Can UV Lights Really Fix Furnace Smells?

Installing UV lights in your furnace can help control strange smells that come from your ductwork and blower compartment. Think about it — UV lights mimic the spectrum of sunlight that controls the population of certain types of organic materials, including mold spores, viruses and bacteria. This spectrum can also alter harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that are produced by many man-made products.

When these organisms are exposed to UV light, their outer shells break down, damaging their DNA. Once exposed, spores and bacteria can’t reproduce. Your HVAC system is the ideal place to install UV lighting, since your entire home’s airflow will pass through your system repeatedly.

Tucking them away in your ductwork also eliminates the risk of visual and dermal exposure, both of which can have harmful side effects. Using UV lights inside your HVAC system can also eliminate the need for strong cleaning chemicals developed for mold and bacterial control and the VOCs they emit.

These lights are cost-effective to install and operate, but require periodic dusting and should be replaced annually for maximum mold control. In addition to being an allergy trigger, household mold can destroy anything on which it grows. Mold can grow easily in ductwork when there’s enough moisture present for it to gain a hold.

Besides placing these lights inside your ducts, HVAC professionals can also place them inside the blower compartment to reduce mold and biofilm growth over the evaporator coil when your cooling system runs. If you use a heat pump, it’s important to keep the coil clean for heating efficiency, as well. A clean coil transfers more heat and can keep energy bills lower.

If you’d like to learn more about managing mold growth, furnace smells and improving indoor air quality with UV lights, contact the pros at Stack Heating & Cooling. We’ve been providing exceptional HVAC services for Greater Cleveland homeowners since 1976.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Cleveland, Ohio about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). For more information about UV lights and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

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