If you own a newly constructed home in Jefferson City, it was likely constructed with energy efficiency in mind. This means greater amounts of insulation and windows and doors with improved seals. While these improvements are excellent for keeping your energy costs reasonable, they’re not so excellent for your indoor air quality.
Your heating and cooling system needs to operate with a filter. But if you have a flat filter, you won’t be receiving ample filtration. This style only provides the smallest amount 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 enough filtration, particularly if someone in your house has allergies or other respiratory problems.
That’s where a whole-house air purifier can be a good option. These systems are placed within ductwork to provide powerful filtration around your house. Depending on the type you go with, you’ll be able to remove allergens, odors and even some viruses under certain airflow conditions.
Here are our top 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, delivers the best filtration. These filters were first developed to shield scientists as they developed the atomic bomb. Today, they’re a staple in hospitals and other medical settings.
The Healthy Climate HEPA Filtration System features a three-step filtration procedure. A prefilter catches significant irritants before the HEPA filter traps the rest of smaller irritants. Then, a charcoal filter eradicates odors and chemical vapors.
The PureAir™ S Air Purification System connects to all HVAC brands and smoothly integrates with your smart home. It fights the three leading varieties of indoor air pollutants:
- 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 effective 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 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 maintain. When linked with an iComfort® S30 smart thermostat, you’ll be notified when to replace the 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 are made in a variety of MERV ratings to match your needs. This rating measures how good filters are at capturing contaminants. The greater the number, the finer the filtration.
The Healthy Climate Carbon Clean 16® Media Air Cleaner is ideal 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 unhealthy particles from your residence’s air.
The Healthy Climate 13 Media Air Cleaner is suggested for households who desire better protection from viruses and bacteria. This filter catches 99% of larger particles like 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 deliver this effective filtration without increasing the cost of using your heating and cooling system.
These three media air cleaners are compatible with any brand of HVAC system. However, it’s critical to be aware that some of the denser ones, like MERV 16 and 13, may restrict your system’s airflow. This can hike up your utility expenses.
3. UV Air Purifiers
The sun’s UV rays are the reason why you get a blistering sunburn. But this type of light has a helpful application when installed 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 reduce the concentration of airborne microorganisms by 50% in as short as 45 minutes.5 This light wrecks cell structure, which halts these microorganisms from growing and moving throughout your house.
And this UV air purifier can also help keep your heating and cooling system clean and working like it should. It wipes out of germs, mold and fungi hiding within ductwork and your system itself. This UV light air purifier achieves all this work without developing lung-inflaming ozone.6
Breathe Easier with the Support of Our Air Purification Professionals
Your loved ones’ comfort and health is important to us at Stieferman Heating Company Inc. We are aware there are lots of options out there. That’s why we make it simple to partner with our indoor air quality pros. We specialize in recommending solutions that match your needs and budget, and we’d love to learn more about your home and your air quality issues. Call us at 573-635-3547 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.