If you have a newer residence in Greater Richmond, it was probably constructed with energy efficiency as a priority. This means more insulation and windows and doors with better seals. While these advances are excellent for keeping your heating and cooling expenses economical, they’re not so excellent for your indoor air quality.
Your heating and cooling system needs to work with a filter. But if you have a flat filter, you won’t be getting enough filtration. This kind only provides the lowest level of protection by blocking dust from infiltrating your HVAC system.
While you can upgrade to a pleated filter or one with a better MERV rating, it still might not be enough filtration, particularly if someone in your house has allergies or other respiratory troubles.
That’s where a whole-house air purifier comes in. These systems are attached within ductwork to provide mighty filtration across your home. Depending on the model you choose, you’ll be able to filter 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, gives top-of-the-line filtration. These filters were first developed to protect scientists as they made the atomic bomb. Today, they’re essential in hospitals and other medical buildings.
The Healthy Climate HEPA Filtration System features a three-step filtration method. A prefilter draws bigger pollutants before the HEPA filter traps remaining miniscule pollutants. Then, a charcoal filter wipes out odors and chemical vapors.
The PureAir™ S Air Purification System works with all HVAC brands and seamlessly links to your smart home. It reduces 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 get rid of 99.9%* of pollutants, such as mold spores, pollen, dust and pet dander. It’s also effective at reducing or eradicating 90%1 of flu and cold viruses under certain airflow conditions. And, as the result of laboratory and field studies, it decreases and eliminates approximately 50% of your home’s odors and chemical vapors within 24 hours.
The PureAir S comes with sensing features that make it easy to keep up. When linked 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 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 determines how effective filters are at trapping contaminants. The higher the number, the greater the filtration.
The Healthy Climate Carbon Clean 16® Media Air Cleaner is recommended for households with allergy suffers and pets. This is a HEPA filter air purifier, as it has a MERV 16 rating for hospital-level filtration. And it eliminates more than 95%3 of irritating particles from your residence’s air.
The Healthy Climate 13 Media Air Cleaner is suggested for households who want stronger protection from viruses and bacteria. This filter catches 99% of larger particles like 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 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 provide this powerful filtration without driving up the bill for operating your HVAC system.
These three media air cleaners are compatible with any brand of HVAC system. But despite that, it’s important to realize that some of the denser ones, including MERV 16 and 13, may limit your system’s airflow. This can hike up your utility expenses.
3. UV Air Purifiers
The sun’s UV rays are the fault of why you get a blistering sunburn. But this type of light has a helpful application when installed inside your ductwork. It’s also tough enough to decrease germs, mold and fungi under certain airflow conditions.
In actuality, 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 flourishing and moving across your residence.
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 lurking inside ductwork and your system itself. This UV light air purifier achieves all this work without making lung-irritating ozone.6
Breathe Better with the Help of Our Air Purification Specialists
Your loved ones’ comfort and health matters to us at Herman Allen Plumbing, Heating & Cooling. We realize there are many solutions out there. That’s why we make it uncomplicated to work with our indoor air quality pros. We specialize in recommending solutions that match your needs and budget, and we’d love to hear more about your home and your air quality problems. Give us a call at 804-302-6657 right away 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.