Are you wondering if UV lights are really effective in HVAC systems? According to an Engineered Air technician, the answer is yes.
UV HVAC lights
are very effective at controlling mold inside the air handler. Any mold found in the line of sight of the UV bulb will disappear, keeping the coil free of mold. This is a great way to keep your family and your air conditioning system healthy.UV lights can also remove volatile organic compounds (VOCs), which cause odors such as tobacco smoke.Adequate air filtration is the first line of defense against the circulation of microbes within the air conditioning system. With the right conditions and proper installation, UV lights can be very effective at killing viruses, mold, and bacteria. Combining the two can make your home or office a much healthier place.Keeping the coil and drain pan clean is something UV lamps are good at. However, eliminating germs from the air inside a residential HVAC system is generally not as effective.
The main reason is that the UV lamp will not have the intensity necessary to provide a high enough dose to kill the various germs. Air passes through most air controllers and duct systems at a rate of 500 to 900 feet per minute. The faster you move, the more power you'll need in your UV lamps to get rid of small, fast germs.A UV lamp for heating, ventilation and air conditioning helps you stay healthy by disinfecting the air that circulates through the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system, reducing mold and viruses that are distributed in the air in your home. Researchers know that the virus spreads through water particles suspended in the air, so only UV lights installed in the ducts that treat the air that flows through them could be useful.
And to be fair, mold spores and bacteria from the condenser coil could get into the air supply, so these UV lights offer very little advantage. Poor installation can frustrate the purpose of installing a UV lamp, so hire a professional if you have questions about how to complete the job.All in all, the UV lamps that your HVAC company is trying to sell you are probably a waste of money, and it would be much better if you repaired your system manually once a year. Most importantly, the UV lights that most HVAC technicians try to sell you aren't powerful enough to kill even a significant amount of mold spores, bacteria, and viruses that circulate through your system.UV air purifiers use UV-C light (a wavelength of light of 254 nanometers) that is absorbed by the DNA of microorganisms. Another problem related to UV lights in heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems that the sales technician won't tell you is that UVC radiation doesn't interact with circulating air for a long time.
The only downside is that UV light could break fiberglass, but I don't know enough about it.Most Atlanta homeowners combine germicidal UV lamps with an air filter that has a high MERV rating (minimum efficiency information values). UV lights for heating, ventilation and air conditioning sterilize viruses and bacteria before they can recirculate in the home, helping to reduce airborne germs that can infect healthy family members or people with weaker immune systems. In reality, most of the bacteria, mold spores, and viruses in the air pass very easily through UV light without being affected at all. The installation of a UV air conditioning system in the condensing unit (indoor) is a cost-effective method for cleaning the air in the home as it passes through the system.
Between the two models of UV light for HVAC, the “best option” depends on the system and needs. This is important because the presence of particles can protect a microorganism from bombardment with ultraviolet light.UV air purifiers are only effective if microorganisms pass through the UV-C light inside the air conditioning system.
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