If you live in a newer home in Pella, it was in all likelihood built with energy efficiency in mind. This means greater amounts of insulation and windows and doors with enhanced seals. While these advances are excellent for keeping your utility expenses under control, they’re not so great for your indoor air quality.
Your HVAC system needs to operate with a filter. But if you have a flat filter, you won’t be getting ample filtration. This kind only gives the lowest level of protection by stopping dust from getting into your HVAC system.
While you can get a pleated filter or one with a higher MERV rating, it still might not be enough filtration, especially if someone in your home has allergies or other respiratory troubles.
That’s where a whole-house air purifier can be a good option. These systems are placed within ductwork to provide strong filtration around your home. Depending on the model you choose, you’ll be able to remove 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, provides premium filtration. These filters were first made to defend 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 bigger pollutants 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 works with all HVAC brands and smoothly connects with your smart home. It combats the three key types of indoor air contaminants:
- 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 potent at reducing or eradicating 90%1 of flu and cold viruses under certain airflow conditions. And, according to laboratory and field studies, it decreases and eradicates approximately 50% of your home’s odors and chemical vapors within 24 hours.
The PureAir S is equipped with sensing features that make it uncomplicated to service. When used with an iComfort® S30 smart thermostat, you’ll receive an alert to install a new 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 available in a variety of MERV ratings to fit your needs. This rating determines how effective filters are at capturing contaminants. The greater the number, the better the filtration.
The Healthy Climate Carbon Clean 16® Media Air Cleaner is great for families with allergy suffers and pets. This is a HEPA filter air purifier, because it has a MERV 16 rating for hospital-grade filtration. And it removes more than 95%3 of unhealthy particles from your house’s air.
The Healthy Climate 13 Media Air Cleaner is great for homes who are looking for better 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 a fantastic air purifier for allergies and in residences 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 provide this effective filtration without driving up the bill for using your home comfort 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, such as MERV 16 and 13, may restrict your system’s airflow. This can inflate your energy expenses.
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 beneficial application when installed in your ductwork. It’s also powerful enough to eliminate germs, mold and fungi under certain airflow conditions.
In fact, the Healthy Climate UV Germicidal Light can lower the number of airborne microorganisms by 50% in as quickly as 45 minutes.5 This light destroys cell structure, which prohibits these microorganisms from growing and moving across your residence.
And this UV air purifier can also help keep your home comfort system clean and running like it should. It takes care of germs, mold and fungi hiding within ductwork and your system itself. This UV light air purifier achieves all these things without making lung-irritating ozone.6
Breathe Better with the Help of Our Air Purification Pros
Your family’s comfort and health is our top priority at Van Haaften Plumbing & Heating. We know there are lots of options out there. That’s why we make it simple to work with our indoor air quality pros. We specialize in making solutions that match your needs and budget, and we’d love to find out more about your house and your air quality issues. Give us a call at 641-628-3621 today to begin.
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.
