Henry Parker

Do Thermal Curtains Really Work?

By Henry Parker

Girl Opening Curtains — © lzf / Adobe Stock

It might not seem like a simple piece of decor could do much to make your home more livable, but a set of thermal curtains can do more than you might realize. By helping to regulate your indoor temperatures, these curtains keep you more comfortable and save you money.

Not all thermal curtains work the same, though, and how you use them also affects their performance. Knowing how these curtains do their job and following some basic guidelines will help you get the most out them.

How Thermal Curtains Work

Thermal curtains, also known as insulated curtains, work by holding heat in your home essentially the same way your winter coat holds in warmth. These curtains are made of fabric that isn’t just thicker or more insulating than the fabric used in ordinary drapes, but they’re also lined with additional layers that give them extra capabilities. Most consist of three layers:

Decorative layer – The fabric that faces your room.
Foam core – High-density foam inside the curtain’s fabric that blocks heat transfer out of the room and absorbs sound waves.
Vapor barrier – Non-breathable material that prevents the foam from absorbing moisture from condensation.

The curtains create a pocket of air between the curtain and the window, blocking the warmth in the room from seeping out through the window. Some thermal curtains include closures, such as Velcro strips, that let you seal them to the walls, making them even more effective.

When they’re completely closed, thermal drapes have an R-value of R-3 to R-5. That’s around the same insulation value as 1 inch of fiberglass batt insulation.

The Benefits of a Little Extra Insulation

Insulated curtains do more than protect you from chilly windows over the winter. They also reduce your need for heating, reduce stress on your heating system, and help keep your home a little more peaceful.

Greater comfort – Thermal curtains can reduce heat loss from your windows by as much as 25 percent, as well as block any chilly drafts coming from your windows, keeping your home cozier.

Lower heating bills – With thermal curtains holding the warmth in your rooms, your furnace won’t need to run as often to maintain the temperature you want. You might have noticed hotels often use heavy, insulated curtains. That’s not just because these curtains are more durable, but also because they help the business keep their energy costs down.

Less wear on your heating system – The more often your heating system runs, the more wear it sustains and debris it collects. By reducing your home’s need for heat, insulated curtains take a load off your heating system and lengthen its lifespan.

Sound insulation – In addition to blocking heat loss, thermal drapes also block noise from getting into your home. They can’t give you total silence, but they can muffle the noise of a busy road or park.

Choose Your Curtains with Care

When you shop for curtains to improve your home’s energy efficiency, don’t confuse thermal curtains, which are designed to hold in warmth on cold days, with heat-reflective or solar curtains that keep the sun’s heat out on hot summer days.

Avoid single-layer drapes that rely solely on thick fabric. These give you a little extra insulation, but they can’t compare to layered designs. Likewise, steer clear of curtains with a flimsy extra layer loosely sewn onto the curtain fabric. Instead, look for drapes with a sturdy foam core. Before you buy, measure your window and choose drapes long enough to overlap the floor even when hung near the ceiling.

How You Use Your Curtains Matters

How much comfort and savings your thermal drapes bring you depends in part on how you use them. The tighter the seal between the curtains and the wall, the more effectively they’ll perform. Hang the drapes close to the window and the ceiling. If you can’t get them close to the ceiling, mount a valance to keep the room’s heat from escaping over the top of the curtain. For even more insulating power, hang two curtains over a single window.

On sunny winter days, open your thermal curtains to take advantage of the sun’s warmth, but remember to close the curtains again when the sun goes down. Attach a closure that will let you seal the curtains tightly to the wall. Both Velcro strips and magnetic tape work well. Attach one side of the closure to the curtain and the other to the wall.

Even during darker parts of the winter, open your curtains now and then for a few hours to prevent moisture buildup on the vapor barrier, which can lead to mildew growth. You can clean your insulated curtains while they’re in place by spraying them down with upholstery cleaner and then vacuuming them. For a more thorough cleaning, have the curtains dry cleaned.

If you’ve noticed your windows feel chilly in winter or your heating bills have been looking a little high, thermal curtains give you a simple, budget-friendly way to solve the problem. To get the most out of these curtains, choose a sturdy, well-made design, size them correctly, and install them close to the window for a good seal.

Tankless Toilets: Right for Your Residential Home?

By Henry Parker

Tankless Toilet in Luxury Bathroom — © alexandre zveiger / Adobe Stock

Tankless toilets offer more than just aesthetic appeal. Their streamlined forms and relatively small sizes mean they save space in your bathroom and their advanced flushing method helps save water, too.

These toilets aren’t a good fit for every home, though. They work differently from conventional toilets, so if you’re thinking about installing one, make sure you understand the requirements before you decide.

How Tankless Toilets Differ

Looking Inside of a Toilet Tank — © digitalreflect / Adobe Stock

The tankless toilet’s design isn’t just for looks. It’s a direct result of the way the toilet operates. In a conventional tank toilet, the tank sits above the bowl to allow gravity to draw down the water in the tank for use in flushing the toilet. Afterwards, the tank re-fills with water for the next flush.

A tankless toilet doesn’t need a tank because it doesn’t need to store water. Instead, it’s hooked up to the building’s plumbing system and flushes in one of two ways: either water enters the bowl at a high pressure directly from the plumbing pipes or an electric pump in the toilet bowl provides additional pressure for the flush.

In most homes, the plumbing system lacks the pressure needed to flush a toilet, so residential tankless toilets are usually equipped with a pump.

The Benefits: More Free Space, Less Water Use

Tankless Toilet Next to a Bidet — © interiorphoto / Adobe Stock

The biggest advantage of a tankless toilet is the freedom it gives you in getting the look you want for your bathroom. The precision flushing mechanism some models offer helps you save water, too.

Design Flexibility

Tankless toilets free from the clunky, old-fashioned tank that takes up wall and floor space, giving you more space to design as you want. Their compact size makes them ideal for smaller bathrooms. Designed in sleek, contemporary forms, these toilets can instantly update the look of your bathroom.

You can install a tankless toilet on the floor or mount it on the wall to free up floor space and give your bathroom a more open, airy atmosphere. Mounting the toilet on the wall also allows you to adjust the height to one you find comfortable.

A tankless toilet can even make your bathroom more convenient to use. Because the bowl refills so quickly, the toilet can be used again almost immediately. That helps shorten the line at the bathroom door that often forms when you have a large family, or you’re hosting a big get-together.

Reduced Water Use

Currently manufactured toilets, whether tankless or conventional, are required by law to use no more than 1.6 gallons of water per flush (gpf). Some more advanced tankless models, however, let you choose how many gallons are used per flush, giving you a water-saving option few conventional toilets can match.

If you currently use an older toilet, upgrading to a tankless model will definitely reduce your water consumption. Conventional toilets manufactured in the 1980s use 3.5 gpf, and those made earlier use as much as 7 gpf, so any modern toilet is a major improvement.

By choosing a tankless toilet, you’ll know you’re getting a modern, water-saving design. Better yet, there’s no risk of a tank leak developing and allowing the toilet to run continuously and waste water.

The Drawbacks: Cost and Installation Issues

Tankless Toilet in New Bathroom — © alexandre zveiger / Adobe Stock

The visual appeal and convenient size of these toilets don’t come cheap. Tankless models cost more to buy and to install than conventional models. To complicate matters, they require large pipes and high water pressure that not all residential buildings are supplied with.

High Up-front Costs

Tankless toilets typically come with higher purchase prices than conventional toilets, starting at around $900 and rising into the thousands. Considering a tankless toilet can help you cut your water bill, though, it’s still a smart long-term investment, particularly if you have a large family and your bathroom sees a lot of use.

Demanding Installation Requirements

Tankless toilets require high water pressure to operate. That’s why they’re most often found in large commercial and public buildings, such as shopping centers or airports, which can support the large pipes needed for such high water pressure. In many residential buildings, the plumbing can’t handle this kind of pressure.

Install one of these toilets in a home with standard residential water supply lines, and the pressure from flushing could leave you with damaged pipes and a toilet that no longer works.

Before you settle on installing a tankless toilet, check that your home’s plumbing meets the requirements. If it doesn’t, it’s still possible to retrofit the toilet by upgrading the plumbing, but this will greatly increase the cost of installation. If you’re building a new home, plan to install large supply lines that will work with a tankless toilet.

While installing a conventional toilet is a fairly straight-forward job for a seasoned DIY-er, installing a tankless toilet is more complex and should be left to a professional. Wall-mounted toilets are especially difficult to install, requiring the plumber to open up the wall to access the pipes.

Repairing a tankless toilet is also a job for a professional. Both these factors further raise the cost of choosing a tankless model. On the plus side, tankless toilets are less likely to develop repair issues compared to conventional models.

Power Outage Problems

Because most tankless toilets designed for residential use rely on an electric pump to flush, they won’t work during a power outage. If there’s a chance of a storm or other issue knocking out your power for days, a tankless toilet might not be the best choice.

Naturally, if your home is on a well that uses an electric pump, a conventional toilet will also fail to work when the power’s out, so your choice of toilet won’t make any difference.

With more and more tankless toilet models including electric pumps, tankless toilets are increasingly practical for the average home. They save space, conserve water, and bring a polished, modern touch to your bathroom.

On the other hand, they require plumbing conditions that not all buildings can provide, and purchase, installation and repairs can all get costly. If you’re in an old building or you’re on a tight budget, you’re most likely better off sticking with a conventional toilet.

Sandless Floor Refinishing: Effective or a Scam?

By Henry Parker

Hardwood Floor Maintenance — © stokkete / Adobe Stock

A shiny, newly refinished floor can freshen up any room, but the process of getting a worn floor back into condition tends to involve mess most of us would rather avoid. Sandless refinishing seems to promise the best of both worlds: a beautifully clean floor without the messy sanding work. The reality, however, is somewhere in between. Sandless refinishing has its advantages, but it isn’t always the better choice.

How Sandless Refinishing Works

Sandless refinishing, as the name implies, involves no sanding. Instead, a technician uses a machine with abrasive pads and a liquid solution to remove surface debris from the floor. The floor is lightly scuffed as the liquid etches away debris. Because no sanding is done, very little, if any, dust is produced.

What dust and dirt is removed is absorbed in the liquid, so nothing ends up in the air or on your furniture. Finally, the technician rinses and details the floor, then applies a protective sealer to give the floor strength and shine.

The whole sandless process is similar to the final step in the full floor sanding and refinishing process. It’s a touch-up, not a replacement for a complete sanding and refinishing

When Sandless Makes Sense

Sandless refinishing can remove old, dull floor wax and polish, as well as paint splatters and certain other minor stains. It can’t remove scratches, dents, sun fade, grey areas caused by oxidation or most pet stains. It doesn’t remove the floor’s polyurethane finish or stain, which means you won’t have the option of changing the floor color.

That makes this type of refinishing a practical way to spruce up a floor that’s in good condition, but starting to show minor signs of wear. Having your floors refinished this way can keep them looking good longer, so you can delay a complete refinishing for up to five years. This is especially helpful if you’re sensitive to dust and prefer to put off sanding for as long as possible.

With age, wood floors accumulate dings and dents that some people find add character, particularly in an older home. If you prefer to keep these appealing imperfections, but still want to touch up the floor’s surface, sandless refinishing will let you revive the floor’s shine without removing the marks of age.

Some thin floorboards can be sanded only two or three times in their lifetime. Average floorboards can take up to eight sandings. Any more than that and they become so thin they’re at risk of cracking. Because sandless refinishing doesn’t remove wood from the floor, it’s a safe way to clean up thin and older floorboards without reducing the floor’s lifespan.

Sandless refinishing is budget-friendly and convenient. As a less labor-intensive process than sanding, it costs less and can be done within one day, while a full sanding and refinishing job usually takes around two days.

Know What You’re Getting

If you’re considering sandless refinishing, keep your expectations in line with what the service is actually capable of. It may be cheaper and faster than sanding, but it doesn’t provide the same results. It’s essentially a deep cleaning followed by a coat of colored finish. Afterward, your floors will look sparkling clean, but not “like new.”

Some homeowners have been left disappointed thanks to salespeople overselling the benefits of the service or exaggerating the drawbacks of sanding. Be wary of any salesperson who tries to convince you sandless refinishing will totally refurbish your floor or who steers you away from sanding by suggesting it will take a week and fill your home with dust.

Dustless Refinishing: A Cleaner Way to Restore Your Floor

Floor Sanding Machine — © jovkovski1969 / Adobe Stock

If you’ve been looking into sandless refinishing, you’ve no doubt run into the term “dustless refinishing,” too. Although sometimes promoted together, these are two different processes, and they provide two different results.

While sandless refinishing is good for superficial cleaning and restoring shine, it can’t remove most forms of damage, such as scratches. For that, you’ll need to sand the floor.

In the past, sanding a floor meant ending up with a thick layer of dust on the floor and furniture, and having dust floating around in the air for days afterward. Modern dustless floor sanding equipment has made this kind of mess a thing of the past.

This equipment is connected to a vacuum tube and filtration mechanism that sucks the debris into a dust containment system. A technician sands the floor one to three times, removing not only surface dirt and old floor wax, but also a thin layer of the wood itself.

Then the floor can be stained with your preferred color and a finished with a sealer. Dustless sanders provide the same results as traditional sanding equipment. It isn’t completely dust-free, but it leaves very little dust in your home.

If your floor is still in good shape, but you want to give it a quick, low-cost touch-up to bring back the shine, sandless refinishing is a practical choice. To smooth out damage and fully restore your floor to like-new condition, however, a full sanding and refinishing job is the better option. If you’re not sure which type of care your floor needs, talk with a floor restoration professional before you decide.

The Pros and Cons Geothermal Energy for Your Home

By Henry Parker

Geothermal Green Energy — © Olivier Le Moal / Adobe Stock

Geothermal energy has been gaining popularity as an eco-friendly way to heat and cool a home at a fraction of the cost of fuel-burning systems or even conventional air-source heat pumps. While this energy source does offer a lot of benefits, it’s not ideal for everyone.

If you’re considering having a geothermal (ground-source) heat pump installed in your home, get to know what this system can do for you as well as the challenges involved in having one put in.

The Pros: Lower Bills and Greater Reliability

Geothermal Heating System Drawing — © jeler / Adobe Stock

Geothermal is one of the most reliable energy sources there is, and the efficiency of geothermal heat pumps means they cost little to run.

Unfailing Reliability

Fossil fuels, such as oil and natural gas, aren’t easily renewable, so the oil and gas industry is continually developing new ways to find, recover, and conserve these fuels. While there’s debate over whether we’ll ever run out, the fact remains that these fuels are a dwindling resource. To make matters worse, prices fluctuate unpredictably due to economic and political events.

Residential solar power, while highly renewable and safe from the effects of international events, isn’t a practical option everywhere. Even in areas where solar power is a viable way to heat and cool a home, varying weather conditions make it somewhat unreliable.

Geothermal energy is drawn from heat generated by Earth’s core, so it will never become harder to extract, and there’s no risk of exhausting it with residential heat pumps. This heat is relatively constant year round, so your home won’t be at the mercy of the weather. Because geothermal energy doesn’t have to be imported, political events won’t affect your energy costs.

Lower Heating and Cooling Bills

Lower bills are one of the biggest draws of geothermal energy, and when used for home heating and cooling, it definitely delivers. Not only are geothermal heat pumps more efficient than fuel-burning systems, they’re also three to five times more efficient than conventional air-source heat pumps.

The efficiency of an air-source heat pump depends in part on the outdoor air temperature, which fluctuates greatly throughout the year. Because a geothermal system uses the ground, which stays at a relatively constant temperature, it can run more efficiently than an air-source model. A geothermal heat pump can also provide you with hot water, so you’ll save money there, too.

Your exact savings depend on your climate and how much you run your heat pump. On average, most households save between 30 to 60 percent on heating and 25 to 50 percent on cooling.

Kindness to the Environment

Geothermal energy is one of the most environmentally friendly, least polluting sources of energy there is. It has less impact on the Earth than any other power source. With no mining, processing or shipping involved, using geothermal energy to heat and cool a home is a nearly emission free process.

Geothermal heat pumps need a source of electricity to run, but you can make that more eco-friendly by installing solar panels to power the pump.

Longevity and Minimal Maintenance Needs

A geothermal heat pump will outlast nearly any other heating and cooling system. The pumps run reliably for around 20 years, longer than a conventional air-source heat pump, boiler or furnace. The ground loops typically come with a warranty for 25 to 50 years, but they can remain usable for as long as 200 years.

With few moving parts in these systems, there’s little that can go wrong, so breakdowns are rare. You’ll need to have annual maintenance performed, and open-loop, water-source systems require a little extra care due to mineral and sediment buildup.

Unlike air conditioners and air-source heat pumps, geothermal heat pumps have no outdoor parts. There’s nothing outdoors you’ll need to clean, clear plants away from or protect from storms and vandalism.

Widespread Availability

Because all parts of the planet contain some geothermal energy, a geothermal heat pump can be installed nearly anywhere. If your property doesn’t have the space for a horizontal ground loop, a vertical ground loop is an alternative option. A vertical loop takes up less ground-surface space, but it’s also more expensive to install.

The Cons: High Installation Costs and Specific Site Requirements

Residential Geothermal Heating Diagram — © Slavomir Valigursky / Adobe Stock

The cost of geothermal systems is falling, but they’re still more expensive to install than traditional heating and cooling systems. What’s more, not every site is ideal for geothermal.

High Upfront Costs

One of the biggest drawbacks that puts many homeowners off switching to a geothermal heat pump is the high initial cost of installing one. A system for the average-size home runs between $10,000 to $20,000.

If you’re planning to install any new heating and cooling system, first take steps to improve your home’s energy efficiency, such as upgrading your attic insulation. Doing this lets you install a smaller, and therefore cheaper, system as well as enjoy lower monthly bills.

By rewarding you with lower bills, an investment in a geothermal system usually pays off within five to 10 years, depending on your heating and cooling needs. If you plan to sell your house within the next 10 years, the investment might not be worth it.

Site Requirements

Not all locations are equally well suited to using geothermal energy. Some areas have more ground heat than others due to volcanoes and other natural features. In the United States, homes on the west coast will get better results than those in the Midwest and southeast.

For a heat pump with a ground loop, how close the bedrock is to the soil surface and the type of soil you have are influential factors. For instance, where the soil is shallow, a vertical ground loop might not be possible.

If you’re considering a water-source geothermal system, you’ll need a nearby body of water that can supply 1.5 gallons of water per minute for every ton of heating and cooling capacity your home needs. Many locations just can’t supply that flow rate.

In addition, the mineral content and pH of your water should be suitable for use with a geothermal heat exchanger. If you don’t have a nearby natural body of water, such as a pond or stream, that’s large enough to handle the water used by your heat pump, you’ll need to have a return well installed.

For a reliable, environmentally friendly, and low-cost way to heat and cool your home, it’s hard to beat geothermal energy. Before you set your heart on installing a geothermal heat pump, though, get a solid estimate of how much it will cost to install and how long your payback period will be.

If the upfront costs are outside your budget or your property isn’t well suited to geothermal, another eco-friendly option, such as solar power, might be a better choice.

The Pros and Cons of Garbage Disposals

By Henry Parker

Garbage Disposal Under Sink — © stevecuk / Adobe Stock

A garbage disposal lets you scrape dirty dishes straight into the sink without having to worry about food debris clogging up your pipes. While it might seem hard to go wrong with choosing a convenience like this, these devices have their drawbacks, too. Before you splash out on a new garage disposal, make sure you’re willing to put up with the annoyances it might bring you.

The Pros: Faster, Easier Kitchen Cleaning

Putting Food in Garbage Disposal — © REDPIXEL / Adobe Stock

A garbage disposal is a relatively small investment that can save you time and hassle after every meal.

They Make Clean-Up Easier

When your sink is equipped with a garbage disposal, you’ll be able to scrape small amounts of uneaten food into the sink instead of having to carry plates to the trash and scrape them there. That makes cleanup after cooking and mealtimes faster and easier. There’s also less risk of dropping crumbs on the floor as you carry plates to and from the trash.

They Protect Your Pipes

When you’ve got a pile of dishes with bits of leftover food stuck on, it can be tempting to just scrape everything into the sink rather than go to the trouble of carrying the plates to the trash can. Over time, though, these food scraps can build up in your pipes and contribute to blockages. A garbage disposal lets you grind down food debris into small particles that are less likely to get stuck in the pipes.

They’re Inexpensive

The average garbage disposal will run you between $70 and $130, and if you’re handy with basic plumbing, you can install it yourself. If not, installing one is a routine and relatively low-cost job for an experienced plumber. Use and maintain your garbage disposal correctly, and you’ll get around eight to 10 years of use out of it.

They Work Almost Everywhere

Garbage disposals are safe for use with almost every type of sewage system, including municipal sewers and septic tanks. If you have a septic tank, however, make sure it’s correctly sized and regularly maintained. Some very old municipal sewage systems might not handle food particles from garbage disposals well.

If you live in an area with a system like this, check with your local waste management or water authority before installing a garbage disposal.

The Cons: Limited Capacity and Extra Maintenance Work

Uninstalled Garbage Disposal — © EuToch / Adobe Stock

Most garbage disposals can handle only light food scraps from a limited range of foods, and they need weekly cleaning to stay in good condition.

They Require Careful Use

Despite its name, a garbage disposal isn’t a trash can for food. To avoid clogs and jams, you’ll need to keep certain foods out of the disposal, including:

Fatty foods, such as cooking oil, butter, and cream sauces.
Starchy foods, such as pasta, rice, and beans.
Fibrous foods, such as banana peels, potato peels, celery, and carrots.
Hard materials, such as bones, fruit pits, and seafood shells.

This rather long list means you can’t mindlessly scrape all your plates into the sink. Of course, traces of pasta Alfredo from one meal won’t instantly clog up your disposal, but putting in non-disposal-safe foods too often or in large amounts very well could.

How you run the disposal matters, too. Always turn on the cold water before starting the disposal, then let it run as the disposal runs. Gradually feed in small amounts of food debris. When you finish, turn off the disposal and let the water run for another 10 to 20 seconds to flush food particles through the disposal and down the pipes.

They Need Regular Maintenance

Even when you use the garbage disposal correctly, some food particles can end up lingering inside. These particles then decay and can eventually start to smell.

To prevent this, once a week, turn off power to the disposal and clean it. First, wipe down the inner side of the rubber ring around the opening to the drain/disposal. Then use a bottle brush to scrub out the inside of the disposal. Between cleanings, you can freshen your disposal by grinding up ice cubes made of vinegar or a lemon or other citrus fruit cut into small pieces.

They Can Clog, Jam, and Break

If you accidentally drop the wrong type of food or too much food into your garbage disposal, it’s liable to jam. It’s a common occurrence everyone who regularly uses a garbage disposal knows. Sometimes just pressing the reset button will get your disposal started again.

If this doesn’t work, you can try to dislodge the clog by inserting a hex key (Allen wrench) into the flywheel hole in the bottom of the disposal and jiggling the flywheel. Using a broom handle or needle-nosed pliers to reach the clog from the drain opening can also work.

If this sounds like too much trouble, you might want to avoid installing a garbage disposal. Even if you take good care of your disposal, clogs and jams will become more frequent as the appliance ages. Because garbage disposals aren’t easily repaired, if one part of the disposal wears out, you’ll need to replace the whole thing.

A garbage disposal is a nice convenience to have if you prefer to spend as little time as possible cleaning up after meals. If you’re willing to use the care needed to avoid throwing in clog-causing foods and you don’t mind cleaning the appliance every week, you’ll probably find a garbage disposal is worth the investment.

Do HVAC UV Lights Actually Work?

By Henry Parker

Uninstalled UV Light Bulb — © Coprid / Adobe Stock

The idea of killing off the germs in your home just by shining a light into your air ducts admittedly sounds a little too good to be true, but HVAC UV lights really can improve your home’s air quality. In fact, these lights have been used for decades in hospitals and other facilities where sanitation is critical.

Even so, purifying your home’s air with UV lights isn’t as simple as some manufacturers might make it seem and not every home really needs one of these systems.

How UV Lights Clean the Air

Ultraviolet (UV) lights for HVAC systems are commonly known as ultraviolet germicidal irradiation (UVGI) systems. They target a very specific type of air contaminant, namely microorganisms such as bacteria, viruses, and mold spores. You might be familiar with the way hanging laundry out in the sunshine helps kill any germs or mold clinging to it. UV lights work in essentially the same way.

UVGI systems produce the same kind of ultraviolet light that’s present in sunshine, but at a much higher intensity than found in the sunshine that reaches the earth. This light destroys microorganisms’ nucleic acids, damaging their DNA and either killing them or leaving them unable to reproduce.

The light affects only living microorganisms, meaning these systems can’t control dust, pollen, pet dander or other particles that aren’t alive. Gaseous pollutants, such as cooking fumes and volatile organic compounds (VOCs), aren’t affected, either.

UV light’s ability to kill pathogens in water and air was scientifically proven early in the 20th century. These systems have been used in hospitals as far back as the 1930s to reduce the spread of diseases such as measles and tuberculosis.

They’re now known to be effective against virus types such as rhinoviruses (common cold), influenza viruses (flu), and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and against bacteria such as Staphylococcus aureus (Staph infection) and Streptococcus variants.

The benefits are widely accepted and thousands of water treatment plants, hospitals, and food handling facilities across the country use UVGI systems as part of their efforts to minimize contamination.

Not All UVGI Systems Work the Same

All that said, cleaning your home’s air isn’t as simple as sticking any UVGI air purifier you find into your HVAC ducts. To be killed or neutralized, microorganisms must be exposed to the right kind of light for the right amount of time. A UV system’s effectiveness in a given situation depends on several factors, including:

Lamp wavelength and intensity
Number of lamps
Lamp position
Duct reflectivity

In addition, before you start looking for an HVAC UV light system, you’ll need to choose which of the two types available are right for your needs.

Coil Sterilization – This is the most common type. It’s installed near the air conditioner’s indoor evaporator coil and shines constantly to prevent mold and bacteria from building up on or around the coil. Less mold and microbes on your coil means less in your air.

Air Sterilization – This system is specifically designed to kill microbes in your air. It’s usually installed in the return air duct and turns on only when the heating or cooling system is running. Because it purifies all the air passing through, it also reduces the risk of microbial buildup on your HVAC components, such as your evaporator coil, air ducts, air filter, and drain pan.

When a UV Air Purifier is Worth the Investment

Weighing an Investment Decision — © Romolo Tavani / Adobe Stock

While these systems do provide benefits, they’re not cheap, and they require annual maintenance, which includes replacing the pricey lamps. The lamps lose power over the course of a year or two and eventually become ineffective at killing germs, even though they still produce visible light.

Before you invest in a UVGI system, consider whether or not your household has air quality needs that this air purification method can meet effectively.

If someone in your home is managing a respiratory condition, such as asthma, allergies or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) or has a weakened immune system, any additional air purification can pay off. This is especially true of UV air purifiers, which target disease-causing microbes, not just irritants such as dust and pollen.

In a humid climate, your evaporator coil is at a greater-than-average risk of getting wet and developing mold. A UVGI system reduces the amount of active mold spores on the coil and in the air.

UVGI systems tend to provide greater benefits in more crowded conditions. Installing one of these systems might be a good idea if you have a large family in a small house or even if you enjoy filling your home with guests during the autumn and winter holidays, which also happens to be the height of cold and flu season.

Because it controls a limited range of contaminants, a UVGI system alone isn’t enough to keep your home’s air clean. You’ll still need a higher-efficiency air filter to trap the smaller particles of dust, pollen, and other pollutants that can aggravate allergies and asthma.

If you’re considering having an HVAC UV light installed, talk with a heating and cooling technician first. A professional will be able to advise you on which type of system will do the best job of purifying your home’s air.