Making sure your indoor air is clean and healthy is important for your health, your home and your personal belongings. One challenging aspect of cleaning indoor air is the removal of biological contaminants. Micro-organisms tend to be very small particles, typically 0.3 microns or smaller. This means some of them can evade the filter media of an air filtration system or even bypass certain types of electronic air cleaners. However, there is one type of air purifier that is designed to eliminate biological contaminants: UV germicidal lighting.
The Power of UV-C
You may have seen in hospitals or even your doctor’s office new cleaning components that clean using light rays. The rays are UV-C, and these are the same type of light rays used in UV germicidal lights for your home. UV-C lights are screened from the Earth by our atmosphere, but in concentrated lights, they are harmless to humans but deadly to biological micro-organisms like viruses and bacteria, as well as biological growths like mold and mildew. This is because of the 1-2 punch UV-C lights deliver: first, they permanently damage the DNA of the contaminant, making it impossible for it to reproduce. Second, the lights destroy the proteins in the cell that support it. The result is total eradication of the contaminant.
What UV Lights Don’t Do
UV lights do not draw contaminants to them; they are stationary, so for an organism to be affected by the light, it has to pass directly under the light. This is why UV lights are typically placed over the evaporator coils (which are notorious for mold and mildew growth) and in your home’s ductwork. UV lights only work on biological contaminants, so they won’t help with non-biological allergens like dust. As such, the lights are typically paired with a second type of air cleaner.
The experts at Climate Masters can help you assess whether or not your home in Palm Coast, FL will benefit from the installation of UV lights. All you have to do is give us a call and schedule an appointment!
