By Peter Montana, Director of the Florida HVAC Insider

I emailed a survey to eight major UV air purifier manufacturers on April 8, 2020 asking these questions:

1. Are you providing guidelines for contractors to use when promoting your UV products specifically concerning COVID-19?
2. How are your inventories and/or lead times?

I received these responses:

Air Oasis LLC (airoasis.com), Dr. Jeff Bennert, COO

“The HVAC orders are unreal right now. Since we build our nano Inducts and countertop models in the US, we are really able to stay ahead of the competition.”

General Filters, Inc. (generalfilters.com), J. Paige Freeland, Marketing Manager

Guidelines? Customers are informed that their “Second Wind™ UV lights have been tested and found to degrade up to 53% of a family of Corona Viruses in HVAC ducting in a single pass with subsequent passes over the lamp all but completely eliminating the virus and that the testing was performed in 2013; prior to the COVID-19 outbreak.” Also “Second Wind™ brand UV Air Purifiers are also the only UV air purifiers to be listed with the FDA as Class II Medical Devices.”

Lead times? “Depending on the model, there may be slight delays; however, we have also ramped up manufacturing to accommodate this heightened demand. Inventories are continually being replenished.”

Paige mentioned one question they received from a homeowner that potentially poses a great public safety risk: “How long it would take for our UV air purifiers to disinfect an item of clothing?” The company responded “Second Wind™ UV air purifiers are intended only for use in residential HVAC systems to improve the indoor air quality of a home. UV air purifiers should be installed by a licensed contractor and used ONLY inside the safety of home’s ductwork. DO NOT USE Second Wind™ UV Purifiers for other applications or Do-It-Yourself (DIY) solutions. They are not to be used in a room, on clothing, or held while in use. Guidelines for cleaning clothing can be sought at www.cdc.gov › coronavirus › 2019-ncov, or please see our website at https://www.generalfilters.com/support/covid-19.html for links to additional sources. Remember, exposure to the germicidal UV light used in air purifiers can lead to serious damage to your eyesight and skin.”

FreshAire UV (freshaireuv.com), Aaron Engel, VP of Business Development

Guidelines? “Fresh-Aire UV is monitoring all the latest information and recommendations regarding COVID-19 from the municipal, state and federal agencies as well as staying informed on latest data and research on COVID-19. We are relaying this information to our customers making sure they understand the context that we are able to help improve indoor air quality but to base performance and expectations on proven data.”
Aaron went on to state, regarding the current pandemic, “….we are providing our expertise in UV disinfection technologies beyond conventional HVAC which now include healthcare and front line workers that urgently need to disinfect and extend the life of their PPE.”

Lead times? “As Fresh-Aire UV systems has shown to disinfect N95 masks in the study published in the American Journal of Infection Control, we are being inundated by universities, government bodies, first responders and healthcare institutions to help address their need. As a result, we believe it is in all our best interests to provide our disinfecting equipment to those who are on the front lines resulting in lead times that are extending between 2-4 weeks for our HVAC customers.”

Ultravation (Ultravation.com), Scott Russell, President

“We are unique in our industry that we manufacture everything from lamps to ballasts etc. We are focused on both our traditional customers and the health care market.”