If you own a newly built home in Pella, it was probably constructed with energy efficiency in mind. This means greater amounts of insulation and windows and doors with enhanced seals. While these improvements are excellent for keeping your heating and cooling bill economical, they’re not so good for your indoor air quality.
Your home comfort system needs to operate with a filter. But if you install a flat filter, you won’t be getting enough filtration. This type only provides the smallest amount 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 ample filtration, especially if someone in your residence has allergies or other respiratory problems.
That’s where a whole-house air purifier comes in. These systems are installed within ductwork to give mighty filtration around your residence. Depending on the kind you select, you’ll be able to get rid of allergens, odors and even some viruses under certain airflow conditions.
Here are our top 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, provides the best filtration. These filters were first developed to protect scientists as they made the atomic bomb. Today, they’re must-have in hospitals and other medical settings.
The Healthy Climate HEPA Filtration System has a three-step filtration method. A prefilter catches significant pollutants before the HEPA filter captures remaining miniscule particles. 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 with your smart home. It fights the three major varieties of indoor air pollutants:
- Airborne particles
- Chemical odors and vapors
- Germs and bacteria, under certain airflow conditions
This air purifier can eliminate 99.9%* of pollutants, including mold spores, pollen, dust and pet dander. It’s also capable of reducing or eradicating 90%1 of flu and cold viruses under certain airflow conditions. And, as the result of laboratory and field studies, it removes and eliminates approximately 50% of residential odors and chemical vapors within 24 hours.
The PureAir S is equipped with sensing features that make it uncomplicated to keep up. When used 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 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 calculates how capable filters are at removing contaminants. The better the number, the greater the filtration.
The Healthy Climate Carbon Clean 16® Media Air Cleaner is recommended for residences 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 irritating particles from your house’s air.
The Healthy Climate 13 Media Air Cleaner is recommended for homes who are looking for better protection from viruses and bacteria. This filter catches 99% of larger particles such as dust, pollen and lint. And up to 54% of miniscule 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 deliver this powerful filtration without increasing the bill for using your heating and cooling system.
These three media air cleaners work with any brand of HVAC system. Regardless, it’s essential 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 energy costs.
3. UV Air Purifiers
The sun’s UV rays are to blame when you get a painful sunburn. But this wavelength of light has a useful application when placed in your ductwork. It’s also strong enough to decrease germs, mold and fungi under certain airflow conditions.
In fact, the Healthy Climate UV Germicidal Light can reduce the amount of airborne microorganisms by 50% in as quickly as 45 minutes.5 This light destroys cell structure, which prohibits these microorganisms from flourishing and infiltrating throughout your house.
And this UV air purifier can also help keep your home comfort system clean and operating properly. It wipes out of germs, mold and fungi that are hidden inside ductwork and your system itself. This UV light air purifier does all this work without producing lung-inflaming ozone.6
Breathe Easier with the Help of Our Air Purification Pros
Your loved ones’ comfort and health matters to us at Van Haaften Plumbing & Heating. We realize there are a lot of possibilities out there. That’s why we make it simple to partner with our indoor air quality specialists. We specialize in developing solutions tailored to your needs and budget, and we’d love to find out more about your house and your air quality issues. Reach us at 641-628-3621 right away 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.