If you have a newer home in Kearney, it was in all likelihood constructed with energy efficiency at the top of the list. This means more insulation and windows and doors with improved seals. While these advances are good for keeping your heating and cooling bill under control, they’re not so fantastic for your indoor air quality.
Your heating and cooling 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 provides the smallest amount of protection by blocking dust from infiltrating your home comfort system.
While you can upgrade to a pleated filter or one with a higher MERV rating, it still might not be adequate filtration, even more so if someone in your home has allergies or other respiratory problems.
That’s where a whole-house air purifier comes in. These systems are attached within ductwork to deliver powerful filtration across your house. Depending on the model you go with, you’ll be able to remove allergens, odors and even some viruses under certain airflow conditions.
Here are our favorite styles 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 protect scientists as they worked on the atomic bomb. Today, they’re must-have in hospitals and other medical settings.
The Healthy Climate HEPA Filtration System features a three-step filtration method. A prefilter attracts bigger pollutants before the HEPA filter captures the rest of 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 integrates with your smart home. It combats the three key 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, including 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 decreases and eliminates approximately 50% of your home’s odors and chemical vapors within 24 hours.
The PureAir S is equipped with sensing features that make it easy to serviced. When linked 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 linked 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 calculates how capable filters are at removing contaminants. The better the number, the greater the filtration.
The Healthy Climate Carbon Clean 16® Media Air Cleaner is recommended for families with allergy suffers and pets. This is a HEPA filter air purifier, because it has a MERV 16 rating for hospital-grade filtration. And it eliminates more than 95%3 of unhealthy particles from your home’s air.
The Healthy Climate 13 Media Air Cleaner is recommended for households who are seeking stronger protection from viruses and bacteria. This filter removes 99% of larger particles including 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 a fantastic 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 finer ones down to 0.3 microns.4 It’s able to offer this effective filtration without increasing the cost of operating your heating and cooling system.
These three media air cleaners can be used with any brand of HVAC system. However, it’s critical to realize that some of the thicker ones, like MERV 16 and 13, may decrease your system’s airflow. This can inflate your utility bills.
3. UV Air Purifiers
The sun’s UV rays are to blame when you get a stinging sunburn. But this type of light has a helpful application when placed in your ductwork. It’s also powerful enough to eliminate germs, mold and fungi under certain airflow conditions.
In fact, 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 stops these microorganisms from growing and spreading throughout your residence.
And this UV air purifier can also help keep your HVAC system clean and running efficiently. It wipes out of germs, mold and fungi that are hidden in ductwork and your system itself. This UV light air purifier achieves all this work without developing lung-aggravating ozone.6
Breathe Easier with the Help of Our Air Purification Specialists
Your loved ones’ comfort and health matters to us at Thurston Heating & Air Conditioning. We realize there are many solutions out there. That’s why we make it uncomplicated to collaborate with our indoor air quality specialists. 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 challenges. Give us a call at 308-624-3485 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.