Purchasing an air purifier is one of the wisest ways to boost your home’s indoor air quality. Discover more about the three smartest options.

If you have a newer house in Manassas, it was likely built with energy efficiency at the top of the list. This means increased insulation and windows and doors with enhanced seals. While these enhancements are great for keeping your utility bills affordable, they’re not so great for your indoor air quality. Your HVAC system needs to work with a filter. But if you have a flat filter, you won’t be getting ample filtration. This style only provides the bare minimum of protection by keeping dust out of your home comfort system. While you can install a pleated filter or one with a higher MERV rating, it still might not be ample filtration, even more so if someone in your house has allergies or other respiratory issues. That’s where a whole-house air purifier comes in. These systems are attached within ductwork to provide powerful filtration across your home. Depending on the type you go with, you’ll be able to get rid of allergens, odors and even some viruses under certain airflow conditions. Here are our top 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 the best filtration. These filters were first made to protect scientists as they worked on the atomic bomb. Today, they’re a staple in hospitals and other medical settings. The Healthy Climate HEPA Filtration System features a three-step filtration method. A prefilter catches larger irritants before the HEPA filter captures the remainder of smaller pollutants. Then, a charcoal filter eradicates odors and chemical vapors. The PureAir™ S Air Purification System works with all HVAC brands and smoothly connects 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 get rid of 99.9%* of pollutants, including mold spores, pollen, dust and pet dander. It’s also potent at reducing or destroying 90%¹ of flu and cold viruses under certain airflow conditions. And, based on laboratory and field studies, it reduces and eliminates approximately 50% of your home’s odors and chemical vapors within 24 hours. The PureAir S includes sensing features that make it simple to keep up. When used 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 used 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 fit your needs. This rating determines how capable filters are at capturing contaminants. The better the number, the greater the filtration. The Healthy Climate Carbon Clean 16® Media Air Cleaner is ideal for families with allergy suffers and pets. This is a HEPA filter air purifier, since it has a MERV 16 rating for hospital-strength filtration. And it removes more than 95%³ of irritating particles from your house’s air. The Healthy Climate 13 Media Air Cleaner is suggested for households who are looking for better protection from viruses and bacteria. This filter removes 99% of larger particles including 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 an excellent 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 miniscule ones down to 0.3 microns.⁴ It’s able to offer this effective filtration without running up the price of turning on your HVAC system. These three media air cleaners work with any brand of HVAC system. However, it’s critical to be aware that some of the thicker ones, including MERV 16 and 13, may limit 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 kind of light has a beneficial application when concealed within 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 concentration of airborne microorganisms by 50% in as little as 45 minutes.⁵ This light wrecks cell structure, which prohibits these microorganisms from growing and spreading across your house. And this UV air purifier can also help keep your heating and cooling system clean and running like it should. It takes care of germs, mold and fungi hiding within ductwork and your system itself. This UV light air purifier accomplishes all these things without developing lung-inflaming ozone.⁶

Breathe Healthier Air with the Help of Our Air Purification Specialists

Your household’s comfort and health matters to us at Fire & Ice HVAC. We are aware there are a lot of solutions out there. That’s why we make it simple to collaborate with our indoor air quality pros. We specialize in making solutions tailored to your needs and budget, and we’d love to learn more about your residence and your air quality challenges. Call us at 703-365-0505 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.