Doubling down on your comment about germicidal UV. The existing standard way to get germicidal UV is low pressure mercury lamps. They're somewhat energy ineffi

Doubling down on your comment about germicidal UV. The existing standard way to get germicidal UV is low pressure mercury lamps. They're somewhat energy inefficient, and their UV output is lifetime and temperature dependent. The long quartz tubes are fragile and its common for them to have a design lifetime of ~10k hours, and they're hazardous waste. [Aside, I believe the peak germicidal wavelength is 265nm, 253 is just the nearest line that mercury lamps have]. Some of the applications you mention might be problematic because many indoor materials aren't particularly UV durable. The idea that conventional home automation might drive germicidal lamps is kinda frightening to me. ALEXA DEACTIVATE CANCER TUBES. ALEXA! ALEXA! :P