UV Air Duct Purifiers: Keep Air Free Of Fungus & Bacteria
Tired of breathing dirty air? You should be. But what can you do about it? One option is to install a UV air duct purifier in your ventilation system. This will clean away the most harmful irritants, allergens, germs, and fungi.
UV light is a great precautionary step to protect your vents and your lungs. If you have been told by a professional air duct cleaning company that your vents are vulnerable to fungal proliferation or bacterial build-up, keep reading.
What Is UV?
UV stands for ultraviolet. This is a type of light that is outside of the visible light spectrum. If you remember the ROYGBIV (often referred to as Roy Gee Biv) from back in science class, you will know that violet is at the end of the electromagnetic spectrum with shorter wavelengths.
These shorter wavelengths are more dangerous than, say, radio waves (which are constantly passing through our bodies). But UV light is what comes from the sun that makes you need sunscreen at the beach. It is destructive to most organic life.
How Does A UV Air Duct Purifier Work?
As mentioned above, UV light can degrade and harm almost everything it is exposed to. You can see this if you have left a picture or poster near a window. The colors become sun-bleached. Or if you stay out in the sun and your skin gets burned, this is also a result of UV rays.
That same effect is what can clear away and kill almost every type of bacteria and fungal spore. UV is the reason sunlight is often referred to as the best disinfectant. If you place a UV filter at the point in your air ducts most susceptible to spreading germs and spores, it kills 99.9% of the harmful substances.
Where Do You Install A UV Duct Purifier?
A UV duct purifier is a set-it-and-forget-it device. That means you install it, and then you let it work without checking up on it or turning it on and off. You can’t exactly keep an eye on it either because there is a problem if you can see the light. After all, it is harmful.
You do not need to place these filters throughout the vents. The coils are the one area where it is most effective to install your UV purifier. This is the point of your air duct assembly where the intake system pushes air into the outtake vents. So if you filter this area, you are cleaning the air you will be breathing.
Who Installs UV Duct Purifiers?
An air duct cleaning service is your best bet for proper UV purifier installation. Firstly this type of filter should be installed only after a system has been professionally cleaned. It is great at preventing growth, but it may not be powerful enough to kill large accumulations of irritants as quickly as you need.
Once the area is cleaned, the light needs to be set up so that the light floods the entire area. If there are significant dark shadows, that gives room for some type of growth. Proper professional installation of a UV duct purifier makes sure it is not going to fall, shut off, and will clean the greatest amount of surface area.
