COVID-19 Prevention: UV-C Lights in HVACs

It's time to start heading back to school, work and to the public spaces. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic still a serious risk, it's important to visit a tried and true technology that works to interrupt transmission within occupied spaces: HVAC-UV lights.

Not only can HVAC-UVC lights help mitigate transmission of ALL infectious viruses but they can reduce energy consumption costs and reduce environmental impact.

How can HVAC-UVC lights help interrupt the transmission of infectious viruses?

Two ways:

1) Increased air circulation within occupied spaces

HVAC systems start losing efficiency upon installation due to the build-up of bacteria, spores and organic matter on the coil. The coil then requires more energy to keep the same output of airflow - more energy and time required to keep the temperature in a facility. HVAC UVC lights inactivate all bacterial build-up on the coil, allowing the HVAC to maintain it's output efficiency from day 1. Airflow is the most critical aspect in preventing transmission of infectious viruses within occupied spaces due to stale air formation where COVID-19 aerosolized particles can linger for days, causing a dangerous environment for occupants.

2) Sanitize pass-by air

Beyond keeping air circulation at optimum levels, UV lights' germicidal property sanitizes all the air that passes through the HVAC. With increased air-circulation, you increase the number of times that air passes through the HVAC's UVC lights.

Added bonus: reduce energy consumption costs!

Inefficient HVACs due to coil-build up end up costing tenants and landlords more money. More energy is consumed in order to keep the HVAC running at the same levels.

By installing UVC lights in HVAC systems, energy consumption costs decrease dramatically. Many facilities see a return on investment within as little as 5 months.

History of UVC Lights:

We have to look to the past to see how Ultraviolet Germicidal Irradiation (UVGI) was used to combat Tuberculosis, an airborne infectious virus. Leveraging Ultraviolet Light's germicidal property to inactivate infectious viruses within a facility played an important role in mitigating transmission.

Interrupting transmission within an occupied space was the main goal; however, Germicidal UV is harmful to the human skin and eye which relegates their use to Upper Room GUV (fixtures that direct UV above our heads) and UVC within Heating, Ventilation and Air-condition systems.

HVAC UV-C is a technology that is commercially available today that can dramatically help reduce the transmission of infectious viruses while reducing energy consumption costs - it's truly a win-win situation.