If you’re concerned about the cleanliness of the air inside your San Joaquin Valley home, an ultraviolet (UV) light system might be just what the doctor ordered.
Indoor air quality can have a big impact on your family’s health. The same factors that make the great indoors more livable for you also make it easier for microorganisms like bacteria and mold to thrive. When combined with the other pollutants commonly found in indoor air, such airborne contaminants are thought to contribute to half of the illnesses and allergies we face.
UV lights can help. Ultraviolet light is deadly to microorganisms, if they are bombarded with enough UV rays. That is why hospitals and other medical facilities have used UV lights for decades to sterilize the air and prevent the spread of diseases. The same technology can now be used in your home.
Here’s how it works: an electronic UV light source is installed inside the HVAC system. The UV rays are contained within the ducts, providing a high dosage for the air inside the HVAC system without there being any unwanted UV light in the actual living areas of the home. The regular functioning of the HVAC system circulates all the air in the house through the UV light, over and over again; the repeated exposure ensures that almost all disease-causing germs in the air are destroyed or rendered inert.
Usually, and preferably, the UV lights will be used in tandem with an air filter that has a fairly high MERV rating. The air filter does two things: first, it can slow the air down somewhat as it passes through the UV light, exposing the germs to more of the rays. Second, it can filter the dead microorganisms out of the air, along with dust, pollen and other indoor air pollutants. The air filter and UV lights therefore work together to make the air you breathe as clean as possible.
To learn more about UV lights and other ways to improve the air quality in your Fresno-area home, contact the experts at Donald P. Dick Air Conditioning.
Our goal is to help educate our customers 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.
Donald P Dick Air Conditioning services the greater Fresno area in California. Visit our website to see our special offers and get started today!
UV light photo via Shutterstock