According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), indoor air is five times more polluted than outside. Now that it’s getting colder outside, it’s even more critical that your customers have good indoor air quality (IAQ). While doors and windows remain closed this season, your customers rely on the excellent ventilation capabilities of the vents and diffusers you’ve installed.
There’s a lot more that can be done to improve IAQ. In fact, there are countless products on the market that claim to improve IAQ, but how do you know which ones are right for your customers? A good place to start is read the many reviews and find out which products are winning awards.
One resource for learning about top products is the Dealer Design Awards. The gold winner in the IAQ category this year was the Lennox PureAirTM S. The system uses Merv 16 filters that provide filtration levels that would be acceptable in a hospital. The system also employs ultraviolet (UV) technology.
The Lennox PureAirTM S offers smart home functionality and will alert homeowners when the filter needs to be replaced. This is great for you, the HVAC installer, as it gives you an opportunity for a service call, and provides you with insights regarding the wear and tear on the system.
If your customers want to take advantage of all of the smart features of the PureAirTMS, they will need to install it alongside other Lennox equipment. But if they are looking only for the IAQ improvements, they can install it with any residential ducted system.
Customers looking for something to accompany a mini-split system installed in a kitchen or bathroom might be interested in this year’s silver award winner, the ClearSkyTMMS bi-polar ion generator. This unit is designed for both residential and commercial use and comes with adhesive-backed hook and loop fasteners for easy installation. The ClearSky MS will reduce particulate matter, mold, allergens, viruses, and bacteria while consuming only a single watt of energy.
Another good source for new HVAC products is the Innovation Awards handed out at the AHR Expo each year. The 2019 winners were recently announced, and this year’s winner in the IAQ category is a product designed for HVAC technicians. The IAQ SmartairTM by CPS Products is a tool that you can use to measure and analyze IAQ.
The IAQ SmartairTM app will walk you through all of the necessary measurements and provide you with a list of potential issues and solutions. It would be a great option for a HVAC technician looking to add IAQ assessment to their suite of services.
The finalists in the IAQ category were the Fresh-Aire UV disinfection system and the Draabe humidifier. The Fresh-Aire UV system uses UV technology to neutralize biological contaminants like mold and bacteria and odor-causing volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
The Draabe humidifier purifies the water before circulating it as a fine mist, ensuring that the humidification system doesn’t add a new contaminant to the air.
Another product for IAQ applications won gold in the green building category at the AHR Expo Awards. The HVAC Load Reduction Module 1000E-M is an air scrubber, or industrial air purifier module that decreases how much outside air is required by the system. This results in a 20% to 30% reduction in energy costs. This is a great option to know about. Any commercial HVAC customer would be happy to reduce their energy bill while improving their IAQ.
From advances in filters to UV technology, the range of products to improve IAQ has something to offer all of your customers.
