If you own a newly built home in Fredericksburg, it was likely made with energy efficiency in mind. This means more insulation and windows and doors with improved seals. While these improvements are excellent for keeping your utility expenses economical, they’re not so good 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 adequate filtration. This kind only gives the lowest level of protection by keeping dust out of 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 troubles.
That’s where a whole-house air purifier can be a good option. These systems are installed within ductwork to provide strong filtration around your residence. Depending on the kind you go with, you’ll be able to filter 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, gives the best filtration. These filters were first made to defend scientists as they made the atomic bomb. Today, they’re essential in hospitals and other medical applications.
The Healthy Climate HEPA Filtration System features a three-step filtration procedure. A prefilter catches significant irritants before the HEPA filter traps the remainder of tiny particles. Then, a charcoal filter takes care of odors and chemical vapors.
The PureAir™ S Air Purification System works with all HVAC brands and easily works with your smart home. It combats 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 eliminate 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 reduces and eliminates approximately 50% of household odors and chemical vapors within 24 hours.
The PureAir S comes with sensing features that make it simple to maintain. When paired with an iComfort® S30 smart thermostat, you’ll receive an alert 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 are made in a variety of MERV ratings to match your needs. This rating calculates how capable filters are at removing contaminants. The greater the number, the greater the filtration.
The Healthy Climate Carbon Clean 16® Media Air Cleaner is recommended for homes with allergy suffers and pets. This is a HEPA filter air purifier, since it has a MERV 16 rating for hospital-level filtration. And it gets rid of more than 95%3 of unhealthy particles from your residence’s air.
The Healthy Climate 13 Media Air Cleaner is suggested for homes who are seeking enhanced protection from viruses and bacteria. This filter traps 99% of larger particles like 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 an excellent air purifier for allergies and in homes with pets. It catches 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 strong filtration without running up the bill for turning on your heating and cooling system.
These three media air cleaners can be used with any brand of HVAC system. However, it’s critical to know that some of the thicker ones, including MERV 16 and 13, may limit your system’s airflow. This can increase your heating and cooling costs.
3. UV Air Purifiers
The sun’s UV rays are to blame when 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 reduce germs, mold and fungi under certain airflow conditions.
In actuality, the Healthy Climate UV Germicidal Light can lower the concentration of airborne microorganisms by 50% in as quickly as 45 minutes.5 This light destroys cell structure, which halts these microorganisms from flourishing and moving across your home.
And this UV air purifier can also help keep your HVAC system clean and operating properly. It wipes out of germs, mold and fungi hiding within ductwork and your system itself. This UV light air purifier accomplishes all these things without creating lung-irritating ozone.6
Breathe Easier with the Help of Our Air Purification Professionals
Your loved ones’ comfort and health matters to us at Childress Heating & AC. We realize there are a lot of solutions out there. That’s why we make it easy to collaborate with our indoor air quality specialists. We specialize in making solutions tailored to your needs and budget, and we’d love to find out more about your residence and your air quality problems. Reach us at 540-675-4306 today 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.