If you own a newly built house in Bishop, it was likely built with energy efficiency in mind. This means increased insulation and windows and doors with enhanced seals. While these advances are great for keeping your energy expenses under control, they’re not so fantastic 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 experiencing enough filtration. This type only gives the lowest level of protection by stopping dust from getting into your heating and cooling system.
While you can install a pleated filter or one with a increased MERV rating, it still might not be adequate filtration, particularly if someone in your home has allergies or other respiratory troubles.
That’s where a whole-house air purifier can be a good option. These systems are placed within ductwork to deliver strong filtration around your home. Depending on the type you go with, you’ll be able to filter 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 the best filtration. These filters were first created to protect scientists as they developed the atomic bomb. Today, they’re a staple in hospitals and other medical applications.
The Healthy Climate HEPA Filtration System has a three-step filtration method. A prefilter catches larger particles before the HEPA filter captures the rest of smaller pollutants. Then, a charcoal filter wipes out odors and chemical vapors.
The PureAir™ S Air Purification System is compatible with all HVAC brands and easily works with with your smart home. It combats the three major varieties of indoor air contaminants:
- Airborne particles
- Chemical odors and vapors
- Germs and bacteria, under certain airflow conditions
This air purifier can remove 99.9%* of pollutants, like mold spores, pollen, dust and pet dander. It’s also potent at decreasing or eliminating 90%1 of flu and cold viruses under certain airflow conditions. And, as the result of laboratory and field studies, it removes and eliminates approximately 50% of household odors and chemical vapors within 24 hours.
The PureAir S comes with sensing features that make it easy to serviced. When linked with an iComfort® S30 smart thermostat, you’ll receive an alert 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 fit your needs. This rating calculates how effective 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 residences 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 gets rid of more than 95%3 of aggravating particles from your residence’s air.
The Healthy Climate 13 Media Air Cleaner is great for households who are looking for improved protection from viruses and bacteria. This filter traps 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 an excellent air purifier for allergies and in houses with pets. It catches 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 provide this powerful filtration without running up the cost of operating your home comfort system.
These three media air cleaners work with any brand of HVAC system. But despite that, it’s important to be aware that some of the thicker ones, like MERV 16 and 13, may decrease your system’s airflow. This can increase your heating and cooling bills.
3. UV Air Purifiers
The sun’s UV rays are to blame when you get a stinging sunburn. But this kind of light has a beneficial application when placed in your ductwork. It’s also powerful enough to decrease germs, mold and fungi under certain airflow conditions.
In reality, the Healthy Climate UV Germicidal Light can decrease the amount of airborne microorganisms by 50% in as little as 45 minutes.5 This light wrecks cell structure, which halts these microorganisms from growing and infiltrating around your house.
And this UV air purifier can also help keep your home comfort system clean and working properly. It wipes out of germs, mold and fungi that are hidden within ductwork and your system itself. This UV light air purifier does all these tasks 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 Bishop Heating & Air Conditioning. We realize there are a lot of options out there. That’s why we make it uncomplicated to collaborate with our indoor air quality pros. We specialize in recommending solutions that fit your needs and budget, and we’d love to hear more about your residence and your air quality issues. Call us at 760-784-9034 right away 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.