so today we're going to look at an exciting opportunity
for electricians in the shape of UVC disinfection
we've become the cleaning channel exactly gary
well you're right yeah so disinfection but not the kind of disinfection as you traditionally know
we're going to use UV-C lamp technology okay and we're going to look at it in three forms we're
looking over here in the form of doing objects and here in the form of air and in the form of
surfaces here using the same UV-C technology in three different ways gordon yeah now UVC
it is obviously challenging times we've been living in at the moment but challenges brings
opportunity and perhaps a bit like me your inbox has been full of seemingly
miracle products that offer disinfection with uvc but let's remember uvc can be incredibly dangerous
if you don't use it correctly both to objects themselves your skin and particularly the eyes
so the products we're going to look at today deal with the aspects gary mentioned but also deal with
the important safety aspects okay so let's first of all take a look at say one of these lamps or
tubes that's going to give us this uvc light that certainly we don't want to look at or be close to
our skin gordon yeah well i've got one here gary so we're going to take a closer look at this
this might look familiar it does yeah it looks very familiar apart from one glaring missing
factor there's no phosphorous coating on the outside of this what effectively is a fluorescent
tube gorgeous yeah so it is it's a it's you know uvc is not a new technology it is the
underpinnings of how fluorescent tubes work and obviously this one yeah the phosphors missing yeah
but underneath the phosphor is that uvc emission that's normally blocked by the phosphor and the
glass but obviously in this one it is a special glass for uvc and then obviously allows us to use
it to disinfect them again disinfection of uvc is not a new technology used in lots of applications
you know in water in a lot of industrial applications but obviously in these current times
it finds new applications yeah so these uvc lamps will inactivate bacteria and viruses and we know
how hot topic at the moment gordon these viruses are aren't they i think this is the lighting
industry's equivalent of Domestos but has lots of obviously, advantages that don't need chemicals and
things like that so let's look at the principle in the first one which is this this chamber here
okay it looks like an oven but it's not and what it does will disinfect objects so let's have a
look at how it works gary we're going to take a look inside our germicidal chamber open the
door you can see it's highly reflective inside so that distributes the light from our four uv tubes
evenly around the chamber and put our objects on the stainless steel shelf so let's bring in
some of our tools that need a good disinfection cool there's a old legacy tool going in i'd
imagine that's never been near anything to clean it in its time yeah well gary just just to prove
that this doesn't damage sensitive things like electronics that's my phone going in there i am
doing upgrades so if this goes horrendously wrong i get a new phone so just very brave very brave
okay so it's going to record whilst in the chamber close the door push the start button that's going
to start a one minute cycle okay so we probably see the light through here will we yeah yeah
there it is through the inspection window oh the phone's still working so uh okay so the process
is underway and we've come in through one door is there a door on the other side as well gordon
there is so go around it obviously if you have this in a in an application you might want to load
the used object at one side and unload the cleaned object at the other side so you don't mix things
up okay it has two doors you might even build it through a wall depending on the application
okay so i think we've got digital clock round here and we're counting down the time
yes we can see our one minute timer counting down disinfection in progress okay you couldn't open
that door either could you with the process going on no so there's an interlock so yeah both doors
are firmly locked while the cycle's taking place looks like your phone's still working
good picture yeah yeah i've got an emergency stop on it as well though if i needed to get in there
haven't i gordon yeah and obviously you wouldn't want to be in there yourself while that's going on
of course not okay so we're nearly out of time so we should see the light go out as well when the
clock stops yeah and they did and the door will open now yeah yeah let's have a look see if the
phone still works let's hope not yeah it looks like it is yeah okay bit of luck there for you
okay and then we can remove the objects and so now they've been disinfected okay yeah clean on the
screen now so can you show me any functions on the screen yes we've got some maintenance functions
so we can check our lamp life and if it possibly needs a lamp replacement the other button gordon
nope the other one still the other one yay okay so we're back to the start there you're going around
the other side now ah you've opened the door yes it tells you that the door's open yeah so you
can't start it until both doors are closed again the cycle start from the other side countdown
started about to start again right okay so we'll see the light come on again yep there it is
okay so the process underway for the second cycle that we're doing now
well that seemed an easier process than taking those hand tools and wiping them all
individually over in order to inactivate those viruses and germs gordon yeah you're right that's
that could be easy in there to to miss an area and obviously involves using chemicals possibly if you
if you're going to be handling something all day so yeah this is ideal for possibly think of those
supermarket scanners that people tend to have now so you don't need to visit the checkout all
the time or possibly even a museum headset again objects that are passed between lots of people
on a regular basis you may not want to subject them to chemicals because obviously chemicals
can degrade objects but as i've just proven with my phone in there yeah it's a great process for
sensitive objects you said at the start of the video you're going to give an opportunity to
electricians well i've had a little around the back there gordon it's got a 13 amp plug top
on i'm not suggesting that's going to be a great opportunity to electricians but where do you want
to take us next okay so yes it demonstrates the principle perfectly and deals with all the health
and safety aspects in one unit what we've got here is possibly an even bigger application gary
because this unit here will obviously deal with uh air right so we're talking about yet bacteria
in the air and viruses in the air and we'll inactivate them right so this one would be ceiling
mounted and the one behind us would be wall mounted in order to as you said there inactivate
these viruses etc now where's the opportunity electrician then okay obviously this this needs
careful planning and installation so that that is the opportunity electrician's probably working in
lots of sectors that could benefit from this so we're thinking officers again areas where members
of the public are coming in to give that assurance that the you know air in that environment
you're doing something to reduce the risk in the area and that's yeah so this again this this looks
like you know it looks like something else could be off of doctor who it looks like some sort of
you know air conditioning unit something like that it's not these black screens they see here
are designed to shield the user from the uv light so it can again mounted high up on the ceiling the
air passing by the uv light that's emitted from it gets inactivated okay should we take a closer look
yeah it's a look at what's inside so here's our uv lamp again lots of warning things on there you
wouldn't want to fit this in a regular light thing just in the specially designed fittings for uvc
taking out clear lamp so how many we've got in here gary there's four yeah around the actual
chamber itself so again just fit them like those fluorescent lamps were fitting a few years ago
careful handling the glass but they just click into place see the unit operating now normally
you wouldn't want to see this with your bare eyes we're just sawing this on the camera just
so you can see it working to see obviously what's going on inside this air disinfection fitting
yeah okay so let's talk about the safety precautions then gordon when either ceiling
or wall mounting this type yeah so again you don't want to be able to see the light directly
with your eye so again careful planning you wouldn't necessarily install it in
everywhere possibly say there's a mirror where the light could be reflected back down to where
somebody's working so again careful planning it is labeled obviously sort of labeling terms and then
obviously maintenance moving forward you've got to make sure those lamps remain active right they
will last for about 9 000 hours before they need places that's a good year of continuous use it is
yeah so that's um yeah again a great opportunity right and as we talk about the safety precautions
this is something where philips can come in and help you and we're going to see that when we look
at the next one because as we've gone through these actually the risk has got greater as we've
gone through and we'll see that the larger risk actually to the people in the air and the next one
and is that something that they'll help you plan and um facilitate you within yes again so phillips
have a huge wealth of experience in these in this area yeah and again it's it's it's a it's
an area you know you can they've even got down to the level where you can do a lighting design
within a common lighting design package such as relocks right because obviously things were
worried about we're going to look at next in terms of the units behind you so these look like uh
looks like regular fluorescent battens that they're not well they are but they've been
especially adapted to take uh the uv lamps you'll notice the plastic parts are shielded yeah so
because uv light over a long period of time can damage plastic components right so they're
carefully shielded but these units are designed to obviously inactivate viruses and bacteria on
um surfaces right okay let's have a look at those then so i'm just going to fit this t8 uvc tube so
again it looks like a regular fluorescent tube but something's missing garrett yeah the old fossero
coating on the inside is not there and obviously those pins are as always are really important
they're nice and straight let's see if you can fit one of these in gordon yes it is just like a
like a regular fluorescent tube to fit there obviously you notice this fitting has no exposed
plastic parts obviously because it's sensitive to uvc radiation eventually you got it in so
quarter of a turn twist so then we can energize this one up as well there you go yes again we've
taken this on a remote camera you don't want to be in the room when this happens no not at all so the
disinfecting process is currently happening gordon then yeah and we'll talk about some of the safety
precautions around that oh okay so we can now see the safety precautions these these are going to
be open lamps okay in the area gordon taught me through some of the safety measuring i've taken
yeah so again this needs careful planning and consideration because yeah you would not want to
be in the room when those lamps are on so we need to think about obviously door interlocks um yeah
occupancy sensors to make sure there's nobody in the space and again that's where philips can help
with projects to make sure that's implemented correctly and obviously you've got to make sure
you're getting the right dose of uv light yeah in the area that's where the lighting design
comes in as well because things you've got to watch for things like shadows
sometimes it's just like normal light of something yeah if you're not if you're not
covering an area with light then it's not doing the disinfection process as it's intended to so
again careful planning okay you said it was going to do surfaces okay give us some examples of
industry where the surfaces yes so think about food preparation areas possibly canteens again
obviously when there's nobody in there nothing about toilets washrooms yeah facilities like that
okay all really clever and interesting stuff and an opportunity to electricians isn't it to install
and have help obviously with the designers you get used to doing them and as well as installing these
ones as well gordon yeah so obviously hopefully we've given you a heads up you know if you work
in some of the sectors where you think this could be applicable and a benefit you know everyone's
been through challenging workplace changes at the moment this could help yeah if you want to get on
board with that philips have an extensive training program that goes with it to make sure you
understand the product and how it's deployed and implemented safely absolutely then that's
really important you undertake that training before installing these items so as always we're
interested in your feedback i'm sure it's a deep breath moment now this is all new possibly to you
is it something you're going to be considering in the future do you think it's a really good idea
and you'll be quick off the mark in order to get that training and start offering it
within the services you currently offer we'd be interested in your feedback please leave
that feedback below and we'll try and get back to as many as those comments as we can