Ultraviolet light recommendation from HVAC tune up?
 

Had annual tune up of house a/c system last week. When you pull the cover off of the handler in the garage, the technician pointed out areas of specs of mold around the coils and various areas of the unit. The recommendation is for the installation of a multi placement ultraviolet light system to prevent and eliminate any mold development. Has any one experienced this? According to the technician, the mold is something noted on virtually all Villages units. Curious on others experience and curious if anyone has installed one of the ultraviolet lights.

A total waste of money.

Curious, does yours have the same specs and mold areas and how do you handle? Thanks.

Aren’t there tablets they can put in drain pan for that?

I don't have one and wouldn't buy one. I don't think they work.

I've never run across a recommendation not from an installer.

But in theory UV can be helpful if you have "significant" mold growing close enough to the input side of the evaporator coil. UV lamp selection and optimal placement are important.

Try asking the installer to take a before photo and another photo next service and guarantee a refund of there is no improvement ;-)

The lamp can be a high cost maintenance item.

And they can degrade any plastic or wire insulation in the path of the light.

Here's a relatively informative overview, also read the comments.

https://youtu.be/5K9pu-tkNYM

LOL. Good luck with that refund.

Truth, in Florida, you will get some light mold in your HVAC system. Truth just spray some bleach on the affected areas and it will be ok till next year, Scammrs.

The problem didn't exist with copper coils because copper is a natural anti-microbial.

So wondering if spraying with a copper sulfate solution could be worth trying? That's what's in some of the "blue" drain pan tablets.

A uv light is supposed to kill bacteria and germs. I installed an inexpensive uv light from Amazon several years ago when we had a peculiar odor coming from the ac that no one could identify. The light eliminated that and we have been remarkably free of COVID, colds and flu. The unit has a magnetic mount and is powered through the drop down transformer inside the ac or optionally the 110/220 line. The light is good for a year and then changed with Amazon replacement. I would recommend the Amazon unit in a heartbeat.

I had one installed because they destroy airborne bacteria and mold. A/c coils stay very clean. I know UV light systems are in Government buildings and Hospitals. Air in the house smells like it does after it rains. (clean). check for other installers.

Positiveinlife - Curious who you had do the install. It was one of the local BIG firms that looked at ours and quoted over $2K.

Isn’t spraying bleach on aluminum coils a bad idea?

BIGGEST WASTE OF MONEY YOU WILL SPEND... it's Snake oil for an AC Evaporator .. Change your Hvac filter every 60 days with a Merv5 ... Trust me , I have the credentials to back up my statement.

It's all in your head! It does nothing, it's a 20 purple light bulb. Another SCAM

I’d like to know what company is trying to scam you so I don’t use them.

These 100% work! Although it depends on mold type as well as where installed. I did HVAC for many years and these became very popular during COVID. I have two installed in my heat pump system at home in MA. Please note, Although the UV lamp will bill certain types of bacteria and mold, it can only kill via line of site. Meaning anywhere the UV light does shine on, ie. where there’s a shadow when light is on, or other side of evaporator coil. My daughter gets symptoms for allergies every year, since I installed the UV lamp, they are Minimal at best.
If there is slight mold, another option is spraying coil cleaner (not bleach) onto the coils then rinse with water. This is a much less expensive option but does not kill any bacteria floating thru the air as it passes thru coil.

Even if the light kills some mold on the coils, the salespeople for these lights claim that it purifies the air as it flows through the air handler, and provides better air for the entire house. In my opinion, this claim is totally bogus. The system is definitely not worth spending thousands of dollars for, especially if you expect one light bulb to treat the air in your entire house.

What color was the "mold"? A common problem in Florida is Zooglea, a bacteria that builds a white sticky mess that can clog the water drain. Getting the line flushed is a messy job, probably required a wet-vac with a way to connect it to you exterior drain.

UV is supposed to help. Aluminum lines in the coil instead of copper is supposedly a contributing factor.

We just had our maintenance done also, this is the third year they have been trying to sell us this system, we are also on the fence about it.

Probably, but if you only spray it to kill the mold and immediately rinse it off, it may not damage the coils. I would prefer to use the spray chemical that is specifically designed to clean the coil. But spending thousands of dollars for a UV light bulb seems unnecessary to me.

We have one installed, during covid, the first year after we bought the house.
Don't remember the cost,

we aren't penny pinchers about healthy foods,
know that hospitals use UV light to sterilize equipment, including covid masks,
being older we are more susceptible to getting sick,
if there was an extended air conditioner outage, it would take a little longer for the mold to start growing in the house.
we are more proactive with breathing recirculated air all day.
Safety or decreased risk, in whatever form, takes time and/or money, can't get around it


It's your money, its your comfort level, do some reading about the effectiveness, and then make a decision you feel comfortable about. No one cares about how you spend your money, only you do.

My HVAC maintenance company installed one in the duct above the HVAC unit. He showed my a photo he said showed the duct covered with black mold. I couldn’t read the photo. It cost me $3,500. Whether or not it works, I don’t know.

In a previous home, I had a well that had some e-coli contamination, and that was fixed with a UV light. That was a light tube close to 3 feet long that ran inside a stainless steel tube. There was perhaps a quarter inch between the light tube and the stainless steel tube. All the water ran through that space and was immediately sterilized. Then it went through a filter. The light tube had to be replaced yearly, and a buzzer went off when the year was past. The UV light I had installed here covers a much bigger area of air. It may not kill every mold spore going through the duct, but only the ones that are close enough. But it runs whenever the system runs, and the air recirculates, so it should gradually cut down the number of spores over a couple weeks and keep catching any that come through. But was I crazy? A sucker? Probably.

Sunshine just serviced my HVAC unit and recommended.

Uv?
 

UV is good, and will kill germs - but a better option is an ionizer; both will kill germs (and CoVid) - but an ionizer will kill covid on surfaces, while UV will only kill what’s in the airflow.
Did this for a critical facility I ran during the pandemic - no employee covid due to building conditions.

NO BLEACH in the AC unless you want a new unit in 6 months. Highly corrosive to aluminum coils.

So, if the technician says that there is mold in virtually all Villages HVAC units, should every homeowner spend thousands of dollars to install a UV light?

Welcome to TOTV, you must be new here.

;)

Go for it. Weve had one gor seversl years. Or a replacement (the are good for 2 years). Before the UV light, our air filter was all black. We were breathing that stuff. After the lights were installed, the filter was only a little black. What a difference it made. Replacement bulbs are $100 when bought on line.

Have it installed because they are worth it. They can last one to three years. There is a "window" that shows you when it is lite and functional. They are easy to replace yourself. Go online and you can buy them for $20 to $30 dollars.

Contact DeRosa AC, they did mine, 3 times less than your quote. 352-396-5567

Installer was Indoor Air Quality Products
 

local guy under $1000 system and installation.

Not a scam! Know your science Uv destroys bacteria by contact.

When the unit isnt running, turn off the thermostat, open up the panel covering the coils in your garage and spray the coils and any other area where the coils are with a light bleach and water solution. Let dry for 30-45 minutes, put panel back on, turn thermostat back on and you should be good for another year. (There should be no open/uninsulated wires in the coil area)

I don't have a light and I also didn't get any colds, flu, or COVID. So there is that

In another thread, some posters have advised against flushing the drain line with vinegar or bleach added to the water because the fumes might cause corrosion of the aluminum coils. Now you are suggesting spraying bleach directly onto the coils???

Amazon sells a spray foam specifically designed to clean and remove mold and bacteria from evaporator coils. This will avoid using bleach and will save you a lot of money by not buying a UV light system.

If you buy one of these UV systems expecting it to improve the air quality in your house, I would recommend that you test your air quality before and after you place the system into operation to see if it made a difference. The companies that make these systems claim that it will.

Spend your money on a Reme Halo!
They should be about grand. You will not regret it, clean sanitized air in your home 24-7. I am not a HVAC guy just a guy with allergies. Beat investment I have ever made

An annual or biannual inspection and maintenance visit will achieve the same and more.

While the spray will clean and remove mold and bacteria that has built up over the course of a year, the UV light is intended to prevent it entirely. It seems prices vary greatly (so some must be excessive) but for those who are more sensitive to mold or are germ-averse the UV light is a valid option.

I put one in our other home in Bradenton 3 years ago for the same reason.....it made a great difference. I will most likely add one on our new home in TV. I just replaced the UV light after 3 years.....bigger investment up front......but it made a big difference inside the unit.