h a l f b a k e r y"Bun is such a sad word, is it not?" -- Watt, "Waiting for Godot"
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Mould grows in some areas of the world whenever a house is left locked up for a month or so. This is due to humidity, lower air circulation and less natural light.
Natural light helps to control mould both through UV wavelengths and by evaporating moisture and moving it into the air where moulds
find it much harder to obtain.
This idea proposes selling high power UV bulbs to fit standard light fittings, expressly for the purpose of attaching to burglary avoidance timed circuits. When the owner returns from a few weeks of holiday, mould will be still under control.
This approach does not introduce chemicals to carpets and upholstery.
[link]
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I'm holding a provisional bun. What I'm
not sure of is (a) what intensity of UV
would be needed. We have germicidal
lamps in our hoods which are quite
powerful and operate over distances of
about a metre; on the other hand,
they're only on for a few hours at a
time. (b) would reflected UV
penetrating into corners, behind
furniture and other hidden areas be
enough to control mould? (c) would the
moisture-evaporating effects of a few
hundred watts of light be significant?
and (d) would the UV not tend to fade
furnishings, paintings etc? |
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// the UV not tend to fade furnishings, paintings etc?
// |
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"Curse, you, [MB], we were going to post that !" |
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UV of the correct frequency and intensity sufficent to kill moulds will have damaging effects on many standard domestic furnishings, causing bleaching of many pigments.
The materials chosen for areas where high UV levels are present are specifically engineered to exhibit resistance to damage. |
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UV can cause serious skin burns and eye damage. If you forget to close your curtains or blinds, high intensity UV may leak from your windows (some glass does block UV) and cause injury to those outside the property. |
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Maybe a dehumidifier, and leaving the
heating on for an hour a day, would be a
less irradiative solution? |
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Or...(brain racing)....take advantage of
the non-occupancy to fumigate the
house with something fairly toxic. You
could simultaneously erase many types
of unwanted pest. Just purchase a
MaxCo family-size LifeBeGone delayed-
action canister, and place it in the
hallway. Shortly before leaving, pull the
handy tab and vacate the premises
within 30 minutes. Viola! All remaining
wildlife will be killed within the next few
hours, and the residual LifeBeGone gas
will dissipate almost harmlessly long
before you return. |
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No, there are plenty of mould-killing
fumigants available. I'm not sure if
vinegar would be ideal - no idea if
exposing furnishings to acetic acid
vapour would damage them. But if it
doesn't, then glacial acetic acid is cheap
and powerful stuff. |
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Also, you'd be trading off the acetic acid
versus the humidity, and my guess is
that the humidity would do more harm
than the acetic acid would do good. |
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There are systems on the market that use UV lights installed inside heat/air ducts to kill mould. As long as you kept the system circulating air, it would offer some benefit. |
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UV is only effective over a very short range, and unlikely to work in an open room of any size. |
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As an alternative, you could use an Ozone generator to flood the house with high-dose ozone for a few hours, if you're certain it will be vacant. Very effective on mould and bacteria. |
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There are many portable air purifying devices available that are equipped with UV lights and HEPA filters one could leave to run on the built-in timers while one is away. While certainly more expensive (~$400CDN) than a bulb, they would be far more practical and energy-efficient, and could be kept in use while one was at home as well. |
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If humidity is a threat one would simply add a dehumidifier to the environment. |
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Vinegar would work if you washed things
with it. But would the small amount of
acetic acid vapour from boiling vinegar be
sufficient to kill
mould? Or would the larger amounts of
water vapour encourage mould? Not sure. |
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Holiday Bob Mould? Did he release a Christmas album? |
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Nice choice of category, incidentally. |
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Regarding the furnishings, I'm photobleaching should be comparable to having the window open and letting the sun do the mould control. |
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That depends on the emission spectrum and the intensity of the UV source. |
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Alternatively, if your house has a chimney,
just fit a MaxCo Industries Stellar Chimney
Extender, to extend it up to about
200,000ft (additional hardware may be
required). By connecting your fireplace
directly to the vacuum of Outer Space,
your house will be instantly rendered
dust- and mould-free. Remember to
remove the Stellar Chimney Extender
before re-entering house. Batteries not
included. |
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//Umm, the Stellar Chimney thing won't do
much// Yes, the technical experts at
MaxCo are aware of this. However, the
marketing department couldn't fault it. |
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// How we prevented the atmosphere from leaving prior to its introduction, I couldn't tell you. // |
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A huge bag made of stretched pig's bladders. |
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