Ahh, fall! The temperatures each day are getting cooler. The mornings are feeling crisp. The season of school buses is upon us, and kids are bringing home school pictures, book order forms … and germs. We will soon be spending more and more time indoors, and the likelihood of catching a bug from all that recirculated air will be very high. What can you do about it?
In your home, you can make sure that the air you and your family are breathing is of the highest possible quality. With cold and flu season approaching, it’s the perfect time to get a UV air purifier. How do they work? Are they safe? Here are the answers you need.
The Power of Light
Chemicals can do a great job of killing germs, but then you’re left with, well, chemicals. And it’s all fine and good to use disinfectant on surfaces like your kitchen counters, but you can’t exactly scrub the air with bleach, can you? Luckily, you don’t need chemicals to sanitize the germs right out of your air. All you need is the power of light.
Ultraviolet or UV light has an incredible ability that can be wielded against tiny microbes and pathogens. These things have no sturdy skin or outer layer, just a delicate membrane. The light itself, at the right frequency, can permeate that membrane. It can discombobulate the proteins that hold the very DNA of these germs together.
Once the DNA is unraveled, these microscopic nasties are unable to reproduce, unable to cause infection or illness—they’re utterly destroyed. And without them, your air will be clean, fresh, and healthy, and you’ll be far less likely to get sick during cold and flu season.
Whole Home vs. Portable
UV air purifiers are available in portable versions. These are great if you only need to clean the air in a small, contained space like a dorm room. But what about for a whole house? Do you need to purchase several of these portable units and clutter up your home with them? No! You just need one whole-house UV air purifier, which is installed in your ductwork and will purify all the air that passes through your HVAC system.
The Safety of UV Light
If this technology is so good at killing germs, you might ask, will it cause me any harm? No, the UV light is absolutely unable to damage larger organisms the way it does single-celled ones. It leaves no residue, and the light is only emitted inside your ductwork. Even if you were directly exposed to it, it would pose no more risk to you than strong sunlight.
The Benefits of Purified Air
When people start breathing UV-purified air at home, they report fewer headaches, allergy and asthma concerns, and fewer days spent home sick or caring for sick family members. They sleep better and have increased energy as a result. They even say they spend more time in a good mood!
Purified air which doesn’t have germs floating around in it will also not carry odor-causing bacteria up your nose. Last night’s fish dinner, the litter box your teenager keeps saying they’ll clean, the dirty laundry, the trash: none of these things will stink up your home anywhere near as much as they used to.
If you’d like to cut your risk of illness, feel healthier overall, and have fresh-smelling air to breathe, we’d love to talk with you about UV air purification in Blythewood, SC.
Contact Fulmer Heating & Cooling today for an indoor air quality expert in Columbia, SC!