How to Avoid and Combat Mold in HVAC Equipment

Although your HVAC equipment can be one of your best weapons for combating mold, under certain conditions, it can also become a haven for mold. Fortunately, there are some reliable methods for treating and preventing mold in your HVAC system.

How to Detect Mold in HVAC

Generally, you can tell if you have mold in your HVAC system if you smell a strong, musty odor. Here are some other signs:

• Mold around air ducts or intake vents

• Leaks or puddles inside the HVAC or on the floor

• Household occupants are subject to coughing or congestion

Why Do You Have Mold in HVAC?

Mold usually occurs in the HVAC system because of these factors:

• Warm, damp conditions in the home

• Leaky ducts allowing damp air into the system

• An overflowing condensate drain

• A dirty air filter that prevents good airflow, resulting in excess condensation on evaporative coils

To get rid of the excess moisture in your system, have your HVAC consultant fix the disconnected or damaged ducts. If the condensate drain is plugged to overflowing, it's an easy fix with bleach and flushing it with water. And, be sure to change the air filter regularly. You might also need to have the evaporative coils cleaned now and then.

Other Treatments for Mold in HVAC

If your home has high humidity in the summer, you may want to address that. Besides the already-mentioned remedies, try removing humidity with a portable dehumidifier. If this doesn't help, you might discuss installing a whole-house dehumidifier with your HVAC consultant. Also, discuss installation of UVGI (ultraviolet germicidal irradiation) lights in your HVAC to get rid of mold. 

Other actions you might ask your HVAC consultant to take:

• Treat the HVAC system with an EPA-approved disinfectant, manufactured for HVAC systems.

• Apply a mold inhibitor to all the components of your HVAC.

• Find which ducts are most affected by moisture and mold, and clean, fix, and replace them as needed.

• Have air intakes near areas where organic materials might accumulate checked and cleaned if needed.

For more on mold in HVAC, contact Air Assurance of Broken Arrow. 

How Much Trouble Can Mold Cause in Your HVAC Unit?

HVAC mold can reduce heating and cooling efficiency. What’s more, it can also be the source of allergic reactions and illness in certain persons with sensitivity to mold spores. Microscopic airborne spores that spread mold contamination easily infiltrates houses and are eventually drawn into the airflow of the home’s HVAC system. Here are some examples of the places HVAC mold can develop in cooling and heating units — and perhaps the problems it can cause for occupants of the house as well. 

• Ductwork. Airborne spores accumulating inside ductwork are often exposed to condensation due to high indoor humidity. This moisture triggers dormant spores to turn into active HVAC mold growth. Toxic reproductive spores may be spread throughout the house by contaminated ductwork and can be the source of serious allergic reactions in some individuals.

• AC coils. As airflow passes through the central air conditioner evaporator coil in the indoor air handler, spores present in the airflow contact condensation inside coil passageways. Resultant HVAC mold growth in the coilinhibits coil heat transfer and degrades cooling efficiency. In time, mold growth may obstruct AC airflow through the coil.

• Condensate drain pan. Situated beneath the indoor air handler, the condensate drain pan collects many gallons of condensation daily during summer AC operation, safely diverting the water into a plumbing drain line. Spores from the AC airflow may contaminate the wet pan and trigger active mold. This mold growth frequently clogs the condensate drain line, causing the drip pan to overflow, which can cause indoor water damage. 

To Prevent HVAC Mold

• Replace the HVAC air filter every month during the summer AC season and at least every other month when the furnace is running in the winter.

• Schedule annual preventative maintenance. This in-depth procedure provided by a qualified HVAC contractor includes inspection of the system for signs of HVAC mold in coils, ductwork, and the condensate drain.

• Reduce indoor humidity. To thrive, mold prefers humidity levels above 50%. If you live in a humid climate, consider a whole-house dehumidifier to reduce indoor mold contamination.

Ask the professionals at Air Assurance for advice and expert service to prevent or eliminate HVAC mold growth.

Odor Eliminators in Your Ducts: Will They Work?

Having clean ducts is crucial to maintaining a high level of indoor air quality. Not only can dirty ductwork emit certain volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that can be bad for your health and allergies, they can produce unpleasant odors throughout your home. You can eliminate stinky culprits from your ducts using special odor eliminators.What Is an Odor Eliminator?As the name suggests, an odor eliminator gets rid of any odors that it comes in contact with. In general, there are two types of odor eliminators. One type simply masks the smell by releasing a stronger smell into the air. This is the most simplistic approach to odor control because it doesn’t solve the more serious problem of having potentially dangerous compounds in your ducts.The second type of eliminator is much more sophisticated and is designed to neutralize the compounds causing the odor. These are tailored to each specific cause or application. The smell of molecules is a result of their specific composition. Odor neutralizers work by breaking down the molecules of the target compounds into smaller forms (with different compositions) that don't omit a smell.Odor Neutralizers for DuctsOver time there can be an accumulation of mold, mildew and VOCs in your HVAC ducts. Events like flooding are fairly common, and can cause rapid mold and mildew growth, which will emit a significant odor if left untreated.As mentioned above, you need the right product for the job, and your HVAC ducts are no different. There are special eliminators you need to get just for your ducts and HVAC system.These products are designed to go into various parts in and around your HVAC system (ducts, coils, basement, etc.) and neutralize common indoor air pollution compounds.Many of these products not only break down the offending compounds, acting as odor neutralizers, but they also contain chemicals with a strong smell that will mask any remnants of the target compounds.For more information about maintaining the HVAC system in your Tulsa or Broken Arrow area home, contact the experts at Air Assurance.Our goal is to help educate our customers in the Tulsa and Broken Arrow, Oklahoma area about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems). 

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