If you live in a newer house in Crown Point, it was probably constructed with energy efficiency at the top of the list. This means increased insulation and windows and doors with improved seals. While these improvements are good for keeping your utility bills reasonable, they’re not so great for your indoor air quality.
Your home comfort system needs to run with a filter. But if you have a flat filter, you won’t be getting adequate filtration. This style only gives the smallest amount of protection by blocking dust from infiltrating your home comfort system.
While you can upgrade to a pleated filter or one with a increased MERV rating, it still might not be enough filtration, even more so if someone in your residence has allergies or other respiratory issues.
That’s where a whole-house air purifier comes in. These systems are attached within ductwork to provide powerful filtration across your home. Depending on the kind you go with, 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, provides premium filtration. These filters were first created to shield scientists as they worked on the atomic bomb. Today, they’re essential in hospitals and other medical settings.
The Healthy Climate HEPA Filtration System includes a three-step filtration method. A prefilter catches larger particles before the HEPA filter captures remaining miniscule particles. Then, a charcoal filter wipes out odors and chemical vapors.
The PureAir™ S Air Purification System connects to all HVAC brands and easily works with your smart home. It reduces the three major varieties 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, including mold spores, pollen, dust and pet dander. It’s also capable of decreasing or eradicating 90%1 of flu and cold viruses under certain airflow conditions. And, based on laboratory and field studies, it decreases and eliminates approximately 50% of residential odors and chemical vapors within 24 hours.
The PureAir S includes sensing features that make it uncomplicated to service. When linked with an iComfort® S30 smart thermostat, you’ll be notified when to change 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 fit your needs. This rating measures how effective filters are at removing contaminants. The higher the number, the better the filtration.
The Healthy Climate Carbon Clean 16® Media Air Cleaner is great 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 removes more than 95%3 of unhealthy particles from your house’s air.
The Healthy Climate 13 Media Air Cleaner is recommended for families who desire enhanced protection from viruses and bacteria. This filter traps 99% of larger particles including 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 residences with pets. It traps 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 provide this strong filtration without running up the bill for turning on your HVAC system.
These three media air cleaners work with any brand of HVAC system. Regardless, 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 heating and cooling expenses.
3. UV Air Purifiers
The sun’s UV rays are the reason why you get a blistering sunburn. But this wavelength of light has a helpful application when concealed inside your ductwork. It’s also powerful enough to reduce germs, mold and fungi under certain airflow conditions.
In fact, the Healthy Climate UV Germicidal Light can lower the amount of airborne microorganisms by 50% in as quickly as 45 minutes.5 This light destroys cell structure, which stops these microorganisms from growing and moving throughout your home.
And this UV air purifier can also help keep your HVAC system clean and working properly. It takes care of germs, mold and fungi that are hidden inside ductwork and your system itself. This UV light air purifier does all these things without making lung-inflaming ozone.6
Breathe Healthier Air with the Support of Our Air Purification Specialists
Your loved ones’ comfort and health is important to us at Struven Heating & Cooling. We realize there are lots of solutions out there. That’s why we make it uncomplicated to partner with our indoor air quality professionals. We specialize in recommending solutions that fit your needs and budget, and we’d love to hear more about your residence and your air quality problems. Call us at 219-292-0956 right away 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.