Everything You Need To Know About Dealing & Preventing Air Conditioner Mold
The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that mold needs oxygen, food, and moisture to form. Thus, any surface in your home that’s moist could be subjected to mold brought, including your home air conditioning system. Air conditioner mold is especially hazardous given that it can spread throughout your entire living environment in virtually no time, causing serious health problems among all human residents and pests. For this and other reasons, you should have your air conditioner inspected by a licensed HVAC technician on a regular basis.
Effective Strategies for Preventing Mold in Your A/C System
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In the event that you notice mold growing in your air conditioner, you should take fast action to prevent major and widespread property damage. The effects of mold damage can be incredibly costly to reverse. Moreover, your home insurance will only cover repairs resulting from mold damage when this damage is the result of a covered event like a faulty appliance or a flood. Ultimately, protecting your air conditioner from mold can save you lots of cash. Following is some additional info on spotting, dealing with, and preventing A/C mold.
Why Having Mold in Your Air Conditioner Is So Dangerous
Even though mold might not be life-threatening, Medical News Today reports that mold can be responsible for myriad health problems throughout homes. To be specific, mold produces harmful toxins that have a negative impact on the respiratory system and can cause issues such as breathing troubles, allergic reactions, and conditions like aspergillosis. The effects of mold are intensified when it’s growing unchecked in air conditioners given that it gets circulated throughout entire homes. Mold can even have a negative impact on air conditioner performance, particularly if it’s allowed to spread to electrical components.
Evidence of Mold in Your Home Air Conditioning System
Because it’s so dangerous to have mold growing in your home, you have to be vigilant to spot signs of mold in your A/C equipment. Mold has a tendency to hide in most components of air conditioning systems where it isn’t always easy to see. More importantly, if mold spores never actually sprout, you may not be able to detect them at all with the naked eye. The best way to know if your air conditioner, ventilation system, or general living environment are affected by mold is to have a certified HVAC company take a look.
HVAC professionals have the skills and necessary experience for identifying mold problems even when mold spores remain microscopic. Understanding this, you should still be on the lookout for the following indicators of mold development:
- Dank, Musty Smells: Experts recognize dank, musty smells as being the very first and most evident signs of mold and mildew development. As such, if you have a musty smell in your home and cannot determine its actually source, this is likely an indication of a moldy air conditioner.
- Visible Evidence: Even though mold can be microscopic, especially when it’s still forming, it’s capable of producing spores as it develops and it will become increasingly visible even to the naked eye. It’s also important to note that depending upon how much light, moisture, and food is available, mold can present in various hues. Mold can be white, grey, black, purple, brown, red, orange or even green among other colors. Colored molds tend to be far easier to see.
- Health Problems: If one or all building residents or pests fall sick when your air conditioner is running, you should have your home cooling equipment inspected for mold. Common symptoms of health issues that may be mold-related include coughing, itchy and watery eyes, and sneezing. Some people may experience itchy skin, stuffy noses, wheezing, or other allergic reactions of this type. People with asthma are also likely to have more frequent and more severe asthma attacks.
How to Clean Mold Out of Your Home Cooling System
Understanding the risks involved in cleaning mold, is a task that is best placed in the hands of a trained HVAC professional. You should also note that only an experienced HVAC contractor will have the expertise and skills for competently managing problems of this type. Bearing this in mind, get in touch with a reputable HVAC company in your area so that they can inspect your cooling equipment, clean it, and properly maintain it. This will allow them to eliminate all mold and prevent it from forming again.
How to Avoid Air Conditioner Mold in Your Home
As soon as you identify mold in your home cooling equipment, and contact a licensed HVAC company to deal with it, plenty of damage will have already been done. It is always easier and cheaper to prevent A/C mold than it is to resolve this issue once it’s already present in your air conditioning system. Regular A/C maintenance performed by qualified HVAC contractors can go a long way to keeping mold problems at bay. Your HVAC technician can prevent mold by taking the following steps:
- Disinfecting Your Air Conditioner: More often than not, professional disinfection of your air conditioner, your ducting system, and other aspects of the ventilation system is an effective way to kill of harmful microorganisms like mold. Qualified HVAC contractors use EPA-approved disinfectants when completing this task.
- Regularly Replacing or Cleaning A/C Filters: Depending upon how much pollution is in your home, you may want to clean the air filter in your air conditioner once every two weeks or even more frequently. This component should be replaced by your HVAC company once every 45 to 90, as per the United States Department of Energy.
- Using a Mold Inhibitor: Mold inhibitors are chemical applications that prevent mold and mildew from forming.
- Keeping Your HVAC Air Ducts Clean and Dry: Moist surfaces provide the ideal living environments for mold and mildew. Given that HVAC air ducts are prone to retaining lots of moisture, enlist your HVAC company to help you keep them nice and dry. HVAC companies can clean your air ducts, perform all necessary repairs, and replace any components that have been damaged by water or time.
- Have a UV Light Installed: UV lights kill nearly all microbes including mold and many types of bacteria making them an effective preventative measure against air conditioner mold.
Conclusion
Air conditioner mold can cause serious damage to your home and multiple health issues across all building residents. This makes it important to hire a trusted HVAC company to perform regular air conditioning equipment inspections and cleaning. You can also get tips from your HVAC contractor on how to prevent mold growth in your home.
Contact Townsend Energy for Expert HVAC Services
Townsend Energy provides superior HVAC services throughout Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine. We are staffed by friendly and highly trained technicians who all have professional certifications. They can handle your system tune-ups and repairs, and they can even replace or install all-new cooling equipment. With their service experience, they’re guaranteed to service your heating and cooling equipment correctly.
When you hire Townsend Energy for mold prevention and general HVAC services, you’re sure to get competitive pricing. You can additionally count on our maintenance services to save you energy, lower your carbon footprint, and improve your home comfort. If your HVAC equipment needs to be replaced, you can even count on us to help you find the right model. Everything that we do for our clients is backed by our solid guarantee. If you want to schedule an appointment, call Townsend Energy right now. Our onsite estimates don’t cost a thing.
Contact us now at (800) 722-4101 to find out more!