If you live in a newly built residence in Portland, it was likely constructed with energy efficiency as a priority. This means greater amounts of insulation and windows and doors with improved seals. While these improvements are fantastic for keeping your energy bill reasonable, they’re not so great for your indoor air quality.
Your HVAC system needs to work with a filter. But if you rely on a flat filter, you won’t be experiencing adequate filtration. This kind only delivers the bare minimum of protection by stopping dust from getting into your home comfort system.
While you can install a pleated filter or one with a increased MERV rating, it still might not be ample filtration, even more so if someone in your residence has allergies or other respiratory troubles.
That’s where a whole-house air purifier can be a great solution. These systems are attached within ductwork to give effective filtration across your house. Depending on the model you select, you’ll be able to get rid of allergens, odors and even some viruses under certain airflow conditions.
Here are our favorite 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 top-of-the-line filtration. These filters were first created to guard scientists as they developed the atomic bomb. Today, they’re essential in hospitals and other medical applications.
The Healthy Climate HEPA Filtration System includes a three-step filtration procedure. A prefilter draws bigger pollutants before the HEPA filter catches the remainder of smaller particles. Then, a charcoal filter takes care of odors and chemical vapors.
The PureAir™ S Air Purification System works with all HVAC brands and smoothly links to with your smart home. It reduces the three key types 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 reducing or eradicating 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 your home’s odors and chemical vapors within 24 hours.
The PureAir S includes sensing features that make it uncomplicated to serviced. When used 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 linked with communicating Lennox systems and the iComfort S30.
2. Media Air Cleaners
Lennox Healthy Climate® Media Air Cleaners are made in a variety of MERV ratings to match your needs. This rating measures how good filters are at capturing 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, because it has a MERV 16 rating for hospital-level filtration. And it eliminates more than 95%3 of aggravating particles from your house’s air.
The Healthy Climate 13 Media Air Cleaner is recommended for families who want better protection from viruses and bacteria. This filter captures 99% of larger particles such as 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 fantastic air purifier for allergies and in homes with pets. It eliminates 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 strong filtration without driving up the cost of using your heating and cooling system.
These three media air cleaners work with any brand of HVAC system. But despite that, it’s critical to know that some of the more substantial ones, like MERV 16 and 13, may limit your system’s airflow. This can hike up your energy bills.
3. UV Air Purifiers
The sun’s UV rays are to the reason why you get a stinging sunburn. But this wavelength of light has a useful application when placed within 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 lower the number of airborne microorganisms by 50% in as little as 45 minutes.5 This light damages cell structure, which stops these microorganisms from growing and spreading around your residence.
And this UV air purifier can also help keep your heating and cooling system clean and running efficiently. It wipes out of germs, mold and fungi hiding within ductwork and your system itself. This UV light air purifier does all this work without developing lung-aggravating ozone.6
Breathe Better with the Support of Our Air Purification Professionals
Your family’s comfort and health is our top priority at Three Rivers Heating & Cooling. We realize there are many options out there. That’s why we make it uncomplicated to collaborate with our indoor air quality pros. We specialize in creating solutions that match your needs and budget, and we’d love to learn more about your residence and your air quality problems. Call us at 503-213-4433 today to start the process.
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.