If you live in a newly constructed residence in Beckley and Mount Hope, it was in all likelihood made with energy efficiency at the top of the list. This means more insulation and windows and doors with enhanced seals. While these enhancements are great for keeping your energy expenses reasonable, they’re not so great for your indoor air quality.
Your home comfort system needs to operate with a filter. But if you have a flat filter, you won’t be getting ample filtration. This kind only delivers the bare minimum of protection by blocking dust from infiltrating your home comfort system.
While you can get 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 can be a great solution. These systems are installed within ductwork to provide powerful filtration around your home. Depending on the type you go with, you’ll be able to get rid of allergens, odors and even some viruses under certain airflow conditions.
Here are our top 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, delivers premium filtration. These filters were first developed to protect scientists as they developed the atomic bomb. Today, they’re essential in hospitals and other medical operations.
The Healthy Climate HEPA Filtration System features a three-step filtration method. A prefilter catches bigger particles before the HEPA filter captures the remainder of smaller particles. Then, a charcoal filter eradicates odors and chemical vapors.
The PureAir™ S Air Purification System connects to all HVAC brands and seamlessly works with with your smart home. It fights 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 get rid of 99.9%* of pollutants, such as mold spores, pollen, dust and pet dander. It’s also potent at removing or destroying 90%1 of flu and cold viruses under certain airflow conditions. And, according to 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 easy to serviced. When paired with an iComfort® S30 smart thermostat, you’ll receive an alert 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 are available in a variety of MERV ratings to work with your needs. This rating calculates how good filters are at removing contaminants. The better the number, the better the filtration.
The Healthy Climate Carbon Clean 16® Media Air Cleaner is ideal for homes with allergy suffers and pets. This is a HEPA filter air purifier, since it has a MERV 16 rating for hospital-strength filtration. And it removes more than 95%3 of aggravating particles from your house’s air.
The Healthy Climate 13 Media Air Cleaner is suggested for families who desire better protection from viruses and bacteria. This filter catches 99% of larger particles including 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 great 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 finer ones down to 0.3 microns.4 It’s able to offer this powerful filtration without running up the bill for using your HVAC system.
These three media air cleaners work with any brand of HVAC system. But despite that, it’s critical to be aware that some of the denser ones, such as MERV 16 and 13, may restrict your system’s airflow. This can hike up your utility costs.
3. UV Air Purifiers
The sun’s UV rays are to blame when you get a blistering sunburn. But this wavelength of light has a helpful 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 decrease the amount of airborne microorganisms by 50% in as quickly as 45 minutes.5 This light wrecks cell structure, which stops these microorganisms from multiplying and infiltrating around your home.
And this UV air purifier can also help keep your home comfort system clean and working properly. It eliminates of germs, mold and fungi hiding inside ductwork and your system itself. This UV light air purifier accomplishes all these things without creating lung-inflaming ozone.6
Breathe Better with the Help of Our Air Purification Professionals
Your household’s comfort and health matters to us at Appalachian Heating. We know there are many solutions out there. That’s why we make it easy to partner with our indoor air quality specialists. We specialize in developing solutions that meet your needs and budget, and we’d love to find out more about your home and your air quality problems. Give us a call at 304-707-0600 now 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.