If you have an ultraviolet light with an intensity of 16,000 micro watts per centimeter squared, at 365 nm, how long will it take to kill mold and mildew in the bathroom or shower? Could you hold it on the area for 30 seconds, and the mold and mildew would be dead? I didn’t realize that UV rays could kill germs and other bacteria till recently. I would like to know more about it.
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Mold Growth in the Hvac System Can be Eradicated by Uv Light
Does UV light actually kill mold in A/C and prevent it? Is it better just to clean it out?
Has anyone used a UV light for killing dust mites, viruses, and bacteria to help alleviate allergies?
One ultraviolet [UV] lamp of at least 10,000 uwats per second of exposure can kill almost all biological contaminants in the air EXCEPT for mold, which can take as high as 330,000 uwats per second of exposure, especially for the dangerous and commonly-found indoor mold Aspergillus Niger. To effectively kill mold with UV inside a heating/air conditioning system, you would need to have your heating/cooling contractor construct in the return air duct a kill box containing mirror-like surfaces to get a multiplication of killing power through the bouncing effect of the rays off the mirrors. The kill box would need at least a dozen or more UV lights with a power of at least 20,000 uwats each. That many lights, plus the bounce factor off the mirrors, would be strong enough in killing. In addition, you would need to have an access panel into the kill box to frequently dust off the bulbs which will become dust-laden and thus lose their effectiveness unless you have a really effectively and frequently replaced hepa filter system to clean incoming air into the return air duct. Just as effective as a UV killing box [and much easier and less expensive to install and maintain] would be to install a mass media [e.g., 4 to 6 inches thick] hepa filter in the return air duct. Get a mass media filter that can be washed, rather than replaced. Use an inexpensive, disposable pre-filter to do initial dirt and mold removal prior to the air entering the expensive mass media hepa filter. In addition to the mass media filter, you could also install an electronic air cleaner into your return air duct. If you install an electronic air cleaner and/or mass media filter, you may need to upgrade the size of your ventilating fan and motor to overcome the greater resistance to airflow caused by the air cleaner and/or mass media filter. Alternatively, learn the 25 steps for safe and effective