We're giving away 100 Aerolamp DevKits, a lamp that kills germs with far-UVC.
Are you sick of getting sick in your group house? Want to test out fancy new tech that may revolutionize air safety?
Claim your AerolampWhat is far-UVC?
Far-UVC is a specific wavelength of ultraviolet light that kills germs, while being safe to shine on human skin. You may have heard of UV disinfection, used in eg hospitals and water treatment. Unfortunately, conventional UVC light can also cause skin and eye damage, which is why it's not more widely deployed.
Far-UVC refers to a subset of UVC in the 200-235 nm spectrum, which has been shown to be safe for human use. Efficacy varies by lamp and setup, but Aerolamp cofounder Vivian Belenky estimates they may be "roughly twice as cost effective on a $/CFM basis", compared to a standard air purifier in a 250 square foot room.
For more info, check out faruvc.org, or the Wikipedia page on far-UVC.
Why are we giving away lamps?
Far-UVC deserves to be everywhere. It's safe, effective, and (relatively) cheap; we could blanket entire cities with lamps to drive down seasonal flu, or prevent the next COVID.
But you probably haven't heard about it, and almost definitely don't own a lamp. Our best guess is that a few hundred lamps are sold in the US each year. Not a few hundred thousand. A few hundred.
With Aerodrop, we're hoping to:
- Reduce disease spread within our communities. More than just isolated installations, we're curious about how far-UVC performs when deployed across many locations in a community.
- Teach people that far-UVC exists. The vast majority of people simply do not know that this awesome technology is a thing you can just buy.
- Gather data about real-world usage and efficacy. Another reason people are hesitant to adopt these is that there isn't much existing data, a chicken-and-egg problem. While this isn't a formal study, we'll take this chance to survey recipients about usage.
Longer term, we hope to drive this down the cost curve. Far-UVC already compares favorably to other air purification methods, but the most expensive component (Krypton Chloride excimer lamps) is produced in the mere thousands per year; at scale, prices could drop substantially.
Who can get one?
Our target is indoor spaces with many people, to reduce germ spread, collect better data, and promote the technology. As a condition of receiving a free unit, we ask recipients to:
- Commit to running your Aerolamp for 8+ weeks
- Display an included poster explaining the benefits of far-UVC
- Fill out a regular survey about lamp usage & household sickness rates
In this first wave, we expect recipients will mostly be group houses or community spaces around major US cities.
Who's behind this?
Aerodrop was dreamt up by a cadre of far-UVC fans:
- Misha Gurevich, Vivian Belenky and others at Aerolamp, the makers of this lamp
- Scott Alexander and various funders at ACX Grants, which provided an initial $50k grant
- Josh Morrison of 1DaySooner, a charity which advocates for public health policies
- Austin Chen of Manifund, a charity which helps cool projects get funding
Questions? Reach out to [email protected]!
Claim your Aerolamp
I find this pretty exciting. Would love to see FAR-UVC become more popular, and I think this seems like a smart move to help do that. Thanks for organizing and financing!