistance of Our Air Purification Pros
Your household’s comfort and health matters to us at H&C Heating and Cooling. We know there are many solutions out there. That’s why we make it easy to partner with our indoor air quality pros. We specialize in developing solutions that fit your needs and budget, and we’d love to learn more about your home and your air quality issues. Give us a call at 301-960-3247 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.