Humidity affects performance in a major way--needs water vapor to work properly
Try to understand its limitations. Any device using UVC will produce some ozone. PCO devices require water vapor to produce hydroxyls instead. If you have humidity of about 60% it will probably work well. If humidity is low you won't get much hydroxyl action and its fresh feel, and will have irritating incomplete chemical byproducts. Some expensive PCO devices like Air Oasis place a gel inside to keep a supply of water vapor available for the process. I am considering one. Professional remediator units such as Titan hydroxyl generators specify 60% humidity.  I bought this small Germ Guardian and put it in my basement and was very happy with it.  Yay, i'll get more I thought. I bought some for other parts of my house and there was a very irritating smell. Put them in the garage to run and &#34;off gas&#34; and it was more horrible still.  I sent all back but one in my basement which is still performing.<br /><br />Well now I know that it was probably the humidity levels that were the issue. I'm in a very dry climate. My basement is cooler and has higher relative humidity than the rest of my house. So elsewhere in the house, I was getting ozone but little to no hydroxyl. Ozone is prone to leave breakdown products from VOCs. Here is a study of an industrial-level-remediation hydroxyl generator, which indicated it took about five days to completely break down house-fire type smoke odors in a testing room. http://envair.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Mike_Pinto_Hydroxyl_Radicals_for_Fire_Restoration_Part_2_Study_Final.pdf.  They don't discuss humidity but this one does  http://hydroxyltruths.com/Comparison-UVSystems%20Total%204-15-13.pdf.<br /><br />Just found some mold on my pantry floor from a leaky container of fruit. Pulled out several cardboard containers with visible mold. Sprayed this https://www.amazon.com/EnviroKlenz-Fragrance-Free-Non-Toxic-Treatment-Upholstery/dp/B01I00V9II all over the floor and put my Germ Guardian in the pantry with a jar of water and a fabric pad sticking out to help diffuse it into the air. So get busy lil hydroxyls and decontaminate my pantry! I will leave it for several days and re-evaluate.  Seems weird to be adding humidity to the air where mold is found, but we'll see. So far no nasty odors from the Germ Guardian like before.
Rating: 3 stars