Mold, mildew, fungi, and bacteria can exist within the home, circulating through your air supply right under your nose. These microbes grow in the damp, dark, cool areas of the house, such as basements or even inside the air conditioner!
Indoor air quality solutions such as UV light air purifiers target these microorganisms and pathogens, preventing future spread through the home and to your loved ones. In our most recent blog, the indoor air quality specialists at Star Heating & Cooling discuss how UV light air purifiers kill mold.
How Mold Spreads in a Home
Mold can easily grow where it is dark, wet, and cool. Basements with moisture problems often see mold growth, but there is another area that is home to the perfect environment for mold growth which most homeowners never see – inside the air conditioner. Cool temperatures, condensation from the cooling process, and the dark interior of the equipment cabinet, plus nutrients found in gathering dust and debris, create a breeding ground for mold on your air conditioner’s evaporator coils.
When mold grows on the evaporator coils, it can easily circulate to reach just about any area of the home. Air passing over the coils for cooling can pick up mold spores, carrying them through the air conditioning system. Once conditioned air reaches the blower, the spores are sent through the duct system and into living areas across the house. They can continue to recirculate through the HVAC system, or settle in your living areas where they can spread to cause mold problems, poor indoor air quality, and health issues due to exposure.
Does UV Light Kill Mold?
There is always mold in the air – the concentration of mold in the air is what you need to be concerned with. Outdoors, ultraviolet (UV) energy from the Sun controls mold concentrations. Once mold is in the home’s air supply, it isn’t exposed to the direct sunlight necessary to neutralize spores and stop them from reproducing. When spores land in a moist area in the home, they can reproduce and continue to spread.
Because natural UV energy from the Sun is effective at killing mold outdoors, you may wonder whether UV light kills mold indoors? The answer is yes, and this technology is often used in the form of UV air purifiers that are installed within the home’s HVAC system. UV light air purifiers have long been used in hospitals and laboratory settings to control mold in the air.
Ultraviolet Light Air Purifiers for Mold
When facing indoor air quality issues and mold damage, Central Indiana homeowners often ask us whether UV light kills mold and how these air purifiers work.
- UV air purifiers are installed within the home’s air conditioner chamber to cast UV energy upon circulating air.
- As air circulates through the air conditioner, mold spores as well as bacteria, mildew, and other fungi come into contact with the UV energy, which effectively kills these microorganisms so they cannot reproduce or infect anyone.
Star Heating & Cooling installs single- and double-bulb UV air purifiers in air conditioners to control mold and other pathogens. If mold growth is typically a problem on your air conditioner coil, a double-bulb UV air purifier is a great choice to help keep this issue under control.
UV air purifiers require little energy to operate and minimal maintenance. The bulbs must be replaced once per year.
Control Mold in Your Central Indiana Home with a UV Light Air Purifier
Keep mold under control and stop its spread for better health and indoor air quality with the installation of a UV light air purifier. Call Star Heating & Cooling today to learn more.