UV Disinfection Devices

[OpenMinded1]

I've been toying with the idea of buying a cabinet-type, UV disinfection device primarily for disinfecting certain relatively small items that are difficult or impractical to disinfect using liquid disinfectants; for example paper mail, money, key fobs, mobile phones, remote controls, paper receipts, paper masks, glasses etc. Might also make a good supplemental means of disinfection after liquid disinfect has been used - one more easy step just to be reasonably sure that something is virus free. The one I have in mind costs about $160, and is a small countertop model that looks like a small microwave. It's dimensions are 13" X 8" X 9".

Would anybody care to comment?

[02nz]

Most (not all) of the items on that list can definitely be easily disinfected with a towel and rubbing alcohol.

[lthenderson]

Just wrote this in another post but essentially UV light will only kill via line of sight. Any nooks, crevices, folds, etc. where the light can not penetrate can still have live viruses that will have to be eliminated by other means.

[halfnine]

Just wrote this in another post but essentially UV light will only kill via line of sight. Any nooks, crevices, folds, etc. where the light can not penetrate can still have live viruses that will have to be eliminated by other means.

This.

You'd probably want a model that at least has a light source in each direction. I wouldn't trust a model that has doesn't have a UV source on each side and relies on mirrors for reflection.

[capitalG]

I've been toying with the idea of buying a cabinet-type, UV disinfection device primarily for disinfecting certain relatively small items that are difficult or impractical to disinfect using liquid disinfectants; for example paper mail, money, key fobs, mobile phones, remote controls, paper receipts, paper masks, glasses etc. Might also make a good supplemental means of disinfection after liquid disinfect has been used - one more easy step just to be reasonably sure that something is virus free. The one I have in mind costs about $160, and is a small countertop model that looks like a small microwave. It's dimensions are 13" X 8" X 9".

Would anybody care to comment?

Won't achieve much and unfortunately a lot of money is currently being made on ineffective UV devices. Proper sterilization requires alcohol, high levels of heat/steam, nasty gases, or radiation.

CapG

[bertilak]

Just wrote this in another post but essentially UV light will only kill via line of sight. Any nooks, crevices, folds, etc. where the light can not penetrate can still have live viruses that will have to be eliminated by other means.

We have a koi pond and use a UV filter by the skimmer pump. It does a great job of killing algae. It makes a noticeable difference in water clarity. In this case corners etc. are not an issue as the light shines through the water. The water also circulates so it gets multiple passes.

My point is that UV does work if you can get it to shine on whatever you want it to treat. It might take some time to do the job.

[lthenderson]

Just wrote this in another post but essentially UV light will only kill via line of sight. Any nooks, crevices, folds, etc. where the light can not penetrate can still have live viruses that will have to be eliminated by other means.

We have a koi pond and use a UV filter by the skimmer pump. It does a great job of killing algae. It makes a noticeable difference in water clarity. In this case corners etc. are not an issue as the light shines through the water. The water also circulates so it gets multiple passes.

My point is that UV does work if you can get it to shine on whatever you want it to treat. It might take some time to do the job.

Most definitely. It works quite well for flat surfaces and liquids.

[bertilak]

My point is that UV does work if you can get it to shine on whatever you want it to treat. It might take some time to do the job.

Most definitely. It works quite well for flat surfaces and liquids.

What do you know about UV lights in an HVAC set-up? I had the chance to install one when I upgraded my HVAC a couple of years ago but declined because I was not convinced it would do anything. Now that I have had a positive experience with the koi pond I'm reconsidering. The HVAC already has a 4-inch electrostatic filter. Any thoughts?

[lthenderson]

My point is that UV does work if you can get it to shine on whatever you want it to treat. It might take some time to do the job.

Most definitely. It works quite well for flat surfaces and liquids.

What do you know about UV lights in an HVAC set-up? I had the chance to install one when I upgraded my HVAC a couple of years ago but declined because I was not convinced it would do anything. Now that I have had a positive experience with the koi pond I'm reconsidering. The HVAC already has a 4-inch electrostatic filter. Any thoughts?

I don't have personal experience or know anything about their effectiveness. I do know there are two types. There is a coil sanitation UV setup if you have a condenser coil or their is an return air setup. With the hospital setups, they have to output a certain amount of energy for a certain amount of time to effectively kill all the viruses and bacteria. I would think for a coil sanitation setup, this would be easy to do since the target (the coil) is stationary and you could size the UV output appropriately. For a setup in your return air duct where the target (the air) is moving by constantly, I would think it would be a bit trickier to set up. But again, I have never been around one so don't know how effective they are. I would suspect they just kill a percentage of stuff and not try to completely make it sterile like you would in a hospital setting.

[bertilak]

What do you know about UV lights in an HVAC set-up? I had the chance to install one when I upgraded my HVAC a couple of years ago but declined because I was not convinced it would do anything. Now that I have had a positive experience with the koi pond I'm reconsidering. The HVAC already has a 4-inch electrostatic filter. Any thoughts?

I don't have personal experience or know anything about their effectiveness. I do know there are two types. There is a coil sanitation UV setup if you have a condenser coil or their is an return air setup. With the hospital setups, they have to output a certain amount of energy for a certain amount of time to effectively kill all the viruses and bacteria. I would think for a coil sanitation setup, this would be easy to do since the target (the coil) is stationary and you could size the UV output appropriately. For a setup in your return air duct where the target (the air) is moving by constantly, I would think it would be a bit trickier to set up. But again, I have never been around one so don't know how effective they are. I would suspect they just kill a percentage of stuff and not try to completely make it sterile like you would in a hospital setting.

In my case it would be installed in the HVAC's return air plenum. You're right. I don't think there is claim for sterilization, just reduced (or dead?) spoors.

[livesoft]

UV disinfection devices work by damaging the DNA / RNA of microbes so that they cannot produce viable offspring. They create mutations that are noxious, but they also have the possibility of creating mutations that might lead to some unintended consequences. I don't know of any cases where a home-use UV device produced a mutation that created a superbug.