If you own a newly constructed home in Jefferson City, it was in all likelihood made with energy efficiency in mind. This means greater amounts of insulation and windows and doors with improved seals. While these advances are good for keeping your energy bills reasonable, they’re not so great for your indoor air quality.
Your HVAC system needs to work with a filter. But if you have a flat filter, you won’t be getting ample filtration. This kind only delivers the lowest level 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, even more so if someone in your home has allergies or other respiratory troubles.
That’s where a whole-house air purifier can be a great solution. These systems are placed within ductwork to provide mighty 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 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, delivers premium filtration. These filters were first created to guard scientists as they developed the atomic bomb. Today, they’re necessary in hospitals and other medical operations.
The Healthy Climate HEPA Filtration System includes a three-step filtration procedure. A prefilter draws larger particles before the HEPA filter traps the remainder of smaller irritants. Then, a charcoal filter wipes out odors and chemical vapors.
The PureAir™ S Air Purification System connects to all HVAC brands and seamlessly integrates with your smart home. It fights 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, like 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, 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 includes sensing features that make it uncomplicated to maintain. When linked 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 come in in a variety of MERV ratings to work with your needs. This rating determines how capable filters are at removing contaminants. The greater the number, the finer the filtration.
The Healthy Climate Carbon Clean 16® Media Air Cleaner is ideal for residences with allergy suffers and pets. This is a HEPA filter air purifier, because it has a MERV 16 rating for hospital-level filtration. And it gets rid of more than 95%3 of unhealthy particles from your home’s air.
The Healthy Climate 13 Media Air Cleaner is great for families who are looking for stronger 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 eliminates more than 87% of bigger particles down to 3 microns and more than 28% of miniscule ones down to 0.3 microns.4 It’s able to deliver this powerful filtration without running up the cost of using your HVAC system.
These three media air cleaners are compatible with any brand of HVAC system. But despite that, it’s critical to be aware that some of the thicker ones, like MERV 16 and 13, may limit your system’s airflow. This can increase your heating and cooling bills.
3. UV Air Purifiers
The sun’s UV rays are the reason why you get a painful sunburn. But this wavelength of light has a helpful application when installed inside your ductwork. It’s also strong enough to reduce 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 prohibits these microorganisms from growing and spreading around your home.
And this UV air purifier can also help keep your HVAC system clean and operating like it should. It eliminates of germs, mold and fungi that are hidden within ductwork and your system itself. This UV light air purifier does all these things without creating lung-aggravating ozone.6
Breathe Easier with the Help of Our Air Purification Professionals
Your household’s comfort and health matters to us at Stieferman Heating Company Inc. We are aware there are lots of possibilities out there. That’s why we make it easy to work with our indoor air quality pros. We specialize in creating solutions that meet your needs and budget, and we’d love to find out more about your house and your air quality challenges. Give us a call at 573-635-3547 now 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.