If you live in a newly constructed house in Los Angeles, it was in all likelihood made with energy efficiency as a priority. This means increased insulation and windows and doors with improved seals. While these enhancements are fantastic for keeping your utility bills reasonable, they’re not so excellent for your indoor air quality.

Your home comfort system needs to run with a filter. But if you have a flat filter, you won’t be experiencing enough filtration. This style only gives the smallest amount of protection by stopping dust from getting into your HVAC system.

While you can upgrade to a pleated filter or one with a increased MERV rating, it still might not be ample filtration, particularly if someone in your residence has allergies or other respiratory problems.

That’s where a whole-house air purifier can be a good option. These systems are installed within ductwork to provide strong filtration throughout your home. Depending on the model you go with, you’ll be able to get rid of allergens, odors and even some viruses under certain airflow conditions.

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

The Healthy Climate HEPA Filtration System includes a three-step filtration method. A prefilter attracts significant irritants before the HEPA filter traps the rest of miniscule pollutants. Then, a charcoal filter takes care of odors and chemical vapors.

The PureAir™ S Air Purification System connects to all HVAC brands and easily links to your smart home. It reduces the three leading types of indoor air pollutants:

  • Airborne particles
  • Chemical odors and vapors
  • Germs and bacteria, under certain airflow conditions

This air purifier can remove 99.9%* of pollutants, including mold spores, pollen, dust and pet dander. It’s also potent at removing 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 simple to maintain. When paired 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 available in a variety of MERV ratings to match your needs. This rating determines how capable filters are at capturing contaminants. The higher the number, the greater the filtration.

The Healthy Climate Carbon Clean 16® Media Air Cleaner is great for families with allergy suffers and pets. This is a HEPA filter air purifier, because it has a MERV 16 rating for hospital-strength filtration. And it eliminates more than 95%3 of irritating particles from your residence’s air.

The Healthy Climate 13 Media Air Cleaner is recommended for families who want improved protection from viruses and bacteria. This filter removes 99% of larger particles like dust, pollen and lint. And up to 54% of smaller particles down to 0.3 microns.4

The Healthy Climate 11 Media Air Cleaner is a a great air purifier for allergies and in homes 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 provide this strong filtration without increasing the price of using your HVAC system.

These three media air cleaners work with any brand of HVAC system. Regardless, it’s essential to realize that some of the denser ones, including MERV 16 and 13, may decrease your system’s airflow. This can increase your energy bills.

3. UV Air Purifiers

The sun’s UV rays are the reason why you get a stinging sunburn. But this kind of light has a beneficial application when placed inside your ductwork. It’s also powerful enough to eliminate germs, mold and fungi under certain airflow conditions.

In actuality, the Healthy Climate UV Germicidal Light can lower the concentration of airborne microorganisms by 50% in as fast as 45 minutes.5 This light damages cell structure, which halts these microorganisms from growing and moving throughout your home.

And this UV air purifier can also help keep your home comfort system clean and operating efficiently. 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 producing lung-aggravating ozone.6

Breathe Healthier Air with the Support of Our Air Purification Pros

Your household’s comfort and health matters to us at AZ Air Conditioning and Heating. We are aware there are a lot of possibilities out there. That’s why we make it easy to partner with our indoor air quality specialists. We specialize in recommending solutions that meet your needs and budget, and we’d love to find out more about your house and your air quality issues. Give us a call at 800-296-5088 now to begin.


1Based on laboratory and field studies.

2
PureAir™ S requires the iComfort® S30 and a communicating indoor unit.


3
Leading 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.


4
Based on lab tests conducted on filters with conditions included in ASHRAE standard 52.2 for E1 and E3 size ranges.


5
Based on constant circulation of air in the home, 3,000-square-foot home with a 5-ton air handler.


6
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, “Ozone Generators that are Sold as Air Cleaners: An Assessment of Effective and Health Consequences,” August 2006.