Cr 12 2007 Lennox International Inc. Air Cleaner CLEANERS/ FILTERS

User Manual: Lennox International Inc. Air Cleaner AIR CLEANERS/ FILTERS

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AIR PURIFIERS

They create large amounts of ozone by

design and claim to use it to purify the air.

We rated two such models Not Acceptable

because in our latest tests they reached

up to 20 times the voluntary ozone stan-

dard based on the limit set by the U.S.

Food and Drug Administration for med-

ical devices. (See “Not Acceptable: Ozone

generators,” on the facing page.) The FDA,

though, doesn’t consider air purifiers a

medical device.And the ozone emissions

of home air purifiers aren’t regulated by

any federal agency. But as we went to

press, California banned ozone genera-

tors for most uses, effective 2010.

Air purifiers that draw air through fab-

ric filters are among those that do the best

job of removing dust and smoke from the

air without producing any ozone. Top-

rated models such as the Whirlpool

Whispure, $230, performed better at their

lowest, quietest speeds than many others

did at their higher, noisier settings. But

simple steps such as those mentioned in

First Things First could improve air qual-

ity enough so that you don’t need a puri-

fier. Other findings and issues:

Ozone is a growing concern. No

standard exists for acceptable indoor

ozone levels generated by a nonmedical

device. Underwriters Laboratories (UL)

KEEP IT CLEAN Our long-term tests show

that you need to follow recommended

maintenance to sustain peak performance.

Most people buy air purifiers to ease

asthma or allergies. But despite prod-

uct claims, there’s little definitive med-

ical evidence that purifiers help relieve

respiratory symptoms. Some may pose

a threat even to healthy users.

Electrostatic precipitators are the most

heavily promoted purifiers, accounting for

about half of the models sold. Oreck and

Sharper Image versions are best sellers,

despite their lackluster air-cleaning

performance in our tests. Electrostatic

precipitators trap particles by applying an

electrical charge to them as they pass

through the unit and depositing them on

plates or filters.The process creates some

ozone as a byproduct.

While ozone in the upper atmosphere

protects us from the sun’s ultraviolet rays,

ground-level ozone is an irritant that can

aggravate asthma and lessen lung function.

Another type of purifier, ozone gener-

ators, are a growing part of the market.

48 CONSUMER REPORTS &ZDECEMBER 2007 •

Expert • Independent • Nonprofit

Air purifiers alone won’t clean the air or relieve asthma or allergy symptoms.

First things first.

Basic steps can be more effective than air

purifiers, according to experts, including the

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and

the American Lung Association. Less expen-

sive options include:

•Banning indoor smoking

•Keeping pets out of bedrooms

•Removing carpeting and other

dust-mite harbors

•Opening windows whenever possible

•Using outdoor-venting fans in the

bathroom and kitchen

•Maintaining heating equipment

For more simple ideas, go to

www.Consumer

Reports.org/aircleaning.

Avoid ozone gen-

erators, which emit hazardous levels of

ozone. They should be used only by profes-

sionals after serious contamination from a

fire or flood, not for routine air cleaning.

TRY THESE STEPS FILTERS

Best for trapping dust,

pollen, and smoke without

emitting ozone, an irritant.

But effectiveness varies

considerably among

models. They typically cost

more per year for both

electricity and replacement filters. Portable

models tend to be noisy at high speeds,

and do-it-yourself whole-house furnace

filters were fair at best for smoke removal.

How they work A fan pulls air through a

filter. Portable models typically use high-

efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filters;

whole-house units use pleated fabric filters

and are attached to forced-air systems.

Price $100 to $800 for portables; $10 to

$30 for better DIY whole-house filters;

$200 to $500 for whole-house systems

(plus $200 or more for installation).

ELECTROSTATIC

PRECIPITATORS

Best for low operating costs. Some

do a fine job of removing dust,

pollen, and smoke.

But all create some ozone, which

can aggravate asthma and

decrease lung function. Models

with small fans or no fans are

ineffective at removing dust and smoke.

Models with a fan can be noisy at high

speeds. Models with plates need more

maintenance than filters.

How they work An electrical charge is

applied to the particles drawn into the

device. Then the particles are captured

onto flat plates or filters.

Price $250 to $800 for portables; $400 to

$1,150 for professionally installed whole-

house models (plus $200 or more for

installation).

Filtering the claims

Copyright 2007 Consumers Union of U.S., Inc. Yonkers, NY 10703-1057, a nonprofit organization. Reprinted with permission from the December 2007 issue

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downloading, redistributing, or retransmitting without our written permission is prohibited. www.ConsumerReports.org.

dustry and consumer groups, including

Consumers Union, the nonprofit pub-

lisher of CONSUMER REPORTS, search for a

better way to measure the ozone some

purifiers emit.“You can get any results

you want depending on how you run the

current UL test,” says Shaughnessy, who is

on the committee revising the standard.

In the past we used the UL ozone test,

among others. But because of concerns

about the UL approach, we tested ozone-

producing purifiers using our own test in

an airtight, unfurnished room. While that

won’t exactly reproduce the levels in your

home, given the increasing concerns

about even low levels of ozone, it’s useful

to have this worst-case scenario of ozone

buildup in a room.

IF YOU BUY AN AIR PURIFIER

Consumers Union continues to urge

the CPSC to set indoor ozone limits for all

air purifiers and mandate performance

tests and labels disclosing the results. CU

also urges the Federal Trade Commission

to investigate air-purifier ads to determine

the validity of health-related claims. If

you’re set on buying one, keep these

points in mind:

Consider whole-house models.

Forced-air heating/cooling systems circu-

late so much air that they can overwhelm

portable purifiers. Whole-house purifiers

are a better option. Better products range

from $10 to $30 for do-it-yourself filters to

$1,000-plus systems that have to be in-

stalled by a pro.The latter are more effec-

tive at removing dust and smoke. DIY

furnace filters do nearly as good a job of

removing dust but aren’t as good at re-

moving smoke. Buy a whole-house model

with a filter rather than an electrostatic

precipitator, which produces some ozone.

Portables: Bigger is better. Portable

air purifiers work best at high speeds but

are quietest on low. Run the unit on the

higher, louder setting when you’re not in

the room, and turn it down to low when

you’re nearby. Or buy a model certified for

a larger area.We believe a clean-air deliv-

ery rate (CADR) above 350 is excellent,

and one below 100 is poor. Look for CADR

figures with an Association of Home

Appliance Manufacturers (AHAM) logo.

Only those were confirmed by AHAM.

certifies electrostatic precipitators using

the FDA limit of 50 parts per billion. But

that limit is under scrutiny.

“Fifty parts per billion is by no means

universally accepted in the scientific com-

munity as being a low enough benchmark

for ozone,” says Richard Shaughnessy,

Ph.D., director of the University of Tulsa’s

Indoor Air Research Program and the au-

thor of an analysis prepared for the

Consumer Product Safety Commission on

research pertaining to the current limit.A

recent study of outdoor air in 98 urban

areas, led by Michelle L. Bell, assistant

professor of environmental health at Yale

University, indicated that even low levels

of ground-level ozone were associated

with increased risk of premature death.

Ozone has other risks. Studies in-

creasingly suggest that ozone creates

other irritants as it reacts with household

products such as scented cleaners and air

fresheners. Among these irritants are

formaldehyde, a carcinogen; acrolein, a

toxic irritant found in cigarette smoke;

and ultrafine particles. “Picture ultrafine

particle behavior the way you see ciga-

rette smoke behave in a lighted room,”

says Charles J. Weschler, Ph.D., a re-

searcher at the University of Medicine

and Dentistry of New Jersey. “They hang

in the air for a long time. The concern is

how easily the ultrafine particles are in-

haled before they can settle.”

Germ-cleaning claims are oversold.

Many air purifiers claim to rid your home

of airborne bacteria and viruses in addi-

tion to dust, pollen, and smoke. We ran

tests on five portable air purifiers that

made those claims. While our tests con-

firmed that they reduce germs in the air,

so should any air purifier that effectively

removes dust and smoke.

Still, germ removal isn’t a good reason

to buy an air purifier. “The limited effec-

tiveness of the home air purifiers may

give people a false sense of security,” says

Edward J. Septimus, M.D., an infectious-

disease expert at Methodist Hospital in

Houston. “Stick with the basics instead:

Wash your hands with soap and water for

at least 15 seconds and cover your mouth

and nose when you sneeze and cough.”

Ozone testing is in flux. Even the UL

ozone test is under review as UL and in-

DECEMBER 2007 &Zwww.ConsumerReports.org 49

Makers of ozone generators often target

home users with claims that the devices

reduce allergens such as dust, smoke,

pollen, germs, and mold using “highly

activated oxygen” or “super oxide ions,”

leaving the fresh scents of thunder-

storms and waterfalls in their place. Two

companies, Biotech Research and Eco-

Quest, go much further in their ads.

The $850 EcoQuest Fresh Air uses

“exclusive ‘Space Certified’ ” technology

“used to scrub the air inside spacecraft,”

ads say. BioTech Research says its $230

EdenPure Area’s technology is “used by

the federal government to purify air in

the Space Shuttle and the International

Space Station.” And ABC Radio broad-

caster Paul Harvey, who claims to use the

EdenPure, describes it as “the best air

purifier ever created by the hand of man”

in an ad.

But our tests found that even at the

generators’ low everyday settings, their

ozone production quickly exceeded the

50 parts per billion (ppb) FDA limit for

medical devices. Purifiers aren’t consid-

ered medical devices by the FDA. Ozone

concentrations in our test room meas-

ured about 650 to 990 ppb for the

EdenPure, depending on the setting. The

EcoQuest produced about 110 to 350 ppb

at its normal and high settings and up to

4,300 ppb at its “away” settings, which

the company says to use only when you

and your pets aren’t home.

The U.S. Environmental Protection

Agency warns that relatively low levels of

ozone can cause chest pain and short-

ness of breath. Ozone may also worsen

asthma and compromise the ability of

the body to fight respiratory infections.

The EPA regulates outdoor ozone levels,

but there is no federal agency that regu-

lates indoor levels or air purifiers. As we

went to press, California banned the sale

of ozone generators for most uses.

Because both of these ozone genera-

tors produced very high amounts of

ozone and have no way to automatically

control its concentration in the air, we

consider them Not Acceptable. They

were also poor at removing dust and

smoke in the air.

About those “space” claims: We sent

NASA the ads, and spokeswomen told us

that the space shuttle and the space

station life-support and environmental-

control systems have always relied on fil-

tration to purify the air, not ozone.

Not Acceptable

Ozone generators

Portables

50 CONSUMER REPORTS &ZDECEMBER 2007 •

Expert • Independent • Nonprofit

Brand & model Price Annual costs Overall score Test results

Key number

Energy

Filter

High speed

Low speed

High speed

Low speed

High speed

Low speed

Ozone emission

FILTER PURIFIERS

Most use HEPA filtration, and none emit ozone.

1Whirlpool Whispure

AP45030S $230 $77 $130 63 &X&C&X&C&C&X-

2Kenmore Progressive

83202 Whirlpool AP510303 270 81 145 57 &X&C&X&C&C&X-

3Hunter Permalife 30547 270 128 44 56 &X&C&X&C&V&X-

4Blueair 601 600 60 200 46 &Z&V&Z&V&B&Z-

53M Ultra Slim Air Purifier

FAP03-RS 200 105 68 45 &X&V&C&V&C&Z-

6Honeywell Enviracaire

50250 170 56 60 45 &C&V&C&V&B&X-

7Blueair 501 500 64 176 44 &X&V&X&V&B&Z-

8Hunter Quietflo 30401 260 149 120 44 &C&V&C&V&V&X-

9Vornado 35 AQS35 200 130 95 44 &X&V&X&V&V&X-

10 Bionaire Galileo BAP1250-U 200 79 102 42 &C&V&C&V&V&X-

11 Holmes HAP756 140 77 105 41 &C&V&C&V&V&X-

12 Holmes HAP726 125 126 70 39 &C&V&V&V&V&X-

13 Sharp Plasmacluster

FP-P60CX 400 34 20 35 &C&B&C&B&V&Z-

14 Panasonic F-P20HU1 100 102 77 35 &C&B&C&B&B&Z-

15 Holmes Harmony HAP422-U 85 58 160 34 &V&V&V&V&V&X-

16 Atmosphere (Quixtar.com)

Air Purifier 970 27 869 33 &C&B&C&B&B&Z-

17 Honeywell QuietClean

HFD-120-Q 150 32 0 33 &V&B&V&B&X&Z-

18 TrueAir 04492 130 47 0 32 &V&B&V&B&C&X-

19 Winix PlasmaWave 5000 300 36 100 32 &C&B&C&B&V&Z-

20 IQAir HealthPro Plus 800 124 230 32 &C&B&C&B&V&Z-

21 Austin Air HealthMate

HM-400 450 96 95 30 &V&B&V&B&B&Z-

22 Amcor AM130 120 80 34 28 &V&B&V&B&V&Z-

23 Bionaire Permatech

BAP1500 150 61 0 27 &V&B&V&B&C&Z-

24 3M Ultra Slim FAP04-RC 300 42 80 26 &V&B&B&B&V&Z-

25 SoleusAir SA-150R 200 44 18 26 &V&B&B&B&C&Z-

26 Zojirushi PA-MTC14 170 35 24 24 &V&B&V&B&V&Z-

27 Blueair Airpod 100 676

16 &B&B&B&B&X&Z-

ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATORS

All produce some ozone; none exceeded the 50-ppb

voluntary FDA limit.

28 Friedrich C-90B 500 48 80 64 &Z&C&X&C&V&XM

29 Kenmore (Sears) K6 85264 370 129 0 57 &Z&C&X&C&V&XM

30 Bio-Net EGF Enhanced ⁄750 90 122 39 &V&V&V&V&C&XL

31 Sharper Image Hybrid

Germicidal Purifier SI724GRY 500 10 0 34 &V&V&V&B&X&ZL

32 Ionic Pro Pure Pro 200 200 31 0 31 &V&V&V&B&C&ZM

33 Brookstone Pure-Ion

Advanced 300 70 0 30 &V&B&V&B&B&ZL

34 Honeywell QuietClean

HFD-135 300 51 90 26 &V&B&B&B&V&ZL

Within types, in performance order. Blue key numbers indicate Quick Picks.

Dust

removal

Smoke

removal Noise

P F G VG E

0 100

Similar model, in small

type, is comparable to

tested model.

1Whirlpool

CR Quick Recommendations

No air purifier alone will clean the air.

Nor should it be the first thing you try.

Based on increasing concern about expo-

sure to even small amounts of ozone, we

strongly suggest using whole-house and

portable air purifiers that rely on filters

and produce no ozone.

At their lowest and quietest settings,

the top-rated portable air purifiers out-

performed or matched most of the other

portables in the Ratings. There’s no rea-

son to choose any others.

Stick with whole-house systems if you

have forced-air heating. The top-rated

furnace filters are a simple, inexpensive

upgrade from the standard furnace filter.

For performance comparable to that of

the best portables, opt for a professional-

ly installed system.

Ventilation is still the best way to

remove odors from your home. Although

our latest tests show that the IQAir (20)

and Austin Air (21) removed cooking

odors, that capability will be reduced

with use. And those models aren’t very

effective at removing dust or smoke.

The Ratings rank air purifiers by over-

all performance. Quick Picks lists mod-

els that combine performance and value.

QUICK PICKS

Best room air purifiers:

1 Whirlpool $230

2 Kenmore $270

Both combine fine performance with qui-

eter operation, especially when set on

low. The Hunter (3) costs a bit less in

annual costs but was noisier when run on

high. Though the Friedrich (28) and Ken-

more (29) were better at dust removal on

their high settings, they emitted moder-

ate amounts of ozone in our tests, so we

don’t suggest you buy them.

Best whole-house air purifiers:

1 Lennox $350, CR Best Buy

9 3M $20

10 3M $16

The Lennox is the only professionally

installed system that does not produce

ozone, and it’s also the least expensive.

But it will cost an extra $200 or more for

installation and has high annual costs for

filter replacements. Do-it-yourself fur-

nace filters like the 3M (9, 10) aren’t the

best if you live with a smoker, but these

two were very good at removing dust

without significantly limiting the heat-

ing/cooling system’s airflow.

Ratings

air purifiers

• Availability Most models at stores

through April 2008. Excellent Very Good Fair Poor

good

ZB

XB

CB

VB

Brand & model Price Annual

cost

Overall score Test results

Key number

Dust removal

Smoke removal

Airflow resistance

Ozone emission

PRO-INSTALLED FILTER SYSTEM

Uses non-HEPA filtration and emits no ozone.

1Lennox Healthy Climate HC16 $ 350 $99 84 &Z&X&X-

PRO-INSTALLED ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATORS

All emit some ozone; none

exceeded the 50-ppb voluntary FDA limit.

2Trane Clean Effects €

American Standard Accuclean €1,025 16 89 &Z&Z&XL

3Aprilaire 5000 ⁄450 36 87 &Z&Z&XL

4Carrier Infinity Air Purifier GAPA ⁄

Bryant Perfect Air 1,135 89 84 &Z&Z&XL

5Trion SE1400 700 33 83 &Z&Z&ZM

6Trane Perfect Fit TFE210A9FR3 600 22 83 &Z&Z&ZM

7Carrier EACB 500 29 82 &Z&Z&ZM

8Honeywell F300 600 25 77 &Z&X&XM

DO-IT-YOURSELF

Standard, non-HEPA filters, about 1-inch thick. They emit no ozone.

93M Filtrete 1700 20 80 52 &X&V&X-

10 3M Filtrete Ultra Allergen

Reduction 1250 16 64 48 &X&V&X-

11 True Blue RP8202014 15 60 43 &X&V&C-

12 3M Filtrete Micro Allergen

Reduction 1000 10 40 42 &C&V&X-

13 Precisionaire NaturalAire Elite 13 52 37 &C&B&X-

14 American Air Filter Breathe Right

Allergen Barrier 19 76 35 &C&B&X-

15 3M Filtrete Dust and Pollen

Reduction 600 832 34 &C&B&X-

16 Web Hepa-Pure 30 120 33 &C&B&C-

17 American Air Filter Dirt Demon

Dust Shield 312 19 &V&B&C-

18 Precisionaire NaturalAire Plus 416 17 &B&B&X-

19 Web The Original WEB 20 015 &B&B&X-

20 American Air Filter ElectroKlean 26 014 &B&B&X-

21 Precisionaire EZ Flow 112 14 &B&B&Z-

22 Web WEB Lifetime 20 013 &B&B&X-

23 American Air Filter StrataDensity ‹2612 &B&B&Z-

⁄

Uses non-HEPA filtration as well as an electrostatic precipitator.

€

Recalled because electrical arcing inside the collec-

tion cells can pose a fire hazard.

‹

Comes in four-pack.

Similar models, in small type, are

comparable to tested model.

P F G VG E

0 100

Whole-house

For the past 15 years, CONSUMER REPORTS

has recommended some electrostatic

precipitators. The Friedrich C-90B and

Aprilaire 5000 were effective air puri-

fiers with low annual maintenance costs

but produced small amounts of ozone.

These portable and whole-house puri-

fiers apply an electrical charge to the

particles drawn into the device and pro-

duce some ozone as a byproduct.

These products’ performance

has not changed

significantly, but our

advice has. We now

believe that air puri-

fiers that emit even

small amounts of

ozone (less than 50

parts per billion) are

not your best choice.

Research is increas-

ingly warning against

adding ozone to

indoor air. But more studies need to be

conducted to determine the effects of

low-level ozone exposure.

If you own one of these models, we

suggest that you err on the side of cau-

tion. If a member of your household has

asthma or allergy symptoms that aren’t

improving, even though you’ve removed

allergy and asthma triggers and keep

your home well ventilated, you might

want to consider switching to one of our

highly rated, filter-based models if you

still want a purifier.

ELECTROSTATIC

PRECIPITATOR ADVICE

closeup

Guide to the Ratings

Overall score is mainly how well models

removed dust and smoke from a test chamber,

plus quietness for room models and airflow

resistance for whole-house. Dust and smoke

are how well models cleared the air of fine

clay dust and cigarette smoke. Pollen removal

is typically similar to dust removal. Noise for

room models denotes instrument and panel

judgments at highest and lowest speeds. Air-

flow resistance reflects how freely air passed

through the unit. Annual cost is our estimate

based on continuous operation. Ozone emis-

sion is our classification of ozone generated

by a product in our tests: 1 to 25 parts per bil-

lion (ppb) is low (L); 26 to 50 ppb, medium

(M). For whole-house products, ozone calcula-

tions are adjusted to be comparable to those

for portables. Price is approximate retail.

Scores for previously tested models may have

changed based on the performance of newly

tested models and testing changes.

2Kenmore 1Lennox 93M

Friedrich

C-90B

DECEMBER 2007 &Zwww.ConsumerReports.org 51

Brand & model Price Annual costs Overall score Test results

Key number

Energy

Filter

High speed

Low speed

High speed

Low speed

High speed

Low speed

Ozone emission

ELECTROSTATIC PRECIPITATORS

continued

35 Oreck XL Tower Professional 700 43 50 24 &V&B&V&B&B&ZL

36 Oreck XL Tabletop

Professional AIRPS 470 33 38 17 &B&B&B&B&C&ZL

⁄

Uses a nonreplaceable filter as well as electrostatic technology.

P F G VG E

0 100

Dust

removal

Smoke

removal Noise