If you own a newly built house in Philadelphia, it was in all likelihood constructed with energy efficiency in mind. This means greater amounts of insulation and windows and doors with better seals. While these enhancements are excellent for keeping your utility expenses economical, they’re not so excellent for your indoor air quality.
Your home comfort system needs to run with a filter. But if you have a flat filter, you won’t be experiencing ample filtration. This kind only delivers the smallest amount of protection by keeping dust out of your heating and cooling system.
While you can install a pleated filter or one with a higher MERV rating, it still might not be enough filtration, especially if someone in your residence has allergies or other respiratory troubles.
That’s where a whole-house air purifier comes in. These systems are installed within ductwork to provide mighty filtration throughout your residence. Depending on the kind you select, you’ll be able to get rid of 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, provides the best filtration. These filters were first made to defend scientists as they worked on the atomic bomb. Today, they’re essential in hospitals and other medical operations.
The Healthy Climate HEPA Filtration System has a three-step filtration procedure. A prefilter catches larger pollutants before the HEPA filter captures the remainder of miniscule irritants. Then, a charcoal filter wipes out odors and chemical vapors.
The PureAir™ S Air Purification System works with all HVAC brands and seamlessly connects with your smart home. It reduces the three major kinds of indoor air contaminants:
- 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 effective at removing or destroying 90%1 of flu and cold viruses under certain airflow conditions. And, based on laboratory and field studies, it removes 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 be notified when to change 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 work with your needs. This rating measures how effective 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 residences 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 house’s air.
The Healthy Climate 13 Media Air Cleaner is suggested for homes who desire stronger protection from viruses and bacteria. This filter captures 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 homes with pets. It removes 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 deliver this strong filtration without running up the bill for using your heating and cooling system.
These three media air cleaners work with any brand of HVAC system. However, it’s important to realize that some of the denser ones, like MERV 16 and 13, may decrease your system’s airflow. This can inflate your heating and cooling bills.
3. UV Air Purifiers
The sun’s UV rays are the reason why you get a blistering sunburn. But this kind of light has a helpful application when concealed inside your ductwork. It’s also strong enough to decrease germs, mold and fungi under certain airflow conditions.
In reality, the Healthy Climate UV Germicidal Light can reduce the number of airborne microorganisms by 50% in as quickly as 45 minutes.5 This light destroys cell structure, which halts these microorganisms from growing and spreading throughout your residence.
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 lurking inside ductwork and your system itself. This UV light air purifier achieves all these things without developing lung-irritating ozone.6
Breathe Healthier Air with the Help of Our Air Purification Specialists
Your loved ones’ comfort and health is important to us at Retro HVAC Service & Installation. We are aware there are many possibilities out there. That’s why we make it simple to partner with our indoor air quality professionals. We specialize in creating solutions that match your needs and budget, and we’d love to hear more about your residence and your air quality challenges. Give us a call at 267-277-3851 right away 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.