Should You Buy a UV Air Purifier?

By Justin Mann

If 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 main component of a UV light air purifier is the light bulb. This is usually a fairly high wattage bulb that transmits UV light at a very specific frequency. One of the effects of this is that the light is extremely harmful to living things and living materials. What this means is that the UV light air purifier can keep you from getting sick by killing the airborne pathogens that are causing your problem. The light bulb on the UV air purifier does need to be replaced on occasion, typically about once a year. They are not too expensive however and a new bulb is extremely effective at keeping the air clean and hazard free.

In addition to directly eliminating harmful particles from the air, UV light air purifiers work by starting destructive chemical reactions in the indoor air pollutants. The light will convert molecules of oxygen and water in the air into ozone and hydroxyl along with hydrogen peroxide. These airborne molecules then react with the pollutants, destroying and decomposing them into their harmless components, usually water and carbon dioxide.

You should be aware that a wide band bulb can create too much toxic ozone and will cause problems beyond the ones that it was trying to fix. A quality UV air purifier will have a limited UV spectrum and minimize the amount of ozone that is produced. These high quality units will use UV light at an effective wavelength to generate hydroxyl particles.

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. - 32378

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