An HVAC tech cautioned the use of UV lights in my system because my aircon candenstion pan is plastic and my humidifier has plastic parts, both of which he said will deteriorate because of the UV lights. Any truth to this? Any solutions?
Thanks.
Install it in the return.....it is only when the UV comes in direct contact with non-UV resistant plastic
Interesting post!
I wonder if you can put like a UV protecting coating, say Polyurethane on it before installation. Never ever thought of this before. However, we put the lights in the return air or downstream, never enough room to put them over the coil.
rich
The HVAC tech is pretty sure both parts aren't UV resistent plastic. Coil pan is part of a Trane AC and the humidifier is a flow-through Generalaire. There is enough room in both places and he's suggesting that both lights are needed for complete germ/mold prevention coverage. His suggestion, other than replacing the pan and the humidifier, is to either 1)cover all non-UV plastic with aluminum tape and it will prevent the plastic from breaking down or 2) skip the UV and upgrade to a Trane Clean Effects filter. Apparently the Clean Effects filter is the best and does an even better job than a HEPA filter.
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Steve Scott wrote:
I have a 2 year old house with very tight construction and lots of extra insulation. My system consists of a HE forced air furnace w/ 5" filter, HE central aircon, flow-through humidifier and an HRV. I run my fan and HRV continuosly. My thought was to add a UV lamp to the system to improve the health of he air and reduce the chance of any mold on my coils. The UV is proving to be problematic so the improved filter (Clean Effects) was recommended. According to the tech and Trane's literature it will capture the same germs and mold that a UV irradiates and neutralizes. The cost difference isn't much since I already have a 5" filter housing installed. Completely understand that they are two different methods, just thought they may end with the same result (minus the mold prevention on the coil).
Thanks.
Scott wrote:
The UV light is used to kill mold and bacteria that grow on the AC coil and pan. That area of the system is downstream of the filter so the filter will do nothing to alleviate any problem that might be occurring in that area. The filter and UV compliment each other.
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