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Q.
I saw your website and can't seem to get a straight answer from
anyone locally here as well as the fact that 2 HVAC companies and one
environmental cleaning company have me totally confused!!! Here's the
problem... we found mold in our air handler (12 year old system). I live
in Fla and have noticed over the last year or so mold accumulating on the
outside of our 14 vents within the home. We have been experiencing many
allergies and respiratory problems and so I contacted an environmental
company to look at my system and tell me what I should do. He recommended
cleaning the existing system and putting in a UV light. I went to an
HVAC company for a second opinion and his recommendation was to remove all
the flex ducts and put new ones in (to the cost of $3400) as well as
upgrade our A/C system for a clean start. Another HVAC system wanted to
clean the ducts without replacing and then put in an air purification
system with a PURON based air handler/condenser. As you can see, I am
totally in the dark as to what is the best way to go. I hear Freon is on
the way out and some companies are pushing Puron or 410 A, to be upgraded
for the future. I would like your personal opinion. In the meanwhile, I
penciled in next Tuesday on my calendar to have someone come out to
personally test for mold and the concentrations of it in our house. Do you
feel that cleaning an existing mold problem (flex duct) and putting in a
new system would do the trick, or do you believe in these 'air
purification systems' and ultraviolet lights? [December 9, 2004]
A.
All of the proposed solutions overlook a more basic problem: your home is
going to be very mold cross contaminated if your heating/cooling is mold
contaminated. The hvac is very efficient in distributing airborne mold
spores all over the house. You need to do all around mold testing of your
home including mold testing all visible mold, the air of each room, crawl
space, attic, garage, and the outward air flow from each heating/cooling
duct register for the possible presence of elevated levels of airborne
mold spores, in comparison to an outdoor mold control test. Hire a
Certified
Mold Inspector, or use our do it
yourself mold test kits [at our
online mold
products catalog]. You don't fix the hvac mold problem
without simultaneously fixing all home mold problems. As to the hvac,
flexible ducts are a throw away. Sheet metal ducts with NO interior
insulation are very cleanable and can be thoroughly disinfected with
EPA-registered fungicides. The heating/cooling system can be cleaned with
repeated mold sprayings of
Mold Home Remedy Recipe into the return air duct of your system while it is
operating on fan ventilation. Of course, it would be best to replace the
heating/cooling equipment with new ones as the last step in mold
remediation. UV lights would have to be many in number and work as a
well-engineered system to have enough killing power to kill mold [over
300,000 uwats of UV energy per second]. Learn the 25 steps required for safe
and effective
mold remediation.
Q.
My HVAC technician says I have mold in my heat pump
system. In the air handler which has the filter. He said
that by replacing my unfiltered return air grill, which
is the only return in the house (it measures 2'x2')
with one that is designed to hold a filter of its own, I
need not be concerned. Cost is less than $50.00. [Sept.
21, 2004]
A. The advice, so
far as it goes, is good. Be sure to use as the filter on
the return air duct the purple-colored packaging [best
for catching tiny airborne mold spores] advanced version
of the 3M Filtrete air filters commonly available [Home
Depot, etc.]. Although a helpful step, filtering
incoming air does not stop heating/cooling mold growth
and spores already inside the heating/cooling equipment
and ducts from being distributed efficiently out of all
heating/cooling duct registers during the operation of
the system. You need to find out why your
heating/cooling system is mold contaminated and whether your home in general
is mold contaminated.
Use do it yourself
mold test kits available from a large hardware, home improvement, or safety
store.
to mold test the air of each room,
basement, crawl space, attic, and the outward air flow from each
heating/cooling duct register for the possible presence of elevated levels of
airborne mold spores, in comparison to an outdoor mold control test.
you can use a low-cost
Mold Home Remedy Recipes available at
Mold Mart..
Learn the 25 steps required for
safe and effective
mold remediation
and
mold abatement.
Q. I have a musty smell
in the kitchen and one of the bath rooms. When I leave a wet rag in the
kitchen it gets a bad musty smell real quick. Also the bath towels take on a
wet musty smell. I don't see any evidence of mold, but I may not be looking at
the right places. The crawl space under my house didn't have any plastic on
it, so I put a layer down. Will mold collect on the air filters for the
furnace? If so what does it look like? [Nov. 22, 2004]
A.
The return air duct register's air filter will look black or
even bluish-green [most likely to be Penicillium mold] if heavily mold laden. You can use the
Scotch tape method of mold sampling to collect a sample of possible mold
growth on the incoming side of an air filter. You can thin put the Scotch
tape sample sticky side down into a mold test kit and watch for mold growth over a 7 day time
period. You also need to use our test kits to mold test the air of each
room, any attic/basement/crawl space/garage, and the outward air flow from
each heating/cooling duct register for the possible presence of elevated
levels of airborne mold spores, in comparison to an outdoor mold control
test. The fact that the towels easily become mold-smelly is indicative a
possible elevated levels of airborne mold spores. Your crawl space needs to
be carefully inspected and tested because it is likely a real mold haven.
Q. I live in San Antonio,
TX. At certain times of the year, our air conditioning system seems to
generate black mold-like growth on some of the vents or diffusers. The system
is old - was installed in 1968. We leave the central fan on continuously to
keep the air filtering and to reduce particulates in the air. Sometimes we all
feel tired and develop sinus problems. Do we need a new AC system? Or can we
change the method of operation to reduce mold problems? [June 17, 2003]
A. Your health problem symptoms and
the sighting of possible mold growth are two big reasons why you should have your home inspected and mold tested
for toxic black mold problems by either a
Certified Mold Inspector
or by
using do it yourself
mold test kits available from a large hardware, home improvement, or safety
store.
Mold can grow in large amounts inside heating/cooling
equipment and ducts if it has food to eat [airborne organic
dust] and moisture [high indoor humidity or water leaks into
heating/air conditioning equipment (hvac) and ducts]. If there
is a mold infestation problem anywhere in your home, the air
movement of heating/air conditioning systems [with air
continually being returned into the hvac equipment and ducts
through the return registers and ducts] will easily contaminate
hvac equipment and ducts. Thus, effective
mold remediation
and
mold abatement of
mold problems in one area of your home will often require the
replacement of your entire hvac system [if you can afford it],
or at least professional cleaning and proper chemical treatment
of the hvac system with one of the
Mold Home Remedy Recipes. |
Heavy mold growth on the duct register of a bathroom heating/air
conditioning
register in a bathroom.. |
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