Why does ViroPower choose UVC light and a HEPA filter?

When the ViroPower was developed in 2020, it was the first to combine UVC lamps with a HEPA filter. And even with a dust filter in front of it.

This caused some questioning from competitors, who could not believe that we, as a lighting equipment product, were opting for all these solutions instead of one. Everyone knows the devices that claim to be able to filter 99.9% of viruses and bacteria through a filter or through UVC lamps. However, in many cases, this is not an honest story. 

The HEPA filters and the UVC lamps are tested in a clinical environment. This means that one element, for example, viruses, is brought into a laboratory set-up in a closed room, and then the lamps are given time to eliminate these viruses. It is very important that the lamps are given enough time to do their work properly and that no viruses can be hidden behind other dirt. Good to test in a clinical environment, but not how it works in practice.

In practice, the air consists of more than just viruses or bacteria. There are also much larger particles in the air. For example, the particles that cause allergic reactions or fine dust. These particles are not eliminated by UVC light, but they do enable viruses and bacteria to hide in the shadow of these particles so that they do not come into contact with the UVC light and are not eliminated. 

In this way, you create a solution that works well in a laboratory, under perfect conditions, but is much less effective in practice. Let alone that it eliminates 99.9% of the viruses.

For this reason, the ViroPower has been chosen by a three-stage process. First, the coarse particles are filtered through a relatively large filter. This filter is easy to clean with a hoover. It also ensures that the HEPA filter is less heavily loaded and has a longer lifespan.
The HEPA filter, whereby you can choose between a HEPA 10 and a HEPA 13 filter for the ViroPower, ensures that the smaller particles are retained. 
Through these two filters, only the smallest particles, i.e. viruses and bacteria, can pass the first two obstacles. Above all, this ensures that the air reaching the UVC light is already free of larger particles behind which the viruses and bacteria can hide. Since the light is also led through a maze three times, the exposure to UV-C light is three times higher than that of normal UVC cleaners, which increases the effectiveness enormously.

It is therefore fair to say that ViroPower not only eliminates 99.9% of viruses and bacteria on a clinical basis, but that very good consideration has also been given to the practical aspects. As far as we are concerned, this is also much more important than the laboratory tests that other providers offer.

More and more we now see suppliers, such as the widely respected Philips and Signify, who, following the ViroPower, opt for a solution where UVC is combined with (HEPA) filters. However, our devices are produced in our own factory (Hengelo, NL), which means that we not only have all the knowledge and expertise at our disposal, but are also flexible enough to help our customers with the specific questions that each company has.