Should You Buy a UV Air Purifier?
28th February 2010 by Bronchitis No CommentsIf you are an allergy sufferer, you may have heard that a UV air purifier can help with your condition. This is certainly true. Molds, fungi, spores, even dust mites and their feces can all be removed from the air. In addition to this, an ultraviolet light air purifier can help keep you from coming down with common illnesses such as a cold. Here is an overview of how a UV air purifier works, and certain issues you should be aware of.
The most important feature of a UV air purifier is the bulb. Air passes though the UV light and any bacteria, mold, fungus, virus or other living material is subjected to a lethal dose of UV light. Don’t worry, this isn’t harmful to people, but is deadly for small life forms. You want to find a bulb that puts out UV light rays in a very specific spectrum to ensure that they are being as effective as possible at killing and cleaning organic material out of the air. You also want to make sure that the lifespan of the bulb that goes in the unit is at least a year. UV air filter bulbs can be expensive to replace and if you are churning through one every three months this can add up really quick.
As well as directly targeting contaminants in the air, the UV light will stimulate the oxygen and water in the air to start a chemical reaction that will form hydroxyl and ozone. Hydroxyl is very effective at breaking down organic material and can literally strip out the harmful chemicals in the air and take out the things that most commonly cause allergic reactions. This means that the airborne allergens that are causing your problems are eliminated and you should be able to breathe free and easy without symptoms.
As mentioned, the UV light will produce both hydroxyl and ozone. However, ozone is not recommended for cleaning the air because it is harmful even in small quantities. It is better to use hydroxyl as it does not have any of the harmful effects of ozone. Fortunately, hydroxyl and ozone are produced by different wave length components of UV light so you can set up your UV air purifier to only generate one or the other.
Another important feature of any purifier is how much air flow and volume it can handle. You need to make absolutely sure that the unit will be able to clean the air you have going through it. If it is inadequate then you will have made the purchase for nothing. In addition, if it can clean far more air then is going through it then you are wasting money by buying an unnecessarily large unit. Make sure that the specs on the unit match up with the area in which you plan to use it.
There are a number of different technologies to be found in air purifiers, from the HEPA filter to the ionic air purifier. Discover how to get the the right technology for your situation at Home Air Purifiers: The Facts.
