It’s no real secret that air quality in the home can be worse than the polluted atmosphere outside thanks to dust mites, flaked off skin, mold and a host of other bad stuff that make up the never ending battle of dusting and vacuuming the home. Hammacher Schlemmer now has a weapon to even the odds in that war with a vacuum cleaner that has built in UV lighting that treats the carpet while vacuuming.

Costing a whopping $500 US, the Germ-Eliminating Upright Vacuum uses a built-in 35-watt UV-C light to kill 99.9% of dust mites, viruses, bacteria, mold, flea eggs and other bacteria embedded in carpet as the vacuum cleaner’s disposable HEPA filter bag captures 99.97% of all particles as small as 0.3 microns, while the 6 1/4-amp motor sucks up your home detritus. The technology is based on the same technology found in hospitals to sterilize surgical instruments. The UV bulb is rated for 8,000 hours of use which can easily be a lifetime of sucking up at home while your spouse is busy sucking up at work.

The vacuum also comes with all standard attachments including a 13′ detachable hose with dusting brush for those out of the reach areas of the window sill, a crevice tool for hard-to-reach corners, and adjustable cleaning height to cover hardwood floors, rugs, tile, and carpet.

Source: Hammacher via Geekologie