If you live in a newly built house in Plover, it was in all likelihood built with energy efficiency in mind. This means greater amounts of insulation and windows and doors with improved seals. While these advances are great for keeping your heating and cooling expenses in check, they’re not so excellent 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 receiving ample filtration. This kind 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 higher MERV rating, it still might not be enough filtration, especially if someone in your residence has allergies or other respiratory problems.
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 residence. Depending on the kind you go with, you’ll be able to remove allergens, odors and even some viruses under certain airflow conditions.
Here are our favorite 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 top-of-the-line filtration. These filters were first developed to guard scientists as they developed the atomic bomb. Today, they’re essential in hospitals and other medical applications.
The Healthy Climate HEPA Filtration System features a three-step filtration method. A prefilter catches bigger particles before the HEPA filter catches the rest of smaller 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 works with your smart home. It reduces the three key kinds 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 capable of removing or eradicating 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 comes with sensing features that make it easy to keep up. When used with an iComfort® S30 smart thermostat, you’ll be notified when to install a new filter and UVA light.2 This home air purifier must be used 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 work with your needs. This rating determines how good filters are at removing contaminants. The better 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, because it has a MERV 16 rating for hospital-strength filtration. And it gets rid of more than 95%3 of aggravating particles from your home’s air.
The Healthy Climate 13 Media Air Cleaner is suggested for households who are seeking better protection from viruses and bacteria. This filter traps 99% of larger particles such as 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 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 powerful filtration without running up the bill for operating your heating and cooling system.
These three media air cleaners can be used with any brand of HVAC system. But despite that, it’s essential to know that some of the denser ones, like MERV 16 and 13, may restrict your system’s airflow. This can hike up your energy expenses.
3. UV Air Purifiers
The sun’s UV rays are the reason why you get a stinging sunburn. But this kind of light has a helpful application when concealed within 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 concentration of airborne microorganisms by 50% in as fast as 45 minutes.5 This light destroys cell structure, which halts these microorganisms from flourishing and spreading across your house.
And this UV air purifier can also help keep your heating and cooling system clean and operating properly. It takes care of germs, mold and fungi that are hidden inside ductwork and your system itself. This UV light air purifier accomplishes all these tasks without developing lung-inflaming ozone.6
Breathe Healthier Air with the Assistance of Our Air Purification Specialists
Your family’s comfort and health is important to us at Point Heating & Cooling. We realize there are many options out there. That’s why we make it simple to work with our indoor air quality pros. We specialize in developing solutions that fit your needs and budget, and we’d love to hear more about your house and your air quality issues. Give us a call at 715-504-0533 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.