Lume & Lume+ Review: UV-C Sanitizer

COUPON – Save 10% on your order with this link.

The Lume and Lume+ are both sanitizers that use UV-C light to sanitize everyday items around your home. The regular Lume is a small unit, while the Lume+ has a large form factor for larger items.

Pick the size that is right for the items you want to clean and you’re ready to go.

Pros

• Uses UV-C light to clean, no chemicals or messes
• No filters to replace and easy to use
• Good value considering the relatively low price point
• Reasonably fast. Takes 8 minutes to sanitize.

Cons

• Size of the original Lume may be too small for some items
• Larger Lume+ requires a larger footprint and takes up more space on your counter

Table of Contents

• Performance
• Design
• Size
• Accessories
• Setup
• Maintenance
• Value
• Specifications
• Summary

Lume / Lume+ Performance

So how well can UV light really disinfect? For the answer, we studied the testing results from the independent testing lab, Intertek.

How do they test?

The lab tests against two microorganisms:

1. Escherichia coli (common name: E Coli)
2. Salmonella typhimurium (common name: Salmonella)

Intertek ran three different trials to see how well the Lume performed and run each test for the 8-minute cycle time.

What were the results?

In all 3 trials, both of these sanitizers were able to reduce the percentage of microorganisms by >99.999%—a nearly flawless performance from these UV-C sanitizers.

Lume Sanitizer Test Results

The exact level that each Lume was able to reduce organisms by had a slight variation to note.

The Lume had a Log₁₀ score of >5.0 while the Lume+ had a Log₁₀ score of >4.0.

This basically means that the Lume+ was able to get the sanitize slightly more than the standard Lume, but honestly, the difference feels negligible in terms of overall performance.

Lume+ Sanitizer Test Results

You can find the complete independent lab testing data at the links below:

• Lume Intertek lab testing data
• Lume+ Intertek lab testing data

Lume Design

The Lume sanitizer is a matte white box with a sleek, modern aesthetic and simple controls. It comes in two different sizes and uses ultraviolet light to sanitize items placed inside the sanitizer.

How does it work?

This sanitizer is simple to use. Here’s the step-by-step guide:

1. Open the sanitizer.
2. Place an item that you want to clean inside the box.
3. Close the sanitizer.
4. Press the start button on the top.

It’s incredibly easy. Once the item is inside, a UV-C light will begin operating to sanitize the item. It takes 8 minutes to complete the sanitization process.

What can the Lume clean?

The Lume is designed to clean a variety of items, including:

• Cell phones
• Small tablets
• Keys
• Wallets
• Baby items (like bottles, pacifiers, lovies, etc.)
• Small toys
• Small stuffed animals
• And more

RELATED: Dyson Pure Cool air purifier review

What is UV-C light?

UV light is ultraviolet light that occurs on the spectrum right before light visible to the eye.

There are three different kind of UV light; UV-A, UV-B, and UV-C.

• UV-A and UV-B light are found commonly in the atmosphere and are responsible for effects like sunspots, aging, sunburns, and even skin cancer.
• UV-C is another kind of ultraviolet light, but not often found in our atmosphere because most of it gets absorbed by the sun before it reaches Earth’s surface.

While direct contact with UV-C light could have negative effects like UV-A or UV-B, when used in an enclosed environment, away from human contact, UV-C light is safe and useful.

UV-C light has anti-bacterial properties that can be extremely useful in sanitizing and cleaning items cast under its light.

The wavelength of UV-C light falls between 200nm – 280nm.

The Controls

The controls for the Lume and Lume+ are simple, so simple in fact it can be summarized in one button— power.

The power button is the only button on either of these purifiers and has an LED light ring around the button to highlight it.

• When the unit is on and ready for sanitization the LED light is white on the Lume+ and blue on the Lume.
• When the unit is off it simply has no illuminated color.

RELATED: How to smoke in your room without smelling it

The Outputs

The Inside

The inside of the Lume is a shallow rectangle with a small channel that allow you to thread a phone charger out the side of the unit while the sanitizer is running.

So you can clean and charge your phone at the same time.

The inside of the Lume+ is quite a bit larger and includes a couple of USB ports, Type C and USB 2.0 so you can plug devices right into the inside of the box and not have to thread a charger out the side.

The Underside

On the underside of both the Lume and the Lume+ there are 6 grippy footpads and a notch for the power cord to recess into. Upon unboxing, these footpads are actually covered with a thin piece of plastic.

When you’re ready to use the Lume, you remove the plastic and expose the true grippiness of the footpads.

While it’s a little unclear why (or if there’s a why) the Lume needs to be so stationary, they definitely do what they’re intended do.

These grippy footpads hold the Lume extremely stable and it’s actually fairly difficult to move around after setting in place.

How big is the Lume?

There are two different sizes of the Lume, a smaller (the Lume) and a larger version (the Lume+).

The smaller Lume is designed for smaller items, like cell phones, earbuds, keys, etc—mainly small items with a pretty flat profile.

The larger Lume+ is designed for larger items like toys, books, cups, bottles, notebooks, purses, hats, etc.

The standard Lume is about 100 in³ while the Lume+ is 1000 in³, making the Lume+ 10x larger than the standard Lume.

Here’s another visual for the exact size of the Lume+ sanitizer.

What’s in the box?

Whether you go with the Lume or Lume+ sanitizer, the contents of the box are identical.

Each Lume comes with the following items in the box:

• Lume sanitizer
• Power cord
• User guide

Getting Started

Thanks to the simplicity of the Lume, getting started is easy.

Just unbox, plug it in, put an item inside to clean, and press START. I would love to go on and on about additional settings or features, but that’s really all there is to it.

RELATED: Best Air Purifiers for 2022

Both the Lume and Lume+ are fast to setup, easy to use, and have relatively short cycles.

A full cycle takes 8 minutes to run, regardless of the size of the item.

How to maintain the Lume?

Since the Lume system uses UV-C light and not traditional purification methods, like HEPA filtration, the maintenance is nearly nothing.

There are no filters to replace or air vents to wipe down.

The one area you can generally wipe down is the input and output slots. Keeping these areas clear and free of dust and debris can help ensure that everything works properly for the lifespan of the unit.

Is the Lume a good value?

These UV-C sanitizers are actually pretty reasonably priced, in my opinion.

If you have a larger number of items that you want to clean often they could certainly be a good value. The exact value largely depends on what exactly you plan on sanitizing.

If you plan on mainly using it for your phone the original Lume is the better value strictly because it is smaller and comes in at a lower price point (less than half the cost of the larger Lume).

But if you want to flexibility to sanitize larger items, you may get the full benefit of the larger Lume+. It does cost more, but the ability to sanitize larger items really makes this unit useful in many different environments.

Lume Specifications

Should You Buy the Lume?

Alright, so bottom line—is the Lume right for you?

This sanitizer is incredibly easy to use and uses ultraviolet light to create a cleaner environment for products you use often.

I would recommend the Lume sanitizer if you’re looking for the following:

• Easy to use: The Lume only has one button needed to operate—just plug it in, put your item inside, and press start. There are no complicated modes or any advanced settings, which makes this sanitizer easy to use right out of the box.
• Effective: Using UV-C light to sanitize items has been proven to reduce and destroy bacteria and viruses. The test results from Lume showed this being true, where it was able to reduce E. Coli and Salmonella particulate by 99.999%.
• 2 different sizes: For smaller items, like phones or keys, the Lume is a great option. For larger items like notebooks, stuffed animals, bottles, etc, the Lume+ is the better choice.

Click here to learn more or to check the price of the Lume or Lume+ sanitizer.