If you have a newly constructed home in Kingsville, it was likely constructed with energy efficiency in mind. This means greater amounts of insulation and windows and doors with better seals. While these advances are fantastic for keeping your heating and cooling bill in check, they’re not so excellent for your indoor air quality.
Your HVAC system needs to run with a filter. But if you have a flat filter, you won’t be getting adequate filtration. This kind only provides the smallest amount of protection by blocking dust from infiltrating your heating and cooling system.
While you can upgrade to a pleated filter or one with a better MERV rating, it still might not be adequate 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 placed within ductwork to give mighty filtration around your house. Depending on the type you choose, you’ll be able to filter allergens, odors and even some viruses under certain airflow conditions.
Here are our best 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, gives the best filtration. These filters were first made to guard scientists as they developed the atomic bomb. Today, they’re necessary in hospitals and other medical facilities.
The Healthy Climate HEPA Filtration System features a three-step filtration method. A prefilter draws bigger pollutants before the HEPA filter captures remaining smaller pollutants. Then, a charcoal filter takes care of odors and chemical vapors.
The PureAir™ S Air Purification System works with all HVAC brands and seamlessly connects with with your smart home. It reduces the three major 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 removing or eliminating 90%1 of flu and cold viruses under certain airflow conditions. And, as the result of 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 linked with an iComfort® S30 smart thermostat, you’ll get a notification 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 come in in a variety of MERV ratings to work with your needs. This rating measures how good 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 homes with allergy suffers and pets. This is a HEPA filter air purifier, as 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 homes who are looking for better protection from viruses and bacteria. This filter removes 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 an excellent air purifier for allergies and in residences with pets. It catches 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 offer this powerful filtration without increasing the cost of turning on your HVAC system.
These three media air cleaners are compatible with any brand of HVAC system. However, it’s important to be aware that some of the denser ones, such as MERV 16 and 13, may restrict your system’s airflow. This can inflate your heating and cooling costs.
3. UV Air Purifiers
The sun’s UV rays are to the reason why you get a blistering sunburn. But this wavelength of light has a useful application when placed inside your ductwork. It’s also strong enough to eliminate germs, mold and fungi under certain airflow conditions.
In reality, the Healthy Climate UV Germicidal Light can lower the number of airborne microorganisms by 50% in as short as 45 minutes.5 This light wrecks cell structure, which halts these microorganisms from growing and moving around your home.
And this UV air purifier can also help keep your heating and cooling system clean and running properly. It takes care of germs, mold and fungi that are hidden in ductwork and your system itself. This UV light air purifier achieves all these things without developing lung-irritating ozone.6
Breathe Better with the Assistance of Our Air Purification Specialists
Your family’s comfort and health is our top priority at Four Seasons Air Conditioning and Heating LLC. We realize there are a lot of solutions out there. That’s why we make it easy to work with our indoor air quality professionals. We specialize in recommending solutions that meet your needs and budget, and we’d love to learn more about your house and your air quality issues. Give us a call at 361-214-1203 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.