Without UV-C
Cleaned by hand on the interval below
On-coil UV-C
Cognituv Grid: Coils that stay clean.
Cognituv Grid shines UV-C on your cooling coils continuously, so biofilm and mold don’t get the chance to build up and your air handlers keep doing the job they were designed for.
The problem and our answer
The problem
Cooling coils are wet, dark and warm, which is exactly where biofilm and mold thrive. As it builds, it chokes airflow, drags down heat transfer, and turns into odor complaints, chemical cleanings and downtime.
Our answer
Grid treats the coil where biofilm forms instead of cleaning it after the fact. It installs inside the air handler, runs 24/7, adds nothing to the airstream and uses no chemicals. With Cognituv Connect, you can see it working.
Why it matters
What Cognituv Grid does for you.
Keep coils clean
Treatment never stops, so buildup doesn’t get a head start while you wait for the next scheduled cleaning.
Protect capacity and comfort
Clean coils move air and heat the way they were designed to, which keeps comfort steady and equipment from working harder than it should.
Cut cleaning labor and chemicals
Less scrubbing, fewer chemical treatments and fewer service windows taking units offline.
See it working
Pair Grid with Cognituv Connect to measure UV-C output, coil pressure and energy, with evidence your team, auditors and leadership can see.
Identify · Apply · Verify™
How it works with Cognituv.
Identify
A call about your air handlers: coil size, access, and the odors or cleanings that brought you here.
Apply
A Grid configured to that coil, installed with minimal time offline.
Verify
Cognituv Connect measures after install, against the baseline agreed for your site.
How it mounts
Grid installs inside the air handler, on the leaving-air side of the cooling coil, aimed at the coil face and drain pan, where it runs continuously. DUCT modules can go further downstream, in the supply duct.
The evidence
How you’ll know it works.
Published research
ASHRAE research project RP-1738 measured lower coil pressure drop and better heat transfer after UV-C was installed on fouled coils, with results that varied by site.
About RP-1738 →In the field
An independent industrial hygienist compared eight solutions for a global headquarters and chose Cognituv on-coil UV-C. At an international airport, the cleaning contractor’s own swabs showed significant mold reductions in treated air handlers. A state corrections department installed it across 10 prisons in six weeks.
Case studies →On your own equipment
Add Cognituv Connect and you get numbers from your own air handlers: coil pressure, energy and air quality, measured against a baseline. If the treated units don’t show a difference, the report says so.
Get set up on Cognituv Connect →
Modeled, not measured
Coil fouling, month by month.
Biofilm grows on wet coil fins and narrows the passages between them. The fan has to push harder to move the same air, and the coil seeds mold, bacteria and their musty odor into the airstream. UV-C keeps that growth off the coil. Drag the month to compare a coil left alone with a coil under Cognituv Grid.
With Cognituv Grid
UV-C lamps on the coil face, on continuously| Without UV-C | With Cognituv Grid |
|---|
Photos: real coil fins, close up, at four levels of biofouling (Purdue University Center for High Performance Buildings). Each coil shows the photo nearest the model's film for that month; it isn't a picture of your coil. Lamp count is schematic; each Cognituv Grid is sized to its coil.
Assumes the fan holds design airflow Modeled, biofilm builds evenly along the fin Modeled, and pressure drop rises with the square of the air speed between the fins Standard. A fan and motor efficiency of 0.5 matches published fan data for a typical 5-ton unit, about 41 W per 0.1 in. w.c. Manufacturer data. The coil under UV-C is held at 5% of the untreated film Assumption.
How the model works
Fouling rates set the film each fin face builds toward without UV-C and how fast: slow 0.20 mm over a 14-month time constant, typical 0.30 mm over 9 months, fast 0.45 mm over 5 months. Free area between the fins is floored at 20%. Hand cleaning resets the untreated coil at the end of each interval. Energy is the added fan power over the clean coil, summed month by month at the runtime above.
Proven in the field.
All case studies →
PLBechly · CC BY-SA 4.0
Morgan Stanley: Chosen over seven competing solutions
Finance · Commercial office · Global headquarters · Times Square, New York, NY
A third-party industrial hygienist evaluated eight solutions for energy efficiency and occupant wellbeing. Cognituv on-coil UV-C was selected — and verified.
Vmzp85 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Phoenix Sky Harbor: Mold-free AHUs, less manual labor
Aviation · International airport · Phoenix, AZ
Cutting manual coil cleaning led to mold and a musty terminal. On-coil UV-C eliminated it — confirmed by the cleaning contractor’s own swabs.
Tennessee Department of Correction: Verified at scale across 10 prisons
Government · 10 facilities · Statewide · Nashville, TN
On-coil UV-C installed across 10 prisons in six weeks, with Connect streaming verification data from every facility.
Before you ask
Common questions about Cognituv Grid.
- Is it safe? Does it make ozone?
- Yes, it’s safe, and no, it makes no ozone. The lamps sit inside the air handler, out of sight, and the glass blocks the wavelength that makes ozone. Grid lamps are FEP-coated, so the glass stays contained if one breaks.
- Will it touch our network or BAS?
- Only if you want it to. Cognituv Connect can run on its own cellular gateway, so nothing joins your network and IT doesn’t have to open the firewall. When you want the data in your building automation system, Connect sends it over BACnet, MQTT or webhooks, alongside the controls you already have.
- What about lamp changes?
- You choose: change lamps on a schedule, or when Cognituv Connect’s UV-C sensors show output has dropped. Lamps are rated for 16,000 to 18,000 hours, depending on the environment and how they’re used.
- Will it work with our coils, coatings and warranty?
- Yes. Cognituv Grid works with standard and coated coils, and every system is backed by the Cognituv warranty.
- How long does install take?
- Not long. Cognituv Grid ships as a ready-to-install kit with universal magnetic mounts: no screws, no drilling.
Is Cognituv Grid right for your facility?
Start with a no-cost assessment: a call with an engineer and a written recommendation. We’ll size it to your equipment, or tell you what fits better.