I had the vendor toss in a UV light when we bought our new package unit a few years ago. I was skeptical, especially when I saw that I had to mount another 24v transformer to power it, but i put it in anyway, right next to the evaporator. Now, when I clean the unit, it's easy to see that there's nothing growing on the evaporator coils where the light is, however, there's crap on the other side. Next year, I'm likely going to add a second light on the other side of the coil. They work to keep nasty stuff off of your evaporator, there's no doubt about that.
Our home builder said it would cost me like 5k to add one or be really expensive an they wouldn't do it :( Where is the evaporator located? I want to see about getting one added to our home. Or, I guess 2;)
Yah they do - whenever I open up an ice maker with UV lights they are the cleanest ice makers that have no mold of bacteria growths compared to the ice makers without UV lights
A u v light is for mold, bacteria , viruses. If your trying to clean the dirt and dust and so forth you need a good filter. But a u v light inside the unit on the coil is one of the best things you can do for your a/c unit and yourself
you are very correct (I have been in this field since 2010) a UVC light will keep the mold and fungus from going when placed in the FCU or AUH and not really clean the air from microbials , HOWEVER to clean the are you need to have "dwell time" to achieve cleaning the air and this is a calculation of the strength of the UVC lamp with the added section or plenum box to give a dwell time. if done correctly you will achieve cleaning the air but this would have to been a section added to you duct.
I agree with everything that you and your old boss said. I had three quotes from contractors and one of them didn’t quote out a UV light at all till I threw a fit and told him that I wouldn’t even consider his quote till he added the UV in.
There is no such thing as naturally occurring perfectly clean water or air. It may be helpful to say a UV light kills biologic pathogens in the air stream and keeps the evaporator clean if it is lit by the UV light. Cleaning the air is the job of your furnace air filter. Not all pathogens are caught by the air filter and the air filter can not keep them from growing on the evaporator coil and decreasing it's ability to absorb heat. So placement of the UV light is critical to peak efficiency. Great video.
@@jonjoha7442my humidifier feeds into the supply and my light would have to be right below it, I don’t think I can have the light right below the humidifier. It is an upflow furnace. Do I have to put it in the return?
This is good I tell my customers this and they are caught by surprise because the last guy who installed it told them it “purifies the air” when that isn’t the case at all it’s just a contact killer that keeps the air handler clean plain and simple. I try to sell polarized air filters if I can due to them being more effective and actually trapping very small microns on dirt and chemicals
Ok how about discussions on UV light locations? There seems to be a lot of discussions regarding mounting locations, being upstream or downstream of the evaporator coil. From your experience, what’s best upstream, downstream, or two lights covering both locations?
Those dad-gum coils are either straight and slanted, V=shaped or W-shaped. So common sense tells me that you'd need two UV lights for a slanted one, and two or three of them for a V-shaped and W-shaped so that the light hits all sides of the coil. I know that's not being done, which means that microbes and mold are able to grow where the UV light doesn't shine. What's the point if you can't hit the whole coil?
I purchased a unit but not sure where to put it. Since the evap coils are mounted on top of the furnace, Will the lamps overheat in the winter when the burners are on? Also, my service guy said that I have fiberboard connecting the furnace to the main duct so the UV will deteriorate that board. Is he right?
I have a 1year unit with a uv light, I am having a condensation problem in the garage air handler, on site of the unit, if I turn light off it stops, what can be the problem? is installed on the one side vertical, on top left t side of the coil. is it the installed locations or the type of light?
Thanks for your very informative video. We are really good DIY'ers. Can we install any of those 3 items ourselves? Do you have other videos? We don't understand where we would install the 4 inch filter... Can you give us a little more info on that? Thank you so much. Also would like info on where exactly to locate the UV light and the ionizer. Hoping to do it inexpensively, because we are moving to a new house in a few months, and will be selling the current house. Thanks for taking the time to make a great video.
Great video and you are on to something. I work for one of the leaders in the industry (Sanuvox technologies) and it all depends on the unit placement. I would gladly give you more information if you wish. keep up the good work
Bro, love your video. Made me start the research best light for my system. But I have q uestion, is it true that uv light is bad for plastic and can damage the drain pan?
I just took the cover off my 17 year old Carrier Infinity furnace to look at the coils, they were clean as a hell and not even any dust. There was a lot of rust around the other parts but I don’t think I will be getting one of these. I was interested in a UV Photomax which is not for the coils. Your thoughts?
It definitely sanitizes the air briefly as it passes over it, but as soon as that air gets into contact with the surfaces, you’re right back to square one basically. I personally think it’s shameful. That media filters are not more widely utilized in every single home especially knowing now what we know about indoor air quality. I’m a Sucker for an Aprilaire merv13 &recommend them for every single Install at MINIMUM whether there are air quality, concerns or not. It keeps the equipment really clean, for Most houses, it’s an annual filter And IMHO for +\-$50/filter, you really can’t beat it & it’s got incredibly low pressure drop. It breaks my heart when I see somebody replace their equipment and nobody even has a conversation with them about air quality. so many houses have allergy suffers today.
The recommended change interval will be in the owners manual. I suggest writing on the unit the filter and UV light anniversary change dates. Maybe set up an auto-ship filter to your door to make sure it gets done. Maintenance is key. (Aircraft Mech talking here)
We put in a new system a few years, had a grounded something or another in the old one, and they installed a reme halo. Now, we did a check up and they are saying the reme halo doesn’t work anymore, that the lights still work but something else isn’t working, and they want 1900 to install a Solaris system. I’m trying to research as much as possible, to figure out what I need to do.
My system is a hot air system only can I just place a uv lamp on the intake side? I’m just looking for it to kill any bacteria or viruses that pass by it
So i installed one if these uv lights in my airhandler and im getting a pretty good smell from it while its on,what is that smell uv ? Ozone ? I did hook it into a outlet so i pulled the plug until i figure out this smell,i may have installed it to close to the blower motor and its really smelling pretty bad,if i moved it to the other side of the blower motor do you think it wouldn't smell as bad ?
Depends on the system. But if you imagine microbial growth and where it wants to grow, the light should usually shine on as much of the return side of the coil as possible and the primary drain pan too if possible and in the budget
I think they're a pricey gimmick. I don't believe the air has enough time to be cleaned as it rushes by some ultraviolet light. Get yourselves a 4" or 5" filter cabinet and skip the electronic air cleaners!
You missed the entire point of this video. Josh specifically talked about the UV lights cleaning surfaces of the evaporator coil and drain pan, and not the air that passes by the UV lights. Your observation about UV lights cleaning air is correct though, just as Josh stated. There is not enough time for air passing by a single UV light to be sterilized. There are some products that have UV j-bulbs with some sort of air turbulator device that pushes air through a box with a light, but that only does so much.
@@xcjrx Totally unnecessary and a BS product, I've seen them upwards of $400+ when installed by a professional. There's a new gimmick being sold to a gullible schmuck every second!
@@xcjrx I second that. That's why I put a UV above my evaporator coil and just purchased an ionizer that I will place before the filter media on the return side. There is some data supporting their effectiveness. Not cheap I might add.
No one should be installing additive air "filters" Just stick with MERV 13 and oversize the filter grille. Also the UV lamp needs to be coated, otherwise it will produce ozone.
@@lisagrace6471 I believe there is one style that uses doped quartz to stop certain wavelengths that produce ozone. Not sure what exactly the coating is but ozone should never be in your house in any concentration higher than outside. It burned your lung cells.
I had the vendor toss in a UV light when we bought our new package unit a few years ago. I was skeptical, especially when I saw that I had to mount another 24v transformer to power it, but i put it in anyway, right next to the evaporator. Now, when I clean the unit, it's easy to see that there's nothing growing on the evaporator coils where the light is, however, there's crap on the other side. Next year, I'm likely going to add a second light on the other side of the coil. They work to keep nasty stuff off of your evaporator, there's no doubt about that.
One for upstream and one for downstream. Double the fun. They work. Easy Peezy to install.
Our home builder said it would cost me like 5k to add one or be really expensive an they wouldn't do it :( Where is the evaporator located? I want to see about getting one added to our home. Or, I guess 2;)
When I do my installs I always do 2 one for the supply air and one for the return air it helps
@@scubigaza5445you’re committing genocide on germs 🦠 😂
Yah they do - whenever I open up an ice maker with UV lights they are the cleanest ice makers that have no mold of bacteria growths compared to the ice makers without UV lights
A u v light is for mold, bacteria , viruses. If your trying to clean the dirt and dust and so forth you need a good filter. But a u v light inside the unit on the coil is one of the best things you can do for your a/c unit and yourself
Really a guy just left my house and says we should do a blue UV light..
This is the frist I’ve ever heard of it…
you are very correct (I have been in this field since 2010) a UVC light will keep the mold and fungus from going when placed in the FCU or AUH and not really clean the air from microbials , HOWEVER to clean the are you need to have "dwell time" to achieve cleaning the air and this is a calculation of the strength of the UVC lamp with the added section or plenum box to give a dwell time. if done correctly you will achieve cleaning the air but this would have to been a section added to you duct.
I agree with everything that you and your old boss said. I had three quotes from contractors and one of them didn’t quote out a UV light at all till I threw a fit and told him that I wouldn’t even consider his quote till he added the UV in.
There is no such thing as naturally occurring perfectly clean water or air. It may be helpful to say a UV light kills biologic pathogens in the air stream and keeps the evaporator clean if it is lit by the UV light. Cleaning the air is the job of your furnace air filter. Not all pathogens are caught by the air filter and the air filter can not keep them from growing on the evaporator coil and decreasing it's ability to absorb heat. So placement of the UV light is critical to peak efficiency. Great video.
Where should the UV light be placed?
@@lisagrace6471 in front of evaporator coil
@@jonjoha7442my humidifier feeds into the supply and my light would have to be right below it, I don’t think I can have the light right below the humidifier. It is an upflow furnace. Do I have to put it in the return?
This is good I tell my customers this and they are caught by surprise because the last guy who installed it told them it “purifies the air” when that isn’t the case at all it’s just a contact killer that keeps the air handler clean plain and simple. I try to sell polarized air filters if I can due to them being more effective and actually trapping very small microns on dirt and chemicals
Wow, another honest person, an ac duct cleaner said same thing to me, air travels to fast.
where does the UV light get placed in the furnace, above the evaporator coil ???
Ok how about discussions on UV light locations? There seems to be a lot of discussions regarding mounting locations, being upstream or downstream of the evaporator coil. From your experience, what’s best upstream, downstream, or two lights covering both locations?
would love to know too
I installed mine opposite the humidifier, will it damage the humidifier filter by the direct light exposure?
good question
Those dad-gum coils are either straight and slanted, V=shaped or W-shaped. So common sense tells me that you'd need two UV lights for a slanted one, and two or three of them for a V-shaped and W-shaped so that the light hits all sides of the coil. I know that's not being done, which means that microbes and mold are able to grow where the UV light doesn't shine. What's the point if you can't hit the whole coil?
I have seen where the uv light causes damage to drain pan in the air handler and also dry rotted flex ducts on the return side
I purchased a unit but not sure where to put it. Since the evap coils are mounted on top of the furnace, Will the lamps overheat in the winter when the burners are on? Also, my service guy said that I have fiberboard connecting the furnace to the main duct so the UV will deteriorate that board. Is he right?
I have a 1year unit with a uv light, I am having a condensation problem in the garage air handler, on site of the unit, if I turn light off it stops, what can be the problem? is installed on the one side vertical, on top left t side of the coil. is it the installed locations or the type of light?
UV lights can ruin the protective coating on the aluminum coils and then they'll corrode and begin leaking. Then, what do you do, replace the coil?
Thanks for your very informative video. We are really good DIY'ers. Can we install any of those 3 items ourselves? Do you have other videos? We don't understand where we would install the 4 inch filter... Can you give us a little more info on that? Thank you so much. Also would like info on where exactly to locate the UV light and the ionizer. Hoping to do it inexpensively, because we are moving to a new house in a few months, and will be selling the current house. Thanks for taking the time to make a great video.
Great video and you are on to something. I work for one of the leaders in the industry (Sanuvox technologies) and it all depends on the unit placement. I would gladly give you more information if you wish. keep up the good work
What is good for a pack unit I need the best to make my coil last the longest what is good for that. I have get the coil epoxy coating for.
Thank you for being honest and practical with your advice!
Bro, love your video. Made me start the research best light for my system. But I have q uestion, is it true that uv light is bad for plastic and can damage the drain pan?
I just took the cover off my 17 year old Carrier Infinity furnace to look at the coils, they were clean as a hell and not even any dust. There was a lot of rust around the other parts but I don’t think I will be getting one of these. I was interested in a UV Photomax which is not for the coils. Your thoughts?
Helps alot! Definitely will be getting uv light! Thanks so much!
As a tech im still new to the trade ik uv lights are for mold build up on the a coil
I got Carbon-X installed by GreenUV works great!
It definitely sanitizes the air briefly as it passes over it, but as soon as that air gets into contact with the surfaces, you’re right back to square one basically. I personally think it’s shameful. That media filters are not more widely utilized in every single home especially knowing now what we know about indoor air quality. I’m a Sucker for an Aprilaire merv13 &recommend them for every single Install at MINIMUM whether there are air quality, concerns or not. It keeps the equipment really clean, for Most houses, it’s an annual filter And IMHO for +\-$50/filter, you really can’t beat it & it’s got incredibly low pressure drop. It breaks my heart when I see somebody replace their equipment and nobody even has a conversation with them about air quality. so many houses have allergy suffers today.
How do you know if the bulb blows out? How do you know when you need to change it? We have one in our new system but questions still remain?
The recommended change interval will be in the owners manual. I suggest writing on the unit the filter and UV light anniversary change dates. Maybe set up an auto-ship filter to your door to make sure it gets done. Maintenance is key. (Aircraft Mech talking here)
We are planning to get Apco X installed into our hvac unit. Nothing with evoporator coil. Does it help? Please advice.
We put in a new system a few years, had a grounded something or another in the old one, and they installed a reme halo. Now, we did a check up and they are saying the reme halo doesn’t work anymore, that the lights still work but something else isn’t working, and they want 1900 to install a Solaris system. I’m trying to research as much as possible, to figure out what I need to do.
It may still be under warranty. But it sounds like this particular company may be taking advantage. Maybe it’s time to get a second opinion?
Thanks for the rational video. Helped me a make a decision.
My system is a hot air system only can I just place a uv lamp on the intake side? I’m just looking for it to kill any bacteria or viruses that pass by it
It doesn't exactly kill things passing by, but I'd place it where the instructions say to with it shining on as much of the problem area as possible.
So i installed one if these uv lights in my airhandler and im getting a pretty good smell from it while its on,what is that smell uv ? Ozone ? I did hook it into a outlet so i pulled the plug until i figure out this smell,i may have installed it to close to the blower motor and its really smelling pretty bad,if i moved it to the other side of the blower motor do you think it wouldn't smell as bad ?
What's the smell like? Did the smell go away when you removed the UV light? Some UV lights do produce ozone.
What's going on in Milwaukee with all the street lights turning UV? Any idea?
That’s one of the filters are going out where blue and yellow are mixing to make purple .
Should uv light be inside a coil or on top or both?
Depends on the system. But if you imagine microbial growth and where it wants to grow, the light should usually shine on as much of the return side of the coil as possible and the primary drain pan too if possible and in the budget
@@NewHVACGuide thanks. I’ve lights are fairly cheap but seems bulbs only last 1 year. Any recommendations on a brand that lasts?
Check out Blue tube. Their 2 year bulbs would last several years.
@@NewHVACGuide thanks checked out blue tube and the website shows two examples the tube on top and also one under the a coil. Shall I buy two?
Thanks man. Common sense. I have one now
Awesome! Did you install it?
Are there any UV lights available that do not produce ozone?
Yes. There's a bunch of them like that now
it works if installed properly....
Where are you based out of?
Virginia 🙂
Anyone experiencing a burning smell after installing your uv lamp
Why can't the UV rays from the sun clean the air before it comes into the home?
They do. That’s why ventilation is so important
It kills pathogens.
An AC guy told me they prevent rust.?????
Nope. Cars in sunlight still rust 🙂
this is all heresay - where is the graphs and science? I have some land in florida for ya'll for sale...omg
I think they're a pricey gimmick. I don't believe the air has enough time to be cleaned as it rushes by some ultraviolet light. Get yourselves a 4" or 5" filter cabinet and skip the electronic air cleaners!
You missed the entire point of this video. Josh specifically talked about the UV lights cleaning surfaces of the evaporator coil and drain pan, and not the air that passes by the UV lights. Your observation about UV lights cleaning air is correct though, just as Josh stated. There is not enough time for air passing by a single UV light to be sterilized. There are some products that have UV j-bulbs with some sort of air turbulator device that pushes air through a box with a light, but that only does so much.
@@xcjrx Totally unnecessary and a BS product, I've seen them upwards of $400+ when installed by a professional. There's a new gimmick being sold to a gullible schmuck every second!
@@xcjrx I second that. That's why I put a UV above my evaporator coil and just purchased an ionizer that I will place before the filter media on the return side. There is some data supporting their effectiveness. Not cheap I might add.
Did you shave your eyebrows?
No one should be installing additive air "filters" Just stick with MERV 13 and oversize the filter grille. Also the UV lamp needs to be coated, otherwise it will produce ozone.
what will it be coated with?
@@lisagrace6471 I believe there is one style that uses doped quartz to stop certain wavelengths that produce ozone. Not sure what exactly the coating is but ozone should never be in your house in any concentration higher than outside. It burned your lung cells.
Hire a professional