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. 

The Lennox National Promotion puts impeccable indoor comfort well within reach.

As the weather gets hotter and hotter, Lennox is ready to help. Lennox is offering rebates of up to $1,700 on a qualifying Lennox® home comfort system* now through June 12, 2015.

It’s a sweet deal for every homeowner, because the Lennox National Promotion means savings on extremely capable, full-featured systems that can lower energy use while still delivering custom-tailored comfort to any home.

The Equipment

This year’s Lennox Spring Promotion features some pretty impressive performers.

• The SLP98V Furnace, the quietest high-efficiency furnace you can buy(1).  Because it can adjust its flame to more than 60 different intensities, the SLP98V can perfectly balance heating demand with fuel use.
• The XC25 Air Conditioner or XP25 Heat Pump, the most precise and efficient air conditioner and heat pump you can buy(2).  Built with compressors that can adjust their speed like a dimmer switch, the XC25 and XP25 can find the perfect combination of comfort and smart energy use for even the hottest days.
• The iComfort Wi-Fi® Thermostat, lets you monitor and adjust your home temperature from anywhere.  A bright, high-definition color touchscreen thermostat that offers cloud connectivity, smart scheduling, an energy-saving One Touch Away Mode, live weather forecasts, automatic updates and more.
• The PureAir™ Air Purification System, cleans the air in your home better than any single system you can buy.
• iHarmony® Zoning, a major advance in precision climate control that directs heating and cooling to specific areas in your home, to allow more even, steady temperatures from room to room and floor to floor.

The Deals

• Get up to $1300 in rebates when purchasing a complete qualifying Lennox® home comfort system that includes gas furnace or blower coil, air conditioner or heat pump and thermostat, for example The XC25 air conditioner or XP25 heat pump, the SLP98V furnace, the iComfort Wi-Fi® thermostat and the PureAir™ Air Purification System.
• Save up to $300 in rebates when you buy four or more solar panels for use with the SunSource Home Energy System.
• Save up to $100 in rebates on the addition of a iHarmony Zoning system.

To take advantage of the innovation, and the savings, simply contact Betlem Residential. 

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(1)Based on sound pressure levels during steady-state, high-fire and low-fire operation of Lennox SLP98UH070XV36B and leading competitive units as of July 2013 at mid-point temperature rise and minimum external static pressure when set upper Section 4.4.4 of AHRI 260-2012. Based on AFUE efficiency rating of Lennox SLP98UH090XV60C and leading competitive units listed in AHRI directory as of January 2015. Efficiency ratings established per test standard ANSI/ASHRAE 103-2007.

(2)  Efficiency claim based on comparison of air conditioning and heat pump products’ SEER as published in AHRI (January 2013). Actual system combination efficient may vary; consult a Lennox Dealer or AHRI for exact system efficiencies. Precision claim based on the cooling capacity range of the XC/XP25-036 units as compared to equivalent-sized competitive variable capacity compressor units.

*Some restrictions apply. System rebate offers range from $200-$1,700. Rebate offer is valid March 23, 2015 through June 12, 2015 with the purchase of qualifying Lennox products. Cannot be combined with any other offer. Additional add-on rebates for iHarmony® Zoning System and solar panels valid with a qualifying system purchase only. See your participating Lennox dealer for complete details.

Introducing the Newest Air Conditioners and Heat Pumps in the Lennox Lineup

For more than 120 years, Lennox has been synonymous with innovation in the field of home comfort. In fact, the company’s first product was an improved furnace that prevented harmful fumes from escaping into the living space of a home.

That same commitment to innovation is readily apparent in the XC20 Air Conditioner and XP20 Heat Pump, which will be available later this year.

The XC20 and XP20

When it comes to creating your perfect environment, you’re trying to strike a balance between temperature, humidity and energy savings. After all, it’s hard to enjoy a cool space if it’s too humid, and it’s hard to enjoy any combination of temperature and humidity if it’s costing you a fortune. Enter the XC20 and XP20.

Better than on and off

Before you understand what makes the XC20 and XP20 so special, you must first understand how a normal air conditioner and heat pump work. At the heart of every heat pump and air conditioner, you’ll find a compressor. That’s the component that pressurizes the refrigerant to help it transfer heat.

Most compressors are either on or off, like a light switch. That means they’re either running full blast, or not running at all. But the XC20 and XP20 use a different type of compressor operation.

Efficiency and comfort on a sliding scale

Rather than totally on or off, the XC20 and XP20 have the ability to adjust the speed of their compressors to more than 60 different levels, making them operate less like a light switch and more like a dimmer switch.

This allows the XC20 and XP20 to find the perfect balance between cooling or heating output and energy use, because they’ll always operate at just the right speed. Not too fast, not too slow. Just right, like the environment they create.

Precise humidity control for greater comfort

Humidity is a big factor in the way the air in your home feels. With proper control of it, you will not only enjoy a more comfortable environment, you can spend less on energy. That’s because properly humidified air still feels comfortable even at higher temperatures.

Slow and steady

Because they have the ability to adjust their cooling output, the XC20 and XP20 can help remove moisture from your air with greater precision when paired with a Lennox iComfort thermostat.

This happens because an iComfort thermostat can work with the XC20 or XP20 and the furnace or air handler to adjust airspeed and cooling capacity, to make sure the air travels slowly during startup. This allows more moisture to be drawn out before the air begins to circulate.

To learn more about the XC20 or XP20, contact Betlem Residential 

Home comfort tech has come a long way in a short while

Today, we pretty much take home comfort for granted. But we haven’t always been so fortunate. In fact, compared to even the most basic of today’s systems, the home comfort equipment of even a few decades ago seems almost primitive.

Controls.

Early thermostats were mechanical in nature, regulating system operation using either mercury or a metal strip that would expand or contract with the ambient temperature to open and close a switch. Today, sophisticated electronic sensors use varying electrical resistance to sense temperature, anticipating heating and cooling needs before you even know you’re uncomfortable. Some, like theiComfort Wi-Fi® touchscreen thermostat, can hold the temperature in your home to within .5 degree or less of your set temperature.

Airflow.

Furnaces used to operate at only one speed. They’d wait until the home was too cold, then blast it with warm air until it was too hot. Then repeat the cycle over and over. Today’s furnaces, like the Lennox® SLP98V, offer variable-speed airflow that changes based on demand, ramping up and down as needed to keep a quiet, even flow of air moving through the home. This also means quieter startups, and no startling rush of hot air. See variable-speed airflow here.

Heating.

Furnaces have always used fire in some capacity. But the way they use it has changed quite a bit. Conventional furnaces use a series of burners that warm the air as it passes through the furnace. They come on when heat is needed, and go off when it isn’t. More sophisticated furnaces like the high-efficiency EL296Vcan burn fuel at different rates to produce varying amounts of heat based on demand. This helps it operate much more efficiently than a single-stage furnace.

Some furnaces, like the SLP98V with Precise Comfort® technology, can adjust output in increments of as little as 1% for pinpoint comfort and amazing efficiency.

Cooling.

Like conventional furnaces, conventional air conditioners and heat pumps operate at one speed. They cool when it’s hot inside, and they shut off when it isn’t.

Today’s most modern air conditioners and heat pumps, like the XC21 and XP21, can adjust compressor speed to many different levels, like a dimmer switch.  This makes them incredibly efficient, with the added benefit of extremely quiet operation.

Is it time for a new home comfort system?

Replacing your home’s HVAC system may seem like a daunting task, but it’s easy if you know what features to look for. We’ve compiled the ultimate “things to consider” checklist to help you take the plunge:

Some of your rooms are too hot or cold

Duct problems, inadequate air sealing or insulation could be the cause. No matter how efficient your heating and cooling system is, if your home is not properly sealed and insulated against air leakage, you will not be as comfortable and your system will have to work harder.

Your home has humidity problems and/or excessive dust

Poorly operating or improperly sized equipment could be to blame. Leaky ductwork can also cause these problems, so having it sealed may be a solution. Monthly maintenance of your heating and cooling equipment’s filters may also help.

Your cooling system is noisy

Your duct system could be improperly sized or there may be a problem with the indoor coil of your cooling equipment.

Your equipment needs frequent repairs and your energy bills are going up

In addition to the rise in energy costs, the age and condition of your heating and cooling equipment may have caused it to become less efficient.

Your air conditioner or heat pump is more than 12 years old

Consider replacing it with newer, more efficient equipment. And, remember, high efficiency levels begin with ENERGY STAR.

Your furnace or boiler is more than 15 years old

Consider replacing it with ENERGY STAR® qualified equipment. ENERGY STAR has set high efficiency guidelines for both types of heating systems.

You leave your thermostat set at one constant temperature

You could be missing a great energy-saving opportunity. A programmable thermostat adjusts your home’s temperature at times when you’re regularly away or sleeping.

Source: “A Guide to Energy-Efficient Heating and Cooling,” U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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.