If you have a newly built home in Auburn, it was in all likelihood made with energy efficiency at the top of the list. This means greater amounts of insulation and windows and doors with improved seals. While these enhancements are great for keeping your energy costs affordable, they’re not so fantastic for your indoor air quality.
Your heating and cooling system needs to run with a filter. But if you have a flat filter, you won’t be receiving adequate filtration. This type only gives the bare minimum of protection by stopping dust from getting into your heating and cooling 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 issues.
That’s where a whole-house air purifier can be a good option. These systems are installed within ductwork to provide mighty filtration around your home. Depending on the model you go with, you’ll be able to get rid of allergens, odors and even some viruses under certain airflow conditions.
Here are our favorite 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 guard scientists as they created the atomic bomb. Today, they’re a staple in hospitals and other medical facilities.
The Healthy Climate HEPA Filtration System features a three-step filtration process. A prefilter attracts larger pollutants before the HEPA filter traps the remainder of tiny irritants. Then, a charcoal filter eradicates odors and chemical vapors.
The PureAir™ S Air Purification System is compatible with all HVAC brands and easily connects with your smart home. It fights the three major kinds 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 potent at reducing or destroying 90%1 of flu and cold viruses under certain airflow conditions. And, based on laboratory and field studies, it removes and eradicates approximately 50% of residential odors and chemical vapors within 24 hours.
The PureAir S is equipped with sensing features that make it easy to service. When paired 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 are made in a variety of MERV ratings to fit your needs. This rating calculates how capable filters are at capturing contaminants. The greater the number, the greater the filtration.
The Healthy Climate Carbon Clean 16® Media Air Cleaner is great 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 eliminates more than 95%3 of unhealthy particles from your house’s air.
The Healthy Climate 13 Media Air Cleaner is recommended for households who are seeking better protection from viruses and bacteria. This filter removes 99% of larger particles such as dust, pollen and lint. And up to 54% of smaller particles down to 0.3 microns.4
The Healthy Climate 11 Media Air Cleaner is a an excellent air purifier for allergies and in houses with pets. It removes 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 driving up the price of operating your heating and cooling system.
These three media air cleaners can be used with any brand of HVAC system. But despite that, it’s essential to realize that some of the thicker ones, such as MERV 16 and 13, may restrict your system’s airflow. This can increase your utility expenses.
3. UV Air Purifiers
The sun’s UV rays are the reason why you get a stinging sunburn. But this type of light has a helpful application when placed within 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 reduce the amount of airborne microorganisms by 50% in as fast as 45 minutes.5 This light wrecks cell structure, which halts these microorganisms from flourishing and spreading across your house.
And this UV air purifier can also help keep your heating and cooling system clean and working properly. It eliminates of germs, mold and fungi that are hidden within ductwork and your system itself. This UV light air purifier accomplishes all these things without producing lung-inflaming ozone.6
Breathe Healthier Air with the Assistance of Our Air Purification Professionals
Your family’s comfort and health is our top priority at Forster Heating. We are aware there are a lot of solutions out there. That’s why we make it simple to work with our indoor air quality professionals. We specialize in making solutions that meet your needs and budget, and we’d love to find out more about your residence and your air quality issues. Reach us at 530-885-8081 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.
