How Do You Buy The Best Uv Light To Kill Mold
- Is it worth buying an uv light to kill mold?
- What benefits are there with buying an uv light to kill mold?
- What factors deserve consideration when shopping for an effective uv light to kill mold?
- Why is it crucial to invest in any uv light to kill mold, much less the best one?
- Which uv light to kill mold are good in the current market?
- Where can you find information like this about uv light to kill mold?
buying guides for uv light to 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 conditioners 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.
However There Are Other Preventive Measures To Control The Spread Of Molds In Your Home:
- Keep the moisture level as low as you can They thrive in an environment with an elevated humidity level. Hence, a precautionary measure to ensure that your home or workplace is unsuitable for molds is by making sure the humidity level is below 50 percent.
Fortunately, its easier to keep track of the humidity level in an environment using air conditioners, air purifiers and/or dehumidifier. However, bear in mind that the air-water content varies during the day, due to changes in temperature, so be sure to monitor the humidity level.
- Keep the area well-ventilated Ensure that your home has enough ventilation. Make sure your circulating fan, air conditioner, and clothe dryer vent outside.
- Promptly fix a leaky roof, plumbing or walls, to avoid colonizing to those surfaces.
- In case your home gets flooded, clean out and dry your home within 24 to 48 hours.
- Use mold repellant paints for your paintwork.
- Always clean your bathroom and kitchen with molds-killing products.
- As much as you can, dont use carpets in rooms where there may be lots of moisture like the bathrooms and basement.
- Remove or replace furniture or rugs that have been wet and cant dry out immediately to prevent infesting them.
But, what if after taking these entire preventive measures you still notice molds growing in your home?
In the off case that after doing everything you can to prevent the growth of mold colonies in your home, you still see them here are steps you can take to eliminate them
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Portable Uv Disinfection Lamps
Another increasingly popular product is the portable disinfection lamp. These products are designed to be very small and portable and can be used to quickly disinfect pillows, faucets, door knobs, and other small objects. Some of these portable UV wands will turn off automatically if it is held upright in order to prevent damage to your eyes.
How Do You Prevent Mold Growth In Your Home
How does it work?
- Recognize the surfaces swarmed with the organism keep the UV light source two inches from the molds.
- Switch off each other light source, and close the windows and entryways.
- Leave for about one to two hours.
- Repeat the strategy on different surfaces until all the organisms had eliminated.
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Applications Of Uv Light
The many applications of UV light include:
- Disinfection for bacteria and viruses
- Drying and curing such materials as coatings and inks
- Tanning
- Water purification
- Mold elimination
Ultraviolet light can be used for numerous applications because its typically placed in a UV lamp. When used correctly, these lamps offer a targeted dose of ultraviolet light, which is why it can kill mold without requiring you to use any additional chemicals.
Does Uv Light Inactivate Covid
In the early stages of the pandemic, some credible organizations came out and said UVC light could kill COVID-19, but have since retracted their statements in fear of making the announcement too soon. While studies are still being done on the ability of UVC light to kill COVID-19 lab tests like these take time germicidal ultraviolet light has been proven to be effective at inactivating other Coronaviruses, including the virus commonly known as the Bird Flu.
The FDA says UVC light may also be effective in inactivating COVID-19, but at this time the organization has limited data on the wavelength, dose, and duration of the UVC light radiation required to inactive COVID-19.
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What Is Ultraviolet Light
Ultraviolet light is the part of the electromagnetic spectrum that is adjacent to and greater in energy than visible light. The ultraviolet spectrum extends from 180 to 400 nm and is divided into three general categories: shortwave, midrange, and longwave. Ultraviolet energy is just shorter in wavelength than visible light and can be divided into three groups:
What Are The Advantages Of Uv Light
The number one advantage of UV light is that it destroys the root cause of the infection.
It is not a temporary treatment to make the infection go away from only the surface.
If you are opting for only a sunlight treatment for your infection, then this is not only an effective treatment, its safe and natural too.
Vitamin D is extremely important to the skin, as well as other organs of the body.
Many people do not get this exposure to sunlight as they go about their daily lives, either because they wear full-sleeved clothes or they dont have to leave their house as often.
In such cases, UV light gives them the much-needed health benefits from sunlight that they were missing out on.
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What Is An Hvac Uv Light
An ultraviolet light emits powerful rays of energy that kill bacteria, fungi, and viruses. They are commonly used in both home and commercial spaces.
UV lights may look like futuristic lightsabers, but theyve been used for almost a century. In the 1930s, hospitals used these lights to treat conditions like tuberculosis.
There are three types of UV radiation: UVA, UVB, and UVC. When you put on sunscreen, youre blocking out UVA and UVB rays.
The third variety, UVC, is used in HVAC lights and lasers. UVC rays have the highest energy of the three, and they are the only rays powerful enough to kill microscopic germs.
Using Uv Light To Kill Bacteria And Mold
There are three types of ultraviolet wave lengths, and although powerful, they cannot be seen by the human eye. UV-A is more commonly known as black light, UV-B comes from the sun, and UV-C can kill mold, bacteria, and mildew and is used to protect equipment in medical settings. Because of its cleaning powers, a UV-C lamp can also be added to the indoor cooling coil of your HVAC system so that harmful do not become airborne and circulate throughout your home.
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How Do You Use Uv Light To Kill Mold
To use UV light to kill mold, you will need to purchase a UV light that is specifically designed for this purpose. These lights are usually handheld and relatively inexpensive.
Once you have your light, simply turn it on and aim it at the areas of concern. The UV light will penetrate the cell walls of the mold spores and kill them within seconds.
Keep in mind that UV light will not kill mold that is hidden from view, so be sure to thoroughly inspect your home for any potential problem areas.
In order for UV lights to be successful at killing airborne molds, however, you must install enough fixtures to cover every square foot of surface area in your space. Otherwise, mold spores will only be killed where the light hits them directly.
You should also keep in mind that UV light can be harmful to your skin and eyes, so be sure to wear protective clothing and goggles when using this method to kill mold.
How Companies Get Uv
Two kinds of companies typically install UV lights: heating/cooling companies and air duct companies.
These companies often dont know much about mold remediation. All they know is that a) UV light can kill mold, and b) UV-light installation is a highly profitable upsell.
Due to these companies lack of mold knowledge, most of them unwittingly install the UV light in the wrong part of the HVAC system. Air duct companies typically install UV light in the air ducts HVAC companies often install it above the evaporator coil.
Both of these methods are incorrect and render that shiny new $800 UV light useless.
If UV light is installed in your air ducts, it doesnt have the necessary dwell time to kill mold. Everything zips by too quickly for UV light to work its magic.
If UV light is installed above your HVAC systems evaporator coil, its not hitting the spot where all the gunk builds upthe bottom of the evaporator coil.
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How Do They Work
To track and prevent mold growth, UV germicidal lights emit a short wavelength light or radiation that kills the microorganisms by damaging their genetic structure. It not only works for bacteria and viruses but is also effective in killing the multiplying or reproducing cells of molds, thereby keeping a check on their growth.
As per studies conducted, UV germicidal lights are so effective that they can significantly reduce the percentage of mold and bacterial growth by up to 99%.
Also, getting the coils and ducts cleaned periodically can help in preventing humid and moist conditions that are perfect for the mold to multiply. At Aire One Peel, our HVAC technicians can install UV lights for AC system coils and drain pans.
How Does Ultraviolet Light Destroy Mold
Ultraviolet irradiation works as a disinfectant and uses electromagnetic waves to penetrate through microscopic organisms.
The wavelengths are of various sizes between 100 and 280nm and known as the Germicidal UV-C that kills microorganisms. For mold destroying UV light sanitizers, the most widely used wavelength is 253.7 nanometers when used as an surface/air disinfectant.
The ultraviolet light irradiates the immediate environment in which it is placed such as in an indoor HVAC system. And when the germicidal rays come across molds, they penetrate into the nuclei of the molds, damaging the nucleic acids until the organism becomes disabled.
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How Long Does It Take For Uv Light To Kill Mold
Ultraviolet filters use electromagnetic waves to penetrate through microscopic organisms such as airborne germs and mold spores. These germicidal UV-C wavelengths can have different sizes and vary in their capacity to irradiate the immediate environment in which theyre placed.
When molds pass through these germicidal waves, the waves penetrate into their nuclei and damage the nucleic acids within. This disables the molds and even damages their DNA, leading to cell death and preventing the mold from multiplying.
How long this process will take depends on multiple factors, including:
Some Practical Applications Of Uv Light
While disinfection is the number one reason for the usage of UV light, there are several other areas where UV light can be extremely beneficial.
- Hygiene: since UV light makes short work of microorganisms, itâs safe to say that they help in bodily hygiene by permeating skin layers.
- Purifying water: UV light can work its way through and kill all the small lifeforms that may be contaminating the water.
- Curing coatings: UV light is also great for drying coatings and substances such as adhesives and resin.
- Tanning: it is used for expediting melanin production and thus helps in tanning of skin.
- Fluorescent inspection: UV light can be helpful in aiding in fluorescent inspection by spotting abrasions and such on any surface.
- Mold: Lastly, UV light is great for decontaminating any surface that has mold growing on it by effectively killing the microorganisms there.
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Does Uv Light Kill Mold
Ultraviolet light is the short-wavelength of the violet end of the spectrum. This is not visible to your naked eye. UV light has been used in the industry of disinfection of bacteria, fungus, and mold among other microorganisms. So, does UV light kill mold?
UV light kills mold by producing radiation that destroys fungal cells. As such, UV light is used to get rid of mold in AC units, ducts, and crawl spaces. To kill mold spores using UV lamps, simply flood the area you want to disinfect with ultraviolet light only.
UV light and even UV from sunlight kill mold that is not so deep-rooted into the materials that it is growing on when exposed to UV light, it will effectively be killed. Also, enough exposure of mold to UV light kills mold and mold spores in the air.
In Vitro Dermatophyte Resistance To Ultraviolet C Irradiation
The possibility of the development of dermatophyte resistance to UVC irradiation was investigated by carrying out subtotal UVC inactivation of T. rubrum suspension followed by regrowth and repeated inactivation. Surviving c.f.u. were measured after each cycle and cell killing curves constructed. Five cycles of subtotal UVC inactivation were carried out and the experiments were performed in triplicate for each cycle.
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How To Kill Mold With Uv Light
Surface cleaning is one way to get rid of mold but there are times when you would need ultraviolet lamps because of their strength. However, make sure you get a UV-C lamp. This specific type of UV lamp gives off the light on the C-bandwidth which does a great job in destroying mold colonies. The lamp can be easily found in hardware and electronic stores so you wont have a tough time searching for it. The step by step guide below tells how you can bid farewell to mold spores using a UVC lamp.
Repeat the steps if the infestation is large and on different parts of the surface.
There are a couple of mistakes that people tend to make when they do not have good enough know-how about UVC lamp. The mistakes are as follows and you should avoid them too because you cannot afford any negligence on the matter.
- Leaving the regular lights turned on while using UV light to kill mold is one of the biggest blunders one can make. This affects the functioning of the UV lamp when killing mold and eventually defeats the whole purpose.
- Another major mistake is sitting inside the room while the UV lamp is there killing the mold spores for you. The exposure can be dangerous for your health, therefore, better be safe than sorry.
Sunlight Is Already A Natural Disinfectant
Mold loves darkness, and it simply can’t grow in direct sunlight. Have you noticed that you only see fungus growing in shaded areas?
And even though fungus dies in sunlight, it is actually the invisible portion of the light spectrum that destroys the mold. This is known as ultraviolet light which has a shorter wavelength than the light humans can actually see. In fact, mold destroying UV light from the sun will also destroy bacteria, viruses, and other types of fungi.
I remember watching a television show called Man Vs. Wild where the host disinfects stagnant water by placing a clear water bottle in direct sunlight. Over a matter of hours, the water became sterilized and safe to drink. Sunlight is a great natural disinfectant that has been used for hundreds of years.
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Ultraviolet Light Kills Without The Use Of Harmful Chemicals
According to the EPA Guidelines on Mold Remediation, the use of a biocide, such as chlorine bleach, is not recommended as a routine practice during mold remediation. Chemicals, not only have harmful effects to the people using them, but also often have to be left so long on surfaces during remediation they could actually damage certain materials. UV light can kill mold without these negative effects.
UV light produces electromagnetic energy that attacks and destroys the DNA and RNA of microorganisms preventing their ability to reproduce and causing cell death. UV light can kill microorganisms given the right distance and duration to deliver the proper dosage.
