Improve Indoor Air Quality With UV Lights

Installing UV lights in your home’s HVAC system gives you a natural, quiet and energy efficient way to improve its indoor air quality (IAQ). UV, or ultraviolet, is the wavelength from sunlight that keeps biological contaminants under control.

UV rays penetrate cell tissue walls and disrupt their functioning to the point where they’re unable to reproduce. They’re highly effective with bacteria, fungus, viruses, and even volatile organic compounds (VOCs)—all invisible components that reduce IAQ.

The best place to put these lights is inside your HVAC system. Nearly all your home’s air passes over the lights and as it does, the harmful organic pollutants lose their ability to provoke allergies and cause illness.

Positioning the lights in the ductwork and blower compartment isolates their rays from eyesight, which can be harmful. The UV lights require little maintenance, especially if you use a high quality air filter for the blower compartment and keep it clean.

You may need to replace the bulbs at the intervals the manufacturer recommends for the most effective control of micro-organisms. Installing the lights isn’t a do-it-yourself project for most homeowners, but once the HVAC contractor completes the job, you’ll benefit from:

• Reduced populations of disease-causing bacteria and viruses.
• Lower load of VOCs in the air. VOCs come from many cleaning products, new paint, furniture and fabric, air fresheners, perfumed soaps and candles, emissions from vehicles and gas appliances, and plastics. They can cause anything from headaches to neurological damage and organ failure. The only other way to lower VOCs indoors is to avoid them altogether—something that can be fairly difficult.
• Chemical-free mold management. Mold reproduces through microscopic spores and the ducts and blower compartment offer hospitable environments for mold growth. Once it gets a foothold, it can spread to other parts of your home, damaging its structure and exacerbating respiratory problems.

The experts at Stack Heating & Cooling can give you more information about UV lights to improve IAQ. We’ve provided outstanding 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).

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