Each year, the Southern Living Idea House is built in a new location. The luxury home showcases stunning interior design ideas and innovative technology for more comfortable living. 

This year, the Southern Living Idea House is located on Bald Head Island, North Carolina. Large, airy and bright, this magnificent seaside retreat brings the outdoors indoors and makes the most of its stunning surroundings. With large upper and lower porches and a private garden area off the master bedroom, this relaxing, yet sophisticated, home is the perfect blend of natural beauty and intelligent design.

Creating the perfect year-round home environment

Because Bald Head Island experiences moderate year-round temperatures, the designers decided to use three complementary Lennox^® home comfort systems—consisting of Heat Pumps and Air Handlers—to keep the home comfortable throughout the year. They also added PureAir^™ Air Purification Systems, so the homeowners could enjoy the home's nature-welcoming design, without breathing nature's allergy-aggravating contaminants. To control and co-ordinate the systems, the designers installed three iComfort^® S30 Ultra Smart Thermostats, giving the homeowners precise control over every aspect of their home's comfort.

The XP21 Heat Pump

The Bald Head Island luxury home features three XP21 Multi-Stage Heat Pumps.  A high-efficiency Dave Lennox Signature^® Collection product, the XP21 is ideal for milder climates and provides year-round, energy-saving heating and cooling. The XP21's SilentComfort^™ technology greatly reduces the unit's operating noise, making it the perfect fit for this relaxed and tranquil island retreat. Even when installed outside of a bedroom window, the XP21 is so quiet it won't disturb anyone's sleep.

The CBX32MV Air Handler

Three CBX32MV* Air Handlers were used in the Southern Living Idea House. Part of the Dave Lennox Signature^® Collection, these energy-efficient Air Handlers were installed to circulate cool air in the summer and warm air from the Heat Pump in the winter. Designed with variable-speed technology, the CBX32MV* precisely controls airflow in the home, maximizing energy usage, reducing operating sounds and lowering humidity levels. In addition, the CBX32MV's* low fan speed increases the effectiveness of the HVAC system's filters, helping to capture even more allergy-aggravating contaminants.

*The CBX32MV air handler has been replaced by the CBA38MV, the quietest and most efficient air handler you can buy.

The iComfort^® S30 Ultra Smart Thermostat

Providing the ultimate in comfort control, the Southern Living Idea House designers installed three iComfort^® S30 Ultra Smart Thermostats in the luxury island home. Energy saving and flexible, the iComfort S30's Smart Away^™ mode connects with the GPS in a homeowner's smartphone, allowing them to switch the system to a more efficient mode when they are away. The Smart Away mode then returns the system to a normal schedule and more comfortable temperature when the homeowner returns. And, for even greater convenience, the iComfort S30 is compatible with Amazon Alexa**, so, homeowners can also control their HVAC system with just a simple voice command.

The Lennox PureAir^™ Air Purification System

Designed to connect the indoors with the outdoors, the North Carolina luxury home embraced its natural surroundings. However, allowing so much outside air inside the home presented the designers with the challenge of how to monitor and control indoor air quality. By installing a whole-home Lennox PureAir^™ Air Purification System, they were able to filter out all three types of indoor air pollutants—airborne particles, germs and bacteria, and chemical odors and vapors—from every room in the house. Efficient and effective, the PureAir System filters and cleans indoor air better than any other single System on the market.

Create your own idea house

To learn more about the innovative HVAC products featured in the article and to find out how you can get them installed in your home, contact your local Lennox^® Dealer.

*A combination of sound ratings established per AHRI's test standard: AHRI 270-2008 (August 2013); and efficiency ratings established per AHRI's test standard: ANSI/AHRI 210/240-2008 of two-stage central AC/HP equipment.

**S30 is compatible with Lennox HVAC products and requires separate purchase of Amazon Echo or Echo Dot. At this time, Amazon asserts that Amazon Echo devices are not available for purchase in all countries. Therefore, this reference is intended for use with US-based thermostats only. Amazon, Alexa and all related logos are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates.