Installing a UV light unit in your HVAC system is a great way to improve your home’s air quality and keep your family healthy. UV lights are great for eliminating bacteria and viruses from your home’s air, and they will also work to kill mold spores and prevent mold from growing within your HVAC system. If you’re considering a UV light unit for your home, here is a brief overview of how much you can expect to pay for the installation and also what factors can affect the cost.
Average Cost of UV Light Installation
The cost of installing a UV light unit can vary quite a bit depending on the type of unit you choose and who you hire to install it. The installation costs themselves are typically quite low since installing a UV light unit is a fairly quick and easy job. In most cases, you should expect to pay somewhere between $200 and $1,000 to purchase the unit and have it installed. After the unit has been installed, you’ll then need to pay somewhere around $20 to $100 each year for a new replacement light bulb.
Understanding the Types of UV Light Units and How They Work
When installing a UV light unit, you have two different choices: coil-sanitizing lights or air-sanitizing lights. Both types of units are installed within your existing ductwork, but they serve different purposes. Coil-sanitizing lights are installed within your air handler compartment and mounted so that they shine directly on the AC evaporator coil. This type of unit works to ensure that bacteria and mold can’t grow on the coil, which will both improve indoor air quality and prevent the air from your AC system from smelling moldy or musty.
Air-sanitizing lights are also typically installed in the air handler compartment, but they can also be installed in any part of the duct system. As the name suggests, this type of unit will eliminate bacteria and viruses from the air flowing through your ductwork. These lights will also work to deactivate many allergens like dust mites, pollen, and mold spores to help prevent allergy symptoms and ensure you can breathe more easily. An air-sanitizing light is also the ideal choice if you have issues with condensation and mold in any part of your duct system since the unit can be installed wherever the problem is at.
Since coil-sanitizing lights are only meant to prevent bacteria and mold from growing on the AC evaporator, they only work with your air conditioning and will remain on throughout the entire cooling season. Once you turn your AC off in the fall, you will then need to shut the UV light unit off. Air-sanitizing lights, on the other hand, will work throughout the entire year no matter whether you’re currently running your air conditioning or heating. An air-sanitizing light will always turn on and off as your HVAC system does, whereas a coil-sanitizing light will remain on 24 hours a day throughout the entire cooling season.
Coil-sanitizing lights tend to be slightly less powerful and also a bit cheaper compared to air-sanitizing lights. Although air-sanitizing lights are usually a bit more expensive, they also tend to be more effective as they usually emit a higher wavelength of light.
The specific wavelength of the light that the unit emits will also directly affect the overall cost of the unit. Higher-wavelength lights are again much more effective, which means they are more expensive than the more basic, lower-wavelength UV lights.
If you’re willing to pay a bit more, you can also upgrade to a higher-quality unit with more advanced features. For instance, some of the better units will come with an LED display panel. This type of unit can be quite handy as the panel will tell you if the system needs any maintenance or repairs and also alert you when you need to replace the light bulb in the unit.
Modesto’s Indoor Air Quality Experts
At Honey's Air & Solar, we are your number one choice for indoor air quality services in Modesto. Our team specializes in installing UV lights as well as whole-home air purifiers and a range of other IAQ equipment. We also install, repair, and service central heating and cooling systems, ductless mini-split systems, and ventilation systems as well as water heaters, backup generators, whole-house fans, and solar panels. For more information on the benefits of installing UV lights in your home or if you have any questions, give us a call today.
