If you have a newly built house in Omaha, it was likely constructed with energy efficiency as a priority. This means increased insulation and windows and doors with improved seals. While these advances are great for keeping your heating and cooling bills affordable, they’re not so great 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 ample filtration. This style only provides the bare minimum of protection by keeping dust out of your HVAC system.
While you can upgrade to a pleated filter or one with a increased MERV rating, it still might not be adequate filtration, especially if someone in your house 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 throughout your home. 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, delivers the best filtration. These filters were first made to defend scientists as they worked on the atomic bomb. Today, they’re a must-have in hospitals and other medical facilities.
The Healthy Climate HEPA Filtration System features a three-step filtration process. A prefilter catches larger pollutants before the HEPA filter traps remaining smaller pollutants. Then, a charcoal filter wipes out odors and chemical vapors.
The PureAir™ S Air Purification System works with all HVAC brands and smoothly links to your smart home. It combats the three leading types of indoor air irritants:
- 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 effective at reducing or destroying 90%1 of flu and cold viruses under certain airflow conditions. And, as the result of laboratory and field studies, it decreases and destroys approximately 50% of household odors and chemical vapors within 24 hours.
The PureAir S includes sensing features that make it uncomplicated to maintain. When linked 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 used 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 match your needs. This rating measures how good filters are at removing contaminants. The greater the number, the better 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, as it has a MERV 16 rating for hospital-strength filtration. And it removes more than 95%3 of aggravating particles from your home’s air.
The Healthy Climate 13 Media Air Cleaner is great for homes who are looking for improved protection from viruses and bacteria. This filter captures 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 houses with pets. It catches 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 deliver this effective filtration without increasing the cost of using your heating and cooling system.
These three media air cleaners are compatible with any brand of HVAC system. Regardless, it’s critical to realize that some of the more substantial ones, including MERV 16 and 13, may decrease your system’s airflow. This can increase your energy costs.
3. UV Air Purifiers
The sun’s UV rays are the reason why you get a blistering sunburn. But this kind of light has a helpful application when placed inside your ductwork. It’s also strong enough to reduce germs, mold and fungi under certain airflow conditions.
In reality, the Healthy Climate UV Germicidal Light can decrease the number of airborne microorganisms by 50% in as quickly as 45 minutes.5 This light damages cell structure, which halts these microorganisms from growing and infiltrating around your residence.
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 within ductwork and your system itself. This UV light air purifier accomplishes all this work without making lung-inflaming ozone.6
Breathe Healthier Air with the Support of Our Air Purification Specialists
Your loved ones’ comfort and health is our top priority at Interstate Heating & Air Conditioning. We know there are lots of solutions out there. That’s why we make it easy to collaborate with our indoor air quality pros. We specialize in creating 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 402-509-5940 right away 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.