Any Of You Have A Whole House UV Air Scrubber In Your HVAC System?

Midpack

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Another angle of on a earlier thread.

I’m seriously considering having an air scrubber installed in our HVAC supply plenum. Just wondered if others have them? What are the ongoing maintenance costs after installation? And how effective are they?

It appears I’ll have to replace the bulb/cell every 12-24 months - I’ve seen prices from $50 to $600! And I gather they dramatically reduce bacteria, particulate but they don’t eliminate all - one study showed @85% reduction.
 
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I don’t have that on my current NC house or FL condo. I did have something similar on at least one previous home, but in hindsight, saw no real benefits that were noticeable. Maybe, I wasn’t in that house long enough (8 years) to see the benefits. The main benefit I was expecting was to eliminate biological attack/corrosion on the evaporator coils. That’s what took out the previous coil, but we downsized homes before that could be verified.
 
No direct knowledge, but I've read that the air isn't in contact with the UV long enough for it to have any appreciable effect.
 
No direct knowledge, but I've read that the air isn't in contact with the UV long enough for it to have any appreciable effect.
May well be, but I wonder if that's only the case for a naked UV light? The systems (Aerus, Reme Halo) that I am looking at "produce natural hydrogen peroxide plasma molecules that travel through the ductwork into the indoor space. These molecules act proactively by attaching to bacteria, viruses, and other airborne or surface pollutants." Since the air in your house goes is mostly recirculated, eventually bad stuff is greatly reduced (85%). Studies I've read says it takes 24 hours to begin to make a big difference. But that's what I am trying to understand.
 
When installed in correct location the UV light will shine on plenum 24/7 and kill any growth over time. It depends on type on inside unit you have ( air handler or gas heater ) and where you can put it.
I have a vertical elect unit so UV is in the return air. It sshines on the evaporator coil only, but that is where most growth starts. I can tell you that it keeps mine spotless. But YES you do have to replace bulbs. Most now are every 2 years. They are fairly basic to install if you are handy. Only issue if you install in return air is you may want to put a shield in front of it so you can't see the light directly..
 
^^ I have space in our supply plenum, from what I hear that's preferable?
 
My parents had one installed in their furnace and my sister recently had one installed.

DH and I have four room air purifiers that also use UV light. They are on 24/7 and have been for 5 years. Only replaced the UV bulb once, vacuum filters every week or so and replace every 3-6 months. Each purifier is supposed to work in 1500 ft, recirculate air 4 times per hour. But our stretched out ranch home has so many rooms/walls, that I bought (probably over bought) enough purifiers to have one in each major area.
House has much less dust and DH and I have very rarely had any colds/sinus/allergy problems.
 
May well be, but I wonder if that's only the case for a naked UV light? The systems (Aerus, Reme Halo) that I am looking at "produce natural hydrogen peroxide plasma molecules that travel through the ductwork into the indoor space. These molecules act proactively by attaching to bacteria, viruses, and other airborne or surface pollutants." Since the air in your house goes is mostly recirculated, eventually bad stuff is greatly reduced (85%). Studies I've read says it takes 24 hours to begin to make a big difference. But that's what I am trying to understand.
Some also produce ozone instead . This is different from the UV light inself. UV only helps with surface contanminents
 
^^ I have space in our supply plenum, from what I hear that's preferable?
Yes, that is best place if that is where you have the growth. In my case, I have it in return air shining on evaporator coil. And in New Orleans, believe me it gets a lot of use and coil has no growth. I don't have any way to put it in my plenum. Also some are made with seperate UV and ozone bulbs so they can be placed in seperate places ( Products: Remote Mount (RM) Germicidal UVC Systems ). Hope this helps. As a bonus, it has helped my allergies and keeps some dust in the house down as well
 
For years we've been experimenting with different types of filtering enhancements for our HVAC system. During my research I've come to the conclusion that your HVAC system should heat and cool the air in your home NOT clean it.

I purchased a whole house HEPA air purifier a few weeks ago and the difference has been noticeable. We didn't get one with a UV filter, but many do have them. The unit we have is super quiet (20-25db) and has a digital display with real-time air quality in PPM. We have a wood burning stove in our home and I can see the PM 2.5 meter go up a bit each time I open the stove door to load it with wood before slowly going back down over the next several minutes. Same with cooking.
 
For years we've been experimenting with different types of filtering enhancements for our HVAC system. During my research I've come to the conclusion that your HVAC system should heat and cool the air in your home NOT clean it.

I purchased a whole house HEPA air purifier a few weeks ago and the difference has been noticeable. We didn't get one with a UV filter, but many do have them. The unit we have is super quiet (20-25db) and has a digital display with real-time air quality in PPM. We have a wood burning stove in our home and I can see the PM 2.5 meter go up a bit each time I open the stove door to load it with wood before slowly going back down over the next several minutes. Same with cooking.
that is the concensus of many HVAC techs on a DIY site I frequent. "the filter is there to keep the equipment clean" more or less.
We use a standalone filter in the bedroom.
 
We have not installed any extra equipment on our HVAC. Our HVAC company does offer a UV add on. We have an Air Purifier on each level of our home and we can tell the difference.
 
When we moved into our current home, it had an Aprilaire filter on the HVAC. I noticed a little dust collection in the house and replace the existing filter element with the next higher filtration one. That took care of the issue with dust. The PM 2.5 measurements have been in the news a lot recently. I should probably look into a room air filtration system, but haven't done so yet.
 
We have had one in the cold air return of our HVAC since the 90s. Incredibly effective in killing lots of bacteria and most virus in the air. Very affordable and easy maintenance. Bought the last 2 off Amazon + spare bulbs. Highly recommended and easy to install !
 
I have allergies to everything and sinus problems. When it gets warm and I start running the AC, after a week or so, the air seems more stale and my sinuses get a lot worse.

Many years ago, I was reading about all sorts of sinus treatments and one thing that came up was the theory that a UV-C light would sterilize mold spores and whatnot passing by it. Putting one under your bed or in air ducts was mentioned. I used one in a cold air return and I'd swear it eliminated the "AC air" that would make my sinuses close up.

I wonder if the light couldn't be triggered off some kind of air-speed or pressure sensor or wired into the furnace so that it would only run when the blower fan was running. That would greatly reduce the hours it runs per day, likely extending its life. I only used the UV light during the summer when the AC condenser was running.
 
I had one installed with the new AC unit sever years ago. I also use a high efficiency filter which I change every 6 months. The first bulb lasted at least twice as long as advertised. I called the company and they said that it was good as long as it was shining. I changed it out anyway. One note is that the original light had a metallic box around the light. A light with the metallic box cost much more than the light itself. I just drilled out the rivets and replaced the light in the box then reinstalled. You need to be careful replacing the light as you don't want to touch the light with your hand as the oils and dirt your hand will significantly reduce the life of the bulb. Since we have had the light we don't get colds or have respiratory issues. That is saying a lot here since we have "ceder" juniper trees everywhere here in the Texas hill country. I wouldn't live without it here.
 
You could wire it in parallel with the fan motor so it would come on whenever er the fan runs. Our fan runs all the time and the bulb lasts 12-18 months. They are not that costly for the job intended.
 
Another angle of on a earlier thread.

I’m seriously considering having an air scrubber installed in our HVAC supply plenum. Just wondered if others have them? What are the ongoing maintenance costs after installation? And how effective are they?

It appears I’ll have to replace the bulb/cell every 12-24 months - I’ve seen prices from $50 to $600! And I gather they dramatically reduce bacteria, particulate but they don’t eliminate all - one study showed @85% reduction.
We had a Reme Halo installed about 2016. According to their website, the light causes particulates in the air to glom together to become heavy enough to fall out of the air and leave the air cleaner, i.e. less particulate. My mother was alive back then and had COPD and the Reme Halo seemed to help her breathe easier. Looks like they have an LED one now that goes on and off with the blower. Ours is an 'always on' so I have programmed the thermostat to run the fan for a few minutes every 30 minutes. The blower runs often in the summer with the AC but not so much now when it's 71 degrees outside. Sometimes, I'll just unplug the if I don't want the fan circulating hot or cold air regularly. I will definitely plug it in and run the blower for a bit if I've been cooking something fragrant. I hate smells in the house other than chocolate chip cookies cooking! The fan helps dissipate the odors but they're gone much quicker if I make sure the Reme Halo is plugged in. April 2025 will be 2 years on my current bulb. Getting rid of smells is the most important function for me. I don't know the technical term for it's location but it's located where the air is leaving the unit and going out to the ductwork in the house. I
Reme Halo.jpg
 
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