Single-room vs. whole-home air cleaners: Why it matters.

In the quest for cleaner, fresher air, two main types of air cleaners have become popular: single-room and whole-home.

How they work

Single-room air cleaners cover small areas

Single-room air cleaners are just like their name implies.  They’re small, portable, localized devices that are placed in individual rooms or areas to clean the air.  They usually incorporate a fan to move air, some kind of filter to remove particles, and often an electronic component that electronically charges the air to increase filtration.

Whole-home air cleaners are a more complete solution.

Whole-home air cleaners, on the other hand, are more of an “installed” solution, permanently integrated into the heating and air conditioning system in your home.  They rely on your furnace or air handler to move air through, instead of using their own fan.

Advantages of whole-home air cleaners

Whole-home air cleaners offer a serious advantage over single-room air cleaners because they affect all the air in your home.  Attaching an air-cleaning solution to your heating and cooling system will allow it to filter every bit of air in every room.

Disadvantages of portable air cleaners

A single-area air cleaner may solve air quality issues in one room, but your home heating and air-conditioning system is still going to be circulating air from that room throughout your home. So whatever air issue you’re facing in that one area will eventually spread to every other room.

Whole-home options

If you’re going with an installed, whole-home air cleaner, you have several options.

• Disposable filters: Most furnaces accept a 1” or 5” pleated or fiberglass filter that is thrown away when it becomes dirty.
• Washable filters: Usually made of foam or plastic fibers, these filters are washed when they become full of impurities.
• Electrostatic filters: Remove impurities from the air by putting an electric charge on them as they pass through the air cleaner, causing dirt and dust to stick to a collection area for later vacuuming or washing.
• UV lights: As air passes through your air cleaner, ultraviolet lights kill germs and bacteria so they can’t make you sick.

The only whole-home solution to everything.

A whole-home air cleaner makes sense.  And no whole-home air cleaner is more effective than the PureAir™ air purification system made by Lennox.  In fact, PureAir cleans the air in your home better than any single solution you can buy, using three different types of technology.  And it generates no ozone.

• Filtration:  A CarbonClean 16 filter removes up to 95% of particles ranging in size down to 0.3 micron*, while its carbon component captures any latent ozone in your home.
• UV lighting:  Removes OVER 90% of bacteria, fungi and germs ranging in size down to 0.01 micron*
• Catalyst plate: Removes and destroys approximately 50% of household odors and chemical vapors in a 24-hour period**

New for 2015

PureAir was already the leading whole-home filtration solution, but for 2015, Lennox has added three new advantages.

• Better filtration: Carbon Clean 16 filtration is now standard.
• Tighter cabinet seals: With virtually no air leakage
• More energy efficient:  The new PureAir uses less electricity than ever.

Get your air quality consultation today

Betlem Residential of Rochester, NY can tell you more about the quality of the air in your home, and help you deal with the specific problems you face.  Call 585-271-4328 today to schedule your consultation. 

5 Thanksgiving Entertaining Reminders

5 Thanksgiving Entertaining Reminders

When prepping for Thanksgiving guests, you’re probably focused on making sure your fridge and pantry are stocked, and the table is set. But making your home clean and comfortable is just as important.

And, good gravy, there are no shortage of options here. For your convenience, we carved the list down to these 5 items:

Have Your Home Comfort System Serviced and Inspected

Before winter weather hits, call a licensed heating and cooling professional to service and inspect your furnace. This not only helps prevent any unexpected heating emergencies, but also prolongs the life of your system. Plus, a well-maintained comfort system doesn’t have to work as hard to heat and cool your home – which means you’ll save energy and money every month. Click Here to schedule a service appointment with Betlem Residential today.

Deep-Clean Your Home, Including the Air

Make your home neat and your guests happy by giving your home a thorough cleaning. Mop the floors, wash the windows and clean all drapery and bedding. You may also want to have your carpets professionally cleaned, especially if you have pets.

To ensure the air inside your home is just as clean as your fabrics and furnishings, consider investing in a PureAir™ air purification system. It works with your heating and cooling system to remove all three classes of contaminants, including volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) and harsh odors, from your home’s air.

Keep a Lid on Kitchen Odors

There’s nothing like the aroma of a roasted turkey, but that doesn’t mean you want the smell lingering around your home for hours. Make sure your kitchen’s exhaust fan is clean and replace the filter if necessary. It’s also a good idea to take out the trash frequently, especially if it contains animal products like eggshells and turkey bones.

Create a Perfectly Comfortable Gathering Space

Whether it’s a living room, family room or den, it’s important to provide a welcoming place for guests to relax before and after the big meal. Stash remote controls, toys and other clutter in attractive baskets, and stock up on throw pillows and blankets for extra warmth and comfort. If your home has a fireplace, you’ll want to have it cleaned and inspected in advance so it’s ready to add to the cozy atmosphere.

Don’t Forget to Relax!

Planning and hosting a Thanksgiving dinner is a lot of work, even when your guest list is on the modest side. Give yourself a break if everything doesn’t come out exactly the way you planned. Your guests won’t remember if the turkey was a little dry or the green beans were slightly salty. But they will remember the stories that were told and the memories that were created. So relax – and enjoy!

Perfection: You can feel it in the air!

It starts with pure, clean freshness that lets you breathe easier. Then, there’s the silent flow of precisely heated air to every room.

Yes, perfect air may sound like a dream, but it doesn’t have to be. Discover the secrets behind perfect air, right here.

Look for variable capacity to ensure steady performance

Unlike single-stage units that can only operate all the way on or off, furnaces with Precise Comfort™ variable-capacity technology have the ability to make incremental adjustments in heat and airflow. That means more even temperatures and virtually silent operation.

Choose systems that turn serious comfort into serious energy savings

Perfect air shouldn’t require uncomfortably high utility bills, so look for home heating and cooling systems that make smart use of energy. Precise Comfort™ technology built into select units from the Dave Lennox Signature® Collection delivers exactly the right amount of heating, using energy only when it’s absolutely needed.

Dual-fuel systems are another smart option. When a gas furnace is paired with an electric heat pump, the Lennox system automatically determines the most efficient fuel source for the conditions at hand.

Take smart control of your home’s heating

Gone are the days of leaving a soft bed to adjust the thermostat, or coming home to find stuffy rooms. New advances in heating and cooling controls allow you to enhance your home comfort and save energy from anywhere. With Lennox’ iComfort Wi-Fi thermostat, temperature settings can be adjusted using a smartphone, tablet or laptop.

Tap into the power of zoning

Perhaps you have one area in your house that’s always drafty, or a seldom-used guest room that needs little heating. With iHarmony™ zoning, you can direct air to specific areas in your home and reduce airflow to others—with just a few taps of your thermostat or even your phone. You can keep your family perfectly comfortable, while keeping your home energy efficient.

Fill your home with air that feels good – and is good for you

There’s nothing like the comfort that comes with knowing the air you breathe inside your home is clean, healthy and free of contaminants. Lennox’ PureAir™ air purification system works with your heating and cooling system to clean the air in your home better than any other single system you can buy.

Bring it all together in one perfect system

Any one Lennox® product can make your home feel cozier. Put them all together in a Lennox® system, and you can enjoy exceptional comfort and efficiency. And with Ultimate Comfort System, Lennox’ most advanced system, perfection is achieved.

Turn summer health sunny side up with whole-home filtration

As U.S. heat waves reach record highs this summer in many states, a large portion of the population is experiencing a great deal of discomfort due to excess heat and humidity. But the temperature isn’t the only thing rising—so is the risk.

While many can stay out of harm’s way by staying cool and hydrated, the risk is even greater to those who suffer from respiratory ailments. Especially in metropolitan areas, where poor air quality accompanies skyrocketing temps.

That’s because during a heat wave, the sun’s rays virtually “cook” the outdoor air, mixing with the excess chemical compounds it contains. This “soup” it creates combines with the air’s naturally occurring nitrogen oxide, resulting in a smog of ground-level gas. When this happens, breathing becomes difficult, leaving those with respiratory illness more susceptible to illness and infection. Add this to the excess amount of allergens—such as seasonal pollens and molds already present in the summer air—and things can become downright unbearable.

Short of jumping in the nearest swimming pool, the first line of defense for many is to retreat indoors, where air conditioning can provide cooling relief. However, the same airborne particles plaguing individuals in summer heat can follow them indoors, where they becoming trapped inside and continue to circulate.

A whole-home filtration system, like Lennox’ new Healthy Climate® Carbon Clean 16 Media Air Cleaner, can provide families with much-needed relief rom these potentially harmful particles, dramatically improving the quality of indoor air. Compatible with any HVAC system, the HC16 provides hospital-grade filtration of airborne allergens and other particles, with a removable MERV 16 Precision Pleat™ media filter that eliminates more than 95% of allergy-aggravating particles from indoor air. These include pet dander, pollen, dust mites, viruses, bacteria, mold and fungi—all factors that can further contribute to and aggravate asthma and respiratory illnesses.

What’s more, the Carbon Clean 16 reduces ground-level ozone—a known lung irritant—from indoor air, converting it into clean, healthy oxygen while also neutralizing odors and airborne pollutants before they’re circulated back into the air.

For more information on indoor air quality issues, its impacts and more home solutions, visit http://betlem.com/air-quality-home.htm.

A few small energy-smart changes can add up to a big difference.

With energy costs going up every day, there’s never been a better time to start thinking about conservation. Changes don’t have to be drastic, either. Every little bit helps, because over time those little things add up to big savings.

Get yourself in hot water.

Water heaters use up to 18% of your total energy bill every month*, which gives you a big opportunity for big savings. The more you do to hold in the heat, the better.

Consider buying a water heater blanket, a simple insulated wrap that goes around your water heater, to reduce lost warmth. Also consider insulating the pipes in your basement that lead to and from your water heater. This preserves warmth on your water’s journey to the faucet or showerhead so you can set your faucet at a cooler temperature to stay comfortable.

Insulate yourself against waste.

Is your attic properly insulated? Millions of them aren’t. Without adequate insulation, you’re making your air conditioner or furnace work harder than it should to keep you comfortable. And you’re letting money drift up into the atmosphere. A small investment in proper insulation will help you hold on to every last dollar, while making your home feel better all year long.

Invest in energy-smart comfort.

Even if your home heating and cooling system is only a few years old, advancements in efficiency may make replacing your system a smart move. Air conditioners like the Lennox® XC21 can offer energy efficiency ratings of up to 26 SEER as part of a system. That can save you hundreds of dollars every year.

Likewise, with fossil fuel costs going up, a furnace like the Lennox SLP98V can help save money all winter long, because its AFUE rating of 98.2 means it converts more than 98% of the fuel it burns into useable heat. That’s serious efficiency.

Put your comfort on a schedule.

Heating and cooling your home can account for half of your total energy bill. So if your system runs less, the savings will become apparent immediately. One of the ways you can reduce use without sacrificing your perfectly comfortable air is by installing a programmable thermostat.

Programmable thermostats like the ComfortSense® 7000 or iComfort Wi-Fi®can adapt your heating and cooling to your life by running your furnace or air conditioner less often during the hours that nobody is home.

Make a switch with your lighting.

A single light bulb may not seem like much of an energy drain. But when you think about how many rooms you have in your home, and the fact that each room probably uses multiple light bulbs, you can see the opportunity for savings.

It’s probably a no-brainer to replace standard incandescent light bulbs with energy-saving CFL or LED bulbs, but why not take it one step further? Consider putting some of your interior and exterior lights on a timer to limit daily use. You can increase outdoor security by having lights that come on automatically when it’s dark, without accidentally leaving them on all day.

Also consider using motion-activated light switches for rooms that see little use.  These switches turn the light on when they sense movement, and turn it off again after a few minutes when movement stops. So you’ll have light when you need it, but won’t risk leaving a light on when you leave the room.

Switch your showerhead.

Every drop of hot water that comes out of your showerhead is a drop that had to be heated in the basement. So it stands to reason that the less water you use in the shower, the more you’ll save on your energy and water bills.

Unfortunately, the words “low-flow showerhead” used to be practically synonymous with an unpleasant showering experience. But that’s changed. New designs can help you use less water and still enjoy a refreshing shower experience.

*SOURCE:  http://energy.gov/energysaver/articles/tips-water-heating

The furnace filter: The forgotten hero of your heating and cooling system.

It’s a bright, sunny morning, and you don’t have a care in the world.  The birds are chirping, the coffee is hot, and the forecast calls for blue skies all day.

Then, in a fit of panic, you suddenly remember that it’s been a while since you changed your furnace filter. How many times has this happened to you?

Probably never.  Most people don’t give their furnace filters a second thought.  But maintaining your furnace or air handler’s air filter is crucial to your indoor air quality. Improve every breath with these helpful tips.

Why filter at all?

Today’s homes are built better than ever.  And while tighter tolerances and better seals are great for insulation, they also trap contaminants inside the home so they circulate over and over. That is, until they’re drawn into somebody’s lungs where they can trigger disease, allergies and other respiratory difficulties.

Basic isn’t always best

The type of filter you install will have a huge impact on indoor air quality. The least expensive air filters are usually made of a loose fiberglass mesh, are about an inch thick and cost about a dollar each.  While they’ll protect your furnace from larger particles, they don’t do a lot towards protecting your lungs from tiny particles.

High efficiency can be highly effective

Inexpensive, one-inch fiberglass filters may not provide enough filtration to affect the quality of your air. Instead, consider a pleated, high-efficiency filter like a Carbon Clean 16 filter which has a MERV 16 rating to achieve the highest possible filtration efficiency. While a more expensive option, it will do a better job of capturing the contaminants that would otherwise circulate in your home.

Don’t forget to check

The frequency with which you change your air filter can depend on many factors, including the type of filter you’re using and the amount of contaminants (dust, dirt, cooking fumes, smoke) your home generates.  Checking your filter at least once a month is always a safe bet.  If it’s visibly dirty or dark, it’s time for a change.  If you have a professionally installed air filtration system, have it maintained according to the manufacturer’s specifications.

Size your filter correctly

A filter that’s too small will let dirty air pass around it.  A filter that’s too big will not fit properly in your system.  Make sure you’re using the correct size for your furnace.  You can verify size either by checking the size of the old filter you’re replacing, or by checking the owner’s manual of your furnace.

The cleaning power of a powered air cleaner

For the most effective whole-house air cleaning, consider investing in an electrostatic air cleaner or other powered solution.  Many of them use an electrical charge to gather smaller particles that filtration cannot catch.  And some, like an Air Purification System, use multiple technologies in unison to clean, deodorize and purify the air for a truly healthier, cleaner environment.

The furnace filter: The forgotten hero of your heating and cooling system.

It’s a bright, sunny morning, and you don’t have a care in the world.  The birds are chirping, the coffee is hot, and the forecast calls for blue skies all day.

Then, in a fit of panic, you suddenly remember that it’s been a while since you changed your furnace filter. How many times has this happened to you?

Probably never.  Most people don’t give their furnace filters a second thought.  But maintaining your furnace or air handler’s air filter is crucial to your indoor air quality. Improve every breath with these helpful tips.

Why filter at all?

Today’s homes are built better than ever.  And while tighter tolerances and better seals are great for insulation, they also trap contaminants inside the home so they circulate over and over. That is, until they’re drawn into somebody’s lungs where they can trigger disease, allergies and other respiratory difficulties.

Basic isn’t always best

The type of filter you install will have a huge impact on indoor air quality. The least expensive air filters are usually made of a loose fiberglass mesh, are about an inch thick and cost about a dollar each.  While they’ll protect your furnace from larger particles, they don’t do a lot towards protecting your lungs from tiny particles.

High efficiency can be highly effective

Inexpensive, one-inch fiberglass filters may not provide enough filtration to affect the quality of your air. Instead, consider a pleated, high-efficiency filter like the Carbon Clean 16 filter which has a MERV 16 rating to achieve the highest possible filtration efficiency. While a more expensive option, it will do a better job of capturing the contaminants that would otherwise circulate in your home.

Don’t forget to check

The frequency with which you change your air filter can depend on many factors, including the type of filter you’re using and the amount of contaminants (dust, dirt, cooking fumes, smoke) your home generates.  Checking your filter at least once a month is always a safe bet.  If it’s visibly dirty or dark, it’s time for a change.  If you have a professionally installed air filtration system, have it maintained according to the manufacturer’s specifications.

Size your filter correctly

A filter that’s too small will let dirty air pass around it.  A filter that’s too big will not fit properly in your system.  Make sure you’re using the correct size for your furnace.  You can verify size either by checking the size of the old filter you’re replacing, or by checking the owner’s manual of your furnace.

The cleaning power of a powered air cleaner

For the most effective whole-house air cleaning, consider investing in an electrostatic air cleaner or other powered solution.  Many of them use an electrical charge to gather smaller particles that filtration cannot catch.  And some, like the PureAir™ Air Purification System, use multiple technologies in unison to clean, deodorize and purify the air for a truly healthier, cleaner environment.