Ozone Generator Product Overview
The Best Ozone Generators to Remove Odors and Disinfect

Ozone generators are great tools for removing odors and decontaminating homes, vehicles and businesses. However, buying the best ozone generator can be a challenge when most ozone generator reviews are advertisements for disposable products. BoiE ozone generators are the real-deal, unique and rugged machines manufactured in the U.S. in an EPA-registered facility as required by federal law. When you buy an ozone generator from BoiE, you are getting a commitment to quality and service for life.

Ozone Generator Topics

• Why Buy an Ozone Generator from BoiE?
• BoiE Ozone Generator Advantages
• Practical Uses for Ozone Generators
• What Size Ozone Generator Do I Need?
• Will Ozone Kill Mold in My House?
• Can Ozone Permanently Remove Cigarette Odors?
• What is a Shock Ozone Treatment?
• Are Ozone Generators Effective Against Viruses?
• How to Use Ozone Generators To Disinfect Viruses
• Can Air Purifiers Protect Against Viruses?

Why Buy an Ozone Generator from BoiE?

BoiE ozone generators are manufactured at our EPA-registered facility in North America. Ozone generators sold in the U.S. are required to have an EPA registration number printed on the product label. Our company builds rugged, high-power ozone generators using the latest ozone technologies and high-quality, energy-efficient components. BoiE high output ozone generators remove strong odors and disinfect bacteria, viruses and mold spores. Our portable ozone generators are the industry's most powerful and durable units that can operate in harsh conditions and keep doing their job.

When you have serious odor problems or decontamination needs in a home, apartment, vehicle or business, you'll want to buy an ozone generator that can do the job quickly and completely. BoiE manufactures commercial ozone generators to solve odor problems. Buy a high-performance ozone generator from an EPA-registered manufacturer who stands behind every product with a money-back guarantee and lifetime customer support. With minimal maintenance, BoiE ozone generators can last a lifetime.

BoiE Ozone Generator Advantages

• Portable and compact design for transporting and storage
• Product cases can be opened to inspect, clean or repair the ozone generator
• Multiple operating positions and duct attachments for vehicles and enclosed spaces
• Simple operation with a one-touch electronic countdown timer
• Removable and replaceable power cords
• Industrial transformers with stainless steel electrodes
• Ozone-resistant construction materials that limit corrosion
• User-serviceable components replaceable with simple tools
• Overcurrent-protection for electrical safety
• Warranty and unconditional 30-day return policy
• Over 99 percent customer satisfaction and success stories

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Practical Uses for Ozone Generators

Ozone generators neutralize contaminants in the air and on surfaces, removing strong odors from chemicals, mold, smoke and decay. The oxidation process breaks down and removes the contamination rather than masking the odor. Unlike chemicals that leave a residue, an ozone generator leaves nothing behind. Hotel rooms and cruise ship cabins are prime examples of spaces that can be cleaned with ozone when the rooms are turned over.

Use ozone generators to remove odors in homes, basements, crawl spaces, apartments, offices, gyms, sports equipment, fitness centers, locker rooms, vehicles, boats and much more. Ozone generators can deodorize individual items by simply enclosing or tenting them in plastic, then connecting the ozone generator to the enclosure. An ozone generator can disinfect and deodorize any space then can be left unoccupied during the treatment.

Ozone generators are essential tools for flood and fire restoration, mold remediation, crime scene clean up, sanitizing trash dumpster rooms, and to decontaminate daycare centers, schools and medical centers. Ozone removes odors from clothing and shoes, a process called ozone dry washing. Hunters use ozone generators outdoors to mask human scent to stay hidden from wildlife. Water ozonators can purify drinking water or generate chemical-free sanitizing sprays.

See BoiE's Ozone Generator Buying Guide for details about ozone generator uses.

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What Size Ozone Generator Do I Need?

You need approximately 1,000 mg/hr of ozone to treat 1,000 cubic feet of volume with enough ozone to make odors go away permanently. For example, a 10 ft. x 10 ft. room with a 10 ft. ceiling equals 1,000 cubic feet. Multiply length x width x height to calculate the volume you need to treat.

If an ozone generator has an ozone capacity of 1,800 mg/hr, that unit can shock treat 180 sq. ft. with 10 ft. ceilings and would have an adequate capacity for vehicles or individual rooms. If used in a large home, the unit would mask odors temporarily with ozone's pungent scent, but the odors would quickly return.

We produce ozone generator models for large and small spaces. BoiE ozone generators have the power to reach the ozone concentration needed to perform useful cleaning for the area needed. Restoration service companies use BoiE ozone generators during clean-up projects because our ozone generators produce concentrated ozone to effectively oxidize VOCs, mold and other contaminants.

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Will Ozone Kill Mold in My House?

An ozone generator can kill mold spores in the air and on surfaces if the ozone generator output is high enough. If the volume is too large for the ozone generator, the ozone concentration will dissipate faster than it is replenished and the area will never reach an ozone concentration high enough to kill the mold. This is called machine plateau.

That is why it is important to understand ozone generator output before buying one. When you look at an ozone generator, the first question should be how many milligrams of ozone does it generate per hour, and is that enough output for the largest space you may need to treat? The greater the ozone output, the less time the ozone generator will need to run to complete an effective ozone treatment.

Do not be misled by claims that running an ozone generator for hours will remove mold and odors from an entire house or a large space. An undersized ozone generator will never reach a high enough ozone concentration to clean and disinfect and will often result in worse odors.

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Can Ozone Permanently Remove Cigarette Odors?

Cigarette smoke can be a challenging pollutant to remove, even with an ozone generator. Smoke is a carbon-based odor that gets trapped within the small voids in porous materials such as carpet and upholstery. Smoke can also form a thin film over hard surfaces like walls and ceilings. The cigarette smoke odor you can smell is generally a small part of a larger smoke odor source, which is why smoke odors can persist even after an ozone generator has run.

Tobacco smoke odor contains tar, phenol, acid, sterpenoids and other compounds that stick to surfaces and can be hard to remove entirely. An ozone generator can remove cigarette smoke odors that have occurred recently, such as cigarette smoke in motel rooms. However, as smoke residue builds up, cigarette smoke becomes embedded in soft surfaces and sticks to hard surfaces, leaving dust-like particles on furniture, even inside ducts and cabinets.

Vacuuming smoke particles, wiping surfaces with a rubber soot sponge, steam cleaning and using mild detergents may all be needed in addition to an ozone generator to remove cigarette smoke odors. Until microscopic smoke residue is removed, smoke odors will return. It may take several attempts for an ozone generator to remove cigarette smoke odor from a building or vehicle. An ozone generator is a cigarette odor eliminator, provided that the ozone makes contact with all smoke-affected surfaces and that other cleaning methods are used as needed.

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What is a Shock Ozone Treatment?

A shock ozone treatment means to apply an ozone concentration known to permanently remove odors and contamination. In ozone generator testing conducted by the U.S. EPA National Risk Management Research Laboratory, a minimum ozone concentration of 5 parts per million (ppm) was required to shock (eliminate) resistant bacteria specimens.¹ Reaching 5 ppm generally requires the generation of approximately 1,000 mg/hr of ozone for a volume of 1,000 cubic feet and can vary based on environmental factors.

A shock ozone treatment is performed by observing precautions and following the manufacturer directions. The ozone treatment time is based on the volume of the space and the power of the ozone generator. The area must be unoccupied, which includes pets and plants. After the ozone treatment, the ozone must dissipate before reentry (unless wearing a respirator). The speed of normal air recovery increases with temperature and ventilation.

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Are Ozone Generators Effective Against Viruses?

Yes. Researchers at Fujita Health University confirm that ozone exposure deactivates SARS-CoV-2 (technical name of the coronavirus which causes COVID), during experiments using an ozone generator in a sealed chamber. The Fujita study suggests that ozone continues to be effective against current and previous coronavirus strains.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that concentrated ozone can be used to disinfect vacant spaces. "High concentrations of ozone in air, when people are not present, are sometimes used to help decontaminate an unoccupied space from certain chemical or biological contaminants or odors (e.g., fire restoration)."² The EPA further states that high concentrations of ozone in air may be appropriate if conditions are controlled to prevent exposure to humans and pets.

A virus has no defense against ozone, which had a 99.22% kill rate during the 2003 SARS coronavirus pandemic.³ Ozone has proven, wide-reaching sanitizing applications for homes and businesses. In laboratory experiments conducted by Kowalski et al, an ozone generator removed 99.99% of bacteria within 40-60 seconds of exposure to air ozonation.⁴

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How to Use Ozone Generators To Disinfect Viruses

The U.S. Army has reviewed the effectiveness of using ozone to eliminate the coronavirus within buildings and vehicles and has released guidelines for ozone generator use.⁵ Below are the key conclusions from the U.S. Army Public Health Center:

• Ozone generators can be used to disinfect areas such as rooms, vehicles, and buildings for coronaviruses.
• Ozone generators significantly reduce the amount of manual effort required to disinfect all surfaces.
• Surface cleaning should precede the ozone disinfection process to allow the gas to make contact with surfaces.
• Conditions should be sufficiently controlled to ensure that no person or pet becomes exposed.
• An ozone meter should be used to ensure that the ozone concentration drops to an acceptable level before reentry.

When used with proper protocols, an ozone generator is a proven disinfectant that safely kills both airborne viruses and those on hard and soft surfaces. Ozone reacts to contamination thousands of times faster than bleach and leaves no harmful chlorinated by-products. Concentrated ozone can safely decontaminate a room, a vehicle, upholstery, air and surfaces.

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Can Air Purifiers Protect Against Viruses?

There is no evidence that they do. Millions of air purifiers are sold in the U.S. each year. What air purifier manufacturers won't tell you is that effectiveness against viruses is unknown. Viruses are very small (.004 to 0.1 microns) and can pass through HEPA filter material. HEPA air purifiers have been proven to trap larger particles such as dust and bacteria, but contain openings much larger than viruses. The amount of protection offered against any type of virus is unproven.

Researchers studying the use of portable HEPA air filters have concluded that "there is a complete absence of evidence as to whether they actually reduce the acquisition of [viral] infections" because relevant studies have only reported on the removal or capture of airborne bacteria, which can be hundreds of times larger than viruses. "Our systematic review uncovered a considerable gap in evidence around whether portable air filters reduce the incidence of respiratory infections, including SARS-CoV-2."⁵

Air purifiers are passive devices that can only act on air passing through, while much of the contamination that causes odors or sickness is present on surfaces the air purifier can never reach. On the other hand, ozone spreads and saturates the air along with fabric and carpets, breaking down volatile organic compounds (VOCs), mold, bacteria, viruses and other contaminants.⁶ For serious odor elimination and viral disinfection of a large, unoccupied area in a short period of time, ozone generators far surpass air purifiers.

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References
1. Raymond S. Steiber, Ozone Generators in Indoor Air Settings, National Risk Management Research Laboratory (1995)
2. EPA, Office of Indoor Air Quality. 2020. Ozone Generators that are Sold as Air Cleaners
3. Dr. Kenneth K. K. LAM PhD. 2004. OzoneTech. Ozone Disinfection of SARS-Contaminated Areas
4. W. J. Kowalski, W. P. Bahnfleth, and T. S. Whittam, Ozone Sci. & Eng., 20, Page 5 205-221 (1998)
5. Hammond A, Khalid T, Thornton HV, Woodall CA, Hay AD. Should Homes and Workplaces Purchase Portable Air Filters to Reduce the Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 and Other Respiratory Infections? A Systematic Review. PLoS One. 2021 Apr 29;16(4):e0251049. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0251049. PMID: 33914823; PMCID: PMC8084223.
6. U.S. Army Public Health Center. 2020. Technical Information Paper No. 98-115-0420 Use of Ozone Generators Against COVID-19

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