Depending on unique factors in your home – including various things causing dirty indoor air and the vulnerability of individual household occupants – you may want to ramp up your efforts to improve interior air quality. One effective tactic is to install a germicidal ultraviolet light system. UV lights can neutralize and/or eradicate many of the tiny airborne organisms that threaten you and your family’s health.

While air filters and purifiers can remove many of the non-organic particulates in your air, including household dust and debris, they are less effective against micro-organisms such as mold spores, bacteria and viruses. Yet, these are the particulates most likely to trigger respiratory issues and allergies, or make them worse. Germicidal UV lights are designed to attack these micro-organisms.

How Do UV Lights Enhance Indoor Air Quality?

Ultraviolet lights can be installed inside your ductwork, positioned so they shine UV light on household air as it’s circulating through the home. As the air repeatedly moves through the duct network, the UV rays gradually neutralize organic contaminants. Though the technology isn’t quite this simple, ultraviolet light essentially breaks down the DNA of micro-organisms.

Another way that UV lights can improve indoor air quality is installing them so their light shines on heat-exchange coils in the indoor unit of your air conditioner or heat pump. Mold and bacteria tend to accumulate in the dank, musty environment around these coils, which contaminates indoor air as it passes over the coils. In a less common strategy, UV lights can be installed near the ceiling in a room, to treat contaminated air that collects there.

In homes that effectively maintain indoor air quality, UV light systems often work in tandem with other air-cleaning strategies, such as electrostatic filtration and High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters. With any air filtration system, regular maintenance (both professional and homeowner) is necessary for optimum air cleaning. This includes inspecting and changing air filters regularly and replacing UV light bulbs at proper intervals.

For more information on cleaning the air in your Peachtree City area home, please contact us at Powers Heating & Air.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Peachtree City, Georgia and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Guide or call us at 770-487-2040.

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