If you live in a newly constructed home in Des Moines, it was in all likelihood constructed with energy efficiency in mind. This means increased insulation and windows and doors with enhanced seals. While these enhancements are excellent for keeping your utility expenses reasonable, they’re not so good for your indoor air quality.
Your home comfort system needs to operate with a filter. But if you have a flat filter, you won’t be getting adequate filtration. This model only gives the bare minimum of protection by stopping dust from getting into your heating and cooling system.
While you can install a pleated filter or one with a better MERV rating, it still might not be adequate filtration, especially if someone in your home has allergies or other respiratory problems.
That’s where a whole-house air purifier can be a good option. These systems are placed within ductwork to provide powerful filtration across your house. Depending on the type you choose, you’ll be able to get rid of 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, delivers the best filtration. These filters were first made to guard scientists as they worked on the atomic bomb. Today, they’re necessary in hospitals and other medical settings.
The Healthy Climate HEPA Filtration System features a three-step filtration process. A prefilter catches significant irritants before the HEPA filter catches the remainder of tiny particles. Then, a charcoal filter takes care of odors and chemical vapors.
The PureAir™ S Air Purification System connects to all HVAC brands and easily works 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 get rid of 99.9%* of pollutants, such as mold spores, pollen, dust and pet dander. It’s also effective at decreasing or destroying 90%1 of flu and cold viruses under certain airflow conditions. And, based on laboratory and field studies, it reduces and destroys approximately 50% of your home’s odors and chemical vapors within 24 hours.
The PureAir S comes with sensing features that make it easy to maintain. When paired with an iComfort® S30 smart thermostat, you’ll be notified when to install a new 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 match your needs. This rating determines how effective filters are at trapping contaminants. The greater the number, the finer 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, since 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 are looking for enhanced protection from viruses and bacteria. This filter catches 99% of larger particles such as 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 a fantastic 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 offer this powerful filtration without running up the price of turning on your home comfort system.
These three media air cleaners work with any brand of HVAC system. However, it’s essential to know that some of the denser ones, such as MERV 16 and 13, may restrict your system’s airflow. This can hike up your heating and cooling expenses.
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 useful application when installed in your ductwork. It’s also tough 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 multiplying and moving around your residence.
And this UV air purifier can also help keep your home comfort system clean and running like it should. It wipes out of germs, mold and fungi hiding within ductwork and your system itself. This UV light air purifier achieves all these things without producing lung-inflaming ozone.6
Breathe Better with the Help of Our Air Purification Specialists
Your family’s comfort and health matters to us at Heartland Heating & Cooling. We are aware there are many options out there. That’s why we make it easy to partner with our indoor air quality pros. We specialize in recommending solutions that meet your needs and budget, and we’d love to find out more about your home and your air quality issues. Reach us at 515-344-3579 today 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.