Winters in New England are as harsh as they come, and everyone knows that colds and flu bugs run rampant during the cold months. Ironically, the spread of germs has little to do with the cold itself, but rather stems from other factors associated with winter weather.
The good news is that you can help stop the spread of winter colds in your home with the timely installation of a UV air purifier. Here’s a quick breakdown on how it all works.
Why Are There More Illnesses in the Winter?
The reasons colds tend to be more prevalent in the winter include both environmental conditions and cultural factors, most of which are only tangentially connected to the cold weather itself.
- New germs come with the holidays. When people go out of town for Christmas and other winter holidays, they often come into contact with new germs and bugs (either at their destination or in transit at places like airports, where travelers from all over co-mingle). When people get back home, the germs quickly spread, meaning they can affect you even if you stayed home this past holiday season.
- Cold air is also dry air, which has the effect of drying out your sinuses. That’s leaves your body more vulnerable to colds and illnesses in the winter months.
- Buildings are often shut up to keep the heat in. That can include stores and your workplace as well as your home. It makes a lot of sense to keep doors and windows closed to retain the heat, but that has the additional effect of allowing germs to circulate and recirculate: exposing more to you.
UV Lights Make a Terrific Solution
UV stands for ultraviolet, and you’ve probably seen UV lights or “black lights” used at concerts and amusement parks. (They’re what make your white clothes appear to glow in the dark.) Though harmless to humans and other multi-cellular organisms like pets, UV light destroys germs and similar creepy-crawlies, either by killing them outright or fusing their DNA so they can’t replicate.
A UV germicidal light system makes use of that fact by shining UV light in a sheet across the apex of your ducts. As your heating system runs (or your air conditioner in the summer), it circulates the air in your home and pushes it through the ducts. Any germs in the air thus pass through the UV light and are rendered harmless. That means that every time you run your heater, you’re cutting down on the spread of germs in your home, and as the system continues to run, the number of germs in your home dwindles significantly.
We recommend UV germicidal lights for anyone interested in keeping their family healthy and happy, but in particular for households with family members more vulnerable to illness. That can include infants, the elderly, and people suffering from conditions such as asthma.
If you’re interested in installing UV germicidal lights in your Boston, MA home, then call upon Cooling Unlimited, Inc. for fast, effective and friendly service!
