If you have a newer home in New Castle, it was in all likelihood made with energy efficiency at the top of the list. This means greater amounts of insulation and windows and doors with enhanced seals. While these advances are great for keeping your utility expenses economical, they’re not so fantastic for your indoor air quality.

Your heating and cooling system needs to run with a filter. But if you have a flat filter, you won’t be experiencing enough filtration. This kind only provides the smallest amount of protection by keeping dust out of your HVAC system.

While you can upgrade to a pleated filter or one with a better 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 can be a good option. These systems are placed within ductwork to provide mighty filtration throughout your house. Depending on the kind you select, you’ll be able to get rid of allergens, odors and even some viruses under certain airflow conditions.

Here are our best 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, provides the best filtration. These filters were first created to shield scientists as they created the atomic bomb. Today, they’re a must-have in hospitals and other medical applications.

The Healthy Climate HEPA Filtration System features a three-step filtration procedure. A prefilter attracts significant irritants before the HEPA filter traps the rest of smaller irritants. Then, a charcoal filter eradicates 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 key kinds of indoor air irritants:

• 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 capable of removing or eradicating 90%¹ of flu and cold viruses under certain airflow conditions. And, according to 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 uncomplicated to maintain. When paired with an iComfort® S30 smart thermostat, you’ll be notified when to change 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 come in in a variety of MERV ratings to fit your needs. This rating determines how good filters are at capturing contaminants. The greater the number, the better the filtration.

The Healthy Climate Carbon Clean 16® Media Air Cleaner is great for households 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 gets rid of more than 95%³ of unhealthy particles from your house’s air.

The Healthy Climate 13 Media Air Cleaner is recommended for families who are seeking better protection from viruses and bacteria. This filter captures 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 a fantastic air purifier for allergies and in residences with pets. It removes 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 deliver this strong filtration without running up the bill for operating your heating and cooling system.

These three media air cleaners can be used with any brand of HVAC system. However, it’s important to realize that some of the thicker ones, including MERV 16 and 13, may limit your system’s airflow. This can increase your energy bills.

3. UV Air Purifiers

The sun’s UV rays are to blame when you get a stinging sunburn. But this wavelength of light has a useful application when installed inside your ductwork. It’s also powerful enough to eliminate 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 fast as 45 minutes.⁵ This light destroys cell structure, which stops these microorganisms from flourishing and moving across your residence.

And this UV air purifier can also help keep your home comfort system clean and running like it should. It eliminates of germs, mold and fungi lurking inside ductwork and your system itself. This UV light air purifier does all these things without making lung-inflaming ozone.⁶

Breathe Better with the Support of Our Air Purification Professionals

Your family’s comfort and health is our top priority at Central Heating & Plumbing. We know there are a lot of possibilities out there. That’s why we make it simple to partner with our indoor air quality professionals. We specialize in developing solutions tailored to your needs and budget, and we’d love to hear more about your home and your air quality problems. Reach us at 724-401-1843 right away to get started.

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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.