I never knew that this kind of bulb existed let alone protected your cooling systems from mold. Thank you for sharing this.

@floridarusticrepairs

4 ай бұрын

I'm glad you found this helpful. These bulbs can be useful in many ways. I even run one (ozone type) in our storage shed every few weeks to keep mold and bugs out. As long as I stay out while its on it's a safe method for mold and pest control.

Thanks for this information. Really very useful. Thanks for sharing! 💯👊👍

@floridarusticrepairs

4 ай бұрын

And thank you for the positive words! I'm glad you found it useful.

Once again I'm kicking myself for letting my Erector Set go 50+ years ago.

@floridarusticrepairs

4 ай бұрын

I hear you! My set was a flea market find that's come in useful many times.

Great project for any house on a raised Foundation I’m going to look around and check my sources. I’ll also look at setting up a number of extra plenum chambers with there own light fixtures the cost would be minor.

@floridarusticrepairs

4 ай бұрын

Thanks! You can also buy lower wattage bulbs if you're installing several of them. I've seen as low as 6 watts.

Very interesting video. Sounds like a great idea and worth considering.

@floridarusticrepairs

3 ай бұрын

Thanks! I think they work, especially on the AC coils. I had a bad mold problem in my AC unit. I cleaned it and then placed a UV light in it and it's now been clean for years. I think the extra light in the central intake keeps mold and bacteria down in the house.

My home was flooded out by Hurricane Ian resulting in mold growth. So, I made my own high power UV-C light. I made it high powered so that it would produce Ozone and kill mold in the shadows of the light. It worked far better than I anticipated. Here is how to make one. Get a 1000 watt mercury vapor bulb or metal halide buld. The kind used for street lights. It is a very large glass bulb with a small inner quartz bulb. The purpose of the outer glass bulb is only to act as a filter to prevent the UV-C light from escaping. So, you need to break the outer glass bulb. Don't break the small inner quartz bulb (UV-C can go through quartz glass). You need a ballast to run it. So, you just plug it in and it will emit a very powerful UV-C light that will kill everything, including plants. The light is so powerful that it will split molecules of air into O3 (Ozone). It will create enough Ozone to completely eradicate all mold, bacteria, and viruses in the shadows not reached by the light and even within the walls. DANGER - DO NOT LET THE LIGHT HIT YOUR SKIN OR EYES. DO NOT BREATHE IN OZONE. THE SMALL BULB GETS VERY, VERY HOT SO BE AWARE OF POSSIBLE FIRE. What I did was to put the light on in each room of the house and leave for 4 to 5 hours.

@floridarusticrepairs

3 ай бұрын

Wow! I've used the UV bulbs which generate ozone to kill mold before but never thought of building a light myself. You can get some powerful ozone bulbs on Amazon and you're right, by placing one in every room for a few hours it'll kill everything. Even plants and bugs. I even found that in my shed with the UV light the stray cats will no longer go near it.

@stringlarson1247

3 ай бұрын

@@floridarusticrepairs Oooh. This is interesting. I've got a front wrap around porch with a difficult acess door, and a back porch with no crawl space. The oppossum like to get in there. While I need to re-reseal there ingress/egress points, I don't want to do it while they may be inside. I just picked up a cheap fiber optic cable/lens that hooks to my cellphone, but it's difficult to manuver thru large/obstructed spaces. I'mma try one of these bulbs, then block their spots with something they can easily push out to see if the exit. Both my ex and I live in a wooded area and she we've both had critters (porcupines, squirrels and racoons) get in and die in walls, ceilings and attics. This is the perfect time of year in the upper Midwest to address this. Thanks for the idea.

@floridarusticrepairs

3 ай бұрын

@@stringlarson1247 I used a similar method to coax bats out of my chimney. Keep in mind though that if air can pass into your home from where the bulb is located, that the ozone can accumulate and is a hazard. I used a low wattage, ozone producing bulb which led to the bats gradually moving back up the chimney in order to escape the slow buildup of ozone. It wasn't enough to harm them but it was enough to make them leave. This one is only 6 watts: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B081CMKVHR/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?

@stringlarson1247

3 ай бұрын

@@floridarusticrepairs Excellent, thanks. Definitely don't want to hurt them. I just don't want to exhume anoher one.

UV lights don't clean the air moving past it since it's moving past quickly. Just as your skin isn't tanned by the much stronger UV rays from the sun by standing in the sun in the same amount of time. It takes time for UV rays to make a difference. It's a gimmick.

@floridarusticrepairs

3 ай бұрын

You've got a point about the air moving past it but I got the idea to add one to the ductwork when I was in the hospital and saw that there was one in the air vent in my room. I think it would depend on how powerful the bulb is. Either way, I placed this in the main air handler juction so it will keep mold from there.

Schools, Dr. offices, businesses...

@floridarusticrepairs

3 ай бұрын

Yes. I've even begun seeing them in restaurants down here.

@rayfiore7779

3 ай бұрын

@@floridarusticrepairs It would being something effective against colds & influenza, instead of just 'Face Diapor' behavior modification.

@floridarusticrepairs

3 ай бұрын

@@rayfiore7779 Not wearing masks was more effective than wearing them. :)

Really?? You put zip cord (powers the light fixture), a common 120 volt light fixture and a lamp with a switching power supply inside an air return? Plus it's surrounded by flammable material. I would love to hear some Fire Code Inspector's comments on this (hopefully some in Florida)! Codes do vary from area to area, but I'd bet you just violated several sections of the codes. Why are codes concerned with what's in a return plenum (or supply duct)? Because people have put things in them that can produce toxic fumes and heavy smoke, both of which get pumped all thru the structure. When people die, it gets put in a code. When installed properly on a duct, the unit shown about 30 seconds into your video keeps the wire and power supply outside the duct. Not a problem. Put it inside the duct and that's a No Go. There is a lot of advice available on the web and It ranges from correct to just plain wrong. Check other places, talk to your codes office and officials. Don't let someone get injured, or worse. Life safety is not a place to be "home brewing" solutions.

@floridarusticrepairs

3 ай бұрын

Well, you obviously took a while to type this comment so I appreciate that. First, the bulb shown at 30 seconds in is not made for ductwork. That fixture goes by the coil inside the AC unit itself. Second, there is no smoke and no toxic fumes emanate from this bulb. The bulb is low wattage, does not generate much heat at all and is free floating. There is nothing in code that I found which states it's a violation to do this. I could be wrong of course, but the city permitting division doesn't think there's anything wrong with it either. That being said, if I find anything which states that this is dangerous I'll remove the video.

@morewhattherust

3 ай бұрын

How is this different from switched bulbs in crawl spaces, which are common and up to code?

@floridarusticrepairs

3 ай бұрын

@@morewhattherust No different, other than the type of light. Also, these bulbs are low wattage and low heat.