Did you know there’s such a thing as “indoor microbiome?” It pertains to all the living microorganisms within an indoor environment, such as inside your Peoria, Illinois’ home. These include fungi like molds, bacteria, viruses, and their byproducts, to name a few.
As you can imagine, your home’s indoor microbiome can affect its indoor air quality (IAQ). The worse it is, the poorer your IAQ can be. You don’t want this, especially not if, like most Americans, you spend 90% of your time indoors.
The good news is that installing UV lights for HVAC systems can help improve your home’s indoor microbiome and IAQ. We’ll discuss these lighting systems and their benefits in more detail, so read on.
What Are UV Lights for HVAC Systems?
UV (ultraviolet) lights for HVAC systems emit UVC, a type of UV light with disinfecting properties. It damages the nucleic acids of pathogens like mold, mildew, bacteria, and viruses, rendering them inactive. These germicidal effects are also why many healthcare facilities use them as an additional method for disinfection.
How Do They Work?
HVAC professionals typically install UV lights in the air handler or the ductwork of HVAC systems. When you run your AC or heating system, the air it cools or heats passes over these lamps. The light’s radiation then sanitizes the air, killing or deactivating the harmful microorganisms it carries.
So, once the conditioned air reaches your heating or cooling spaces, it will have fewer molds, mildew, and germs.
What Are Some HVAC UV Light Benefits?
Heating and air conditioning UV light installation can help reduce contaminants in indoor air. As a result, you and your loved ones can enjoy healthier, cleaner air at home.
Here’s a closer look at how HVAC UV lights can benefit your household and comfort systems.
Help Improve IAQ
Your Peoria home’s indoor air quality can suffer if your indoor microbiome is full of pathogens. The poorer your home’s IAQ, the more significant its impact on your and your loved ones’ health and comfort.
For example, poor IAQ is a primary contributor to the development of health woes like infections and lung disease. These can result from exposure to bacteria (e.g., Streptococcus pneumonia) and viruses (e.g., influenza and coronaviruses) in the air.
Fortunately, HVAC UV lights can help inactivate some of those infectious agents. You must still practice good hygiene (for instance, hand washing and bathing). However, with the help of UV lights, you can have more peace of mind knowing that the air in your home is safer to breathe.
Minimize Allergens
Your home’s indoor microbiome can also contain allergens, compounds that can trigger allergies. These include pest droppings, insect parts, pet dander, mold, pollen, and dust mites.
It’s also worth noting that allergens can affect even people without allergies. For instance, those without mold allergies can still experience symptoms like sneezing and runny nose when they breathe moldy air. Moreover, prolonged exposure to these compounds can increase the risk of becoming allergic to them.
HVAC air filters help capture the above allergens before the system circulates the air throughout your home. Over time, though, these filters can become clogged, especially without proper and regular heating and AC maintenance. When that happens, unfiltered air can bypass the filters, and you or your loved ones can breathe allergen-filled air.
For that reason, it’s imperative to schedule regular pre-seasonal HVAC maintenance. It also pays to install UV lights for your system; these can work alongside clean air filters and clear the air of allergens.
Eliminate Odor
Molds, mildew, bacteria, and other airborne pollutants can cause your indoor air to smell bad. Their odors alone can sometimes be enough to make you feel ill. For example, the smell of mold, mildew, or decaying insect parts can make you gag or nauseous.
Since HVAC UV lights remove those odors’ sources, they can help eliminate the smells, too. As a result, they can contribute to your home smelling cleaner and fresher.
Reduce the Need for Chemical Control
Commercial cleaning solutions and disinfectants, such as household bleaches and sprays, effectively remove contaminants and sanitize surfaces, liquids, and air. However, they also release volatile organic compounds (VOCs). VOCs, even in low doses, can already cause health effects, such as eye, nose, lung, and skin irritation.
UV lights in HVAC systems don’t produce the same effects as they don’t emit VOCs. So, by installing these lamps, you can minimize the use of chemicals around your home. You can enjoy cleaner air without worrying about more chemical exposure.
Longer-Lasting HVAC Equipment
As UV lights help make your air cleaner, fewer contaminants can cause blockages in your HVAC system. That can help your system become less susceptible to clogging-related issues that can damage and shorten its lifespan. Also, the fewer obstructions your air conditioning and heating system experience, the more comfortable your home will be.
However, that doesn’t mean you can already skip pre-seasonal HVAC system maintenance. You must still schedule one for your AC in the summer and another for your heater in the fall.
While UV lights can help make your system last longer, it still needs maintenance so that an HVAC technician can inspect it thoroughly. That allows them to catch and fix problems before they worsen, clean the system, and help it work efficiently. They can also identify and address issues that can cause the system to impact your IAQ.
Invest in HVAC UV Lights Today
As you learned in this guide, UV lights for HVAC systems can help improve IAQ by inactivating mold, mildew, bacteria, and viruses. They can also rid the air of foul odors, making your home cleaner and fresher-smelling.
At Lambie Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc., you can count on our innovative Peoria, IL HVAC services, including system cleaning, maintenance, and UV light installation. Our family-owned HVAC company has over 50 years of experience in the industry, so we have the knowledge and skills to help ensure your AC, heating system, and IAQ are up to par.
So, connect with us today! We look forward to helping boost the IAQ in your home in Peoria, IL.
