If you have a newer house in Florissant and St. Charles, it was in all likelihood built with energy efficiency as a priority. This means more insulation and windows and doors with better seals. While these improvements are good for keeping your heating and cooling expenses reasonable, they’re not so good 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 experiencing ample filtration. This type only gives the smallest amount of protection by keeping dust out of your heating and cooling system.
While you can get a pleated filter or one with a better 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 provide strong filtration across your house. Depending on the model you select, you’ll be able to remove allergens, odors and even some viruses under certain airflow conditions.
Here are our best 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, gives premium filtration. These filters were first created to shield scientists as they worked on the atomic bomb. Today, they’re a must-have in hospitals and other medical buildings.
The Healthy Climate HEPA Filtration System has a three-step filtration procedure. A prefilter attracts bigger irritants before the HEPA filter catches the remainder of tiny irritants. Then, a charcoal filter wipes out odors and chemical vapors.
The PureAir™ S Air Purification System is compatible with all HVAC brands and seamlessly works with your smart home. It fights the three leading varieties of indoor air pollutants:
- Airborne particles
- Chemical odors and vapors
- Germs and bacteria, under certain airflow conditions
This air purifier can remove 99.9%* of pollutants, such as mold spores, pollen, dust and pet dander. It’s also effective at reducing or eliminating 90%1 of flu and cold viruses under certain airflow conditions. And, according to laboratory and field studies, it reduces and eliminates approximately 50% of household odors and chemical vapors within 24 hours.
The PureAir S includes sensing features that make it simple 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 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 fit your needs. This rating determines 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 ideal for families 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 eliminates more than 95%3 of unhealthy particles from your house’s air.
The Healthy Climate 13 Media Air Cleaner is recommended for homes who want enhanced protection from viruses and bacteria. This filter captures 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 great air purifier for allergies and in houses 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 powerful filtration without driving up the bill for using your heating and cooling system.
These three media air cleaners are compatible with any brand of HVAC system. However, it’s important to realize that some of the thicker ones, like MERV 16 and 13, may restrict your system’s airflow. This can inflate your utility bills.
3. UV Air Purifiers
The sun’s UV rays are the fault of why you get a painful sunburn. But this wavelength of light has a useful application when installed inside your ductwork. It’s also tough enough to decrease germs, mold and fungi under certain airflow conditions.
In reality, the Healthy Climate UV Germicidal Light can decrease the amount of airborne microorganisms by 50% in as short as 45 minutes.5 This light wrecks cell structure, which halts these microorganisms from flourishing and infiltrating across your home.
And this UV air purifier can also help keep your heating and cooling 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 achieves all this work without making lung-inflaming ozone.6
Breathe Healthier Air with the Support of Our Air Purification Specialists
Your household’s comfort and health is important to us at B & B Heating & Cooling. We know there are lots of options out there. That’s why we make it uncomplicated to partner with our indoor air quality pros. We specialize in recommending solutions that fit your needs and budget, and we’d love to hear more about your home and your air quality problems. Reach us at 314-325-7552 now 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.