If you live in a newly constructed house in Omaha, it was probably constructed with energy efficiency in mind. This means more insulation and windows and doors with enhanced seals. While these improvements are excellent for keeping your utility expenses in check, they’re not so excellent for your indoor air quality.
Your home comfort system needs to operate with a filter. But if you rely on a flat filter, you won’t be receiving ample filtration. This type only gives the lowest level of protection by keeping dust out of your HVAC system.
While you can upgrade to a pleated filter or one with a higher 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 give mighty filtration across your residence. 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 systems 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 created to guard scientists as they made the atomic bomb. Today, they’re necessary in hospitals and other medical settings.
The Healthy Climate HEPA Filtration System includes a three-step filtration method. A prefilter catches larger pollutants before the HEPA filter catches the remainder of tiny particles. Then, a charcoal filter wipes out 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 leading kinds 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 capable of decreasing or eradicating 90%1 of flu and cold viruses under certain airflow conditions. And, as the result of laboratory and field studies, it reduces and eradicates approximately 50% of household odors and chemical vapors within 24 hours.
The PureAir S is equipped with sensing features that make it easy to serviced. When paired with an iComfort® S30 smart thermostat, you’ll get a notification to change 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 fit your needs. This rating calculates how capable filters are at capturing contaminants. The higher the number, the better the filtration.
The Healthy Climate Carbon Clean 16® Media Air Cleaner is ideal for households with allergy suffers and pets. This is a HEPA filter air purifier, since it has a MERV 16 rating for hospital-grade filtration. And it removes more than 95%3 of unhealthy particles from your home’s air.
The Healthy Climate 13 Media Air Cleaner is suggested for homes who want stronger protection from viruses and bacteria. This filter removes 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 an excellent 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 smaller ones down to 0.3 microns.4 It’s able to deliver this effective filtration without increasing the cost of operating your HVAC system.
These three media air cleaners work with any brand of HVAC system. Regardless, it’s important to know that some of the denser ones, such as MERV 16 and 13, may limit your system’s airflow. This can inflate your energy costs.
3. UV Air Purifiers
The sun’s UV rays are to the fault of you get a painful sunburn. But this type of light has a helpful application when concealed in your ductwork. It’s also strong enough to eliminate germs, mold and fungi under certain airflow conditions.
In actuality, the Healthy Climate UV Germicidal Light can reduce the amount of airborne microorganisms by 50% in as quickly as 45 minutes.5 This light destroys cell structure, which prohibits these microorganisms from growing and infiltrating throughout your home.
And this UV air purifier can also help keep your HVAC system clean and working like it should. It takes care of germs, mold and fungi that are hidden in ductwork and your system itself. This UV light air purifier accomplishes all this work without producing lung-inflaming ozone.6
Breathe Easier with the Assistance of Our Air Purification Professionals
Your household’s comfort and health is our top priority at The Frazier Company. We realize there are many solutions out there. That’s why we make it simple to partner with our indoor air quality professionals. We specialize in making solutions tailored to your needs and budget, and we’d love to hear more about your house and your air quality problems. Reach us at 402-628-0206 now 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.