- 60 Hartsdale Rd, Rochester NY 14622
- 7am to 7pm · 7 days a week
- Call an owner: 585 454 8422
Musty smell when the AC kicks on? That is usually growth on a wet evaporator coil, and a UV-C lamp aimed at that coil genuinely fixes it. What UV will not do is filter dust or pollen, however it gets marketed. We tell you which problem you actually have before you spend anything.
No heat in winter, no cool in a heat wave, busted lines. We answer the phone day or night, weekends included.
Here is the honest split. A UV-C lamp aimed at your evaporator coil works well. That coil sits wet for months through a Finger Lakes summer, in the dark, and that is exactly the condition mould and biofilm want. UV-C keeps it from taking hold, which stops the musty smell, keeps the coil transferring heat properly, and keeps the drain pan clean.
The other version, a lamp in the duct meant to sterilise all the passing air, is oversold. Air moves past a small lamp quickly, so contact time is short and the evidence for meaningful results in a typical home is thin. And neither type filters anything. UV does not remove dust, pollen, or dander. If your real problem is allergies you need better filtration, not a light.
Justin VanCassele and Colby Baker run AmeriHeat together. Colby is a veteran. Both owners are on jobs every week across Rochester and Monroe, Wayne and Ontario Counties.
Give them a call. They actually pick up.
Most people who call about a UV light describe one of these. Only one of them is actually a UV job.
That smell is growth on the wet coil and in the drain pan. A coil mounted UV-C lamp is the right answer and it holds up well. It also keeps the coil clean, and a clean coil moves heat better, so the system works less hard for the same cooling.
UV does nothing to particles. It never has. If the complaint is dust settling everywhere or allergies through spring and autumn, what you need is proper filtration with real surface area, not a standard one inch filter and not a light.
If the smell is there in February with the AC off, the coil is not the source. That usually points at basement moisture or a duct problem. We look for the actual source rather than putting a lamp in and hoping.
A UV lamp costs far less to fit while we already have the air handler open. If you are replacing equipment anyway, ask about doing both together.
This one is for full system installations, not a UV lamp on its own. If you are putting in a complete new system in your Canandaigua home, take $2000 off and we can fit the UV at the same time.
On approved credit. Spread the cost of a new system over two years with no interest. Ask about eligibility when you call or when we do your estimate.
Offers and financing are subject to terms and conditions. On approved credit for financing. Ask for current details at your free in-home estimate. We believe in being straight about what is available instead of using offers as a high pressure pitch.
Canandaigua summers off the lake run humid. Your air conditioner pulls that moisture out of the air all season, so the evaporator coil stays wet for months. It sits in the dark, damp, with air passing over it constantly. That is a good environment for biofilm and mould, and once it takes hold you get the smell every time the system starts. A UV-C lamp on that coil stops it before it starts, which is why coil sterilisation is the better supported use of UV in a house.
The catch nobody mentions at the sale. A UV lamp loses germicidal output long before it stops glowing. You can look at a bulb that is still lit and be getting almost nothing from it. That is why a lot of UV systems quietly stop working a couple of years in while the homeowner assumes it is fine. Roughly twelve months of run time is the replacement point. We tell you when yours is due and change it during a regular service visit.
Some UV lamps produce ozone as a by product. Ozone is a lung irritant and the EPA is direct about not deliberately putting it into occupied rooms. The distinction is the wavelength. Germicidal lamps at 253.7 nm are ozone free, which is what we fit. Lamps that emit at 185 nm do generate ozone and have no place in a home. If you already have a UV system and notice a sharp bleach or metallic smell from the vents, that is worth a call.
1st
The first thing we do is work out what the smell actually is. Coil growth, basement moisture, and a duct issue all smell musty and only one of them is a UV problem. That costs you nothing to find out.
A coil lamp goes into the air handler or plenum, positioned so it actually illuminates the coil and so no light escapes into the house. We cut the opening, mount the fixture, wire it, and check the aim. Usually a short job, shorter still if we are already in there. Then we set a reminder for the bulb, because a UV system nobody maintains is just a light that costs a little electricity.
Want to know if UV is even the right fix? Call 585 454 8422 or request an estimate. Justin or Colby will come take a look.
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Call the owners directly. We work out whether it is the coil, the basement, or the ducts, and only fit UV if UV is the answer.
Call, email, or send the form. Not a call center. We will come out to your Canandaigua home, work out what is really causing it, and give you the straight version.
