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Any home A/C guys here?
Posted on 10/22/20 at 4:21 pm
Posted on 10/22/20 at 4:21 pm
Bought my house 3 years ago this month. Was an older home someone had remodeled and installed central air, ducts and vents, the whole works. Well last year i started to notice mold growing on my furniture and in ceiling around air vents so i called my usual ac service company out and they told me possibly air seepage around the vents. They told me to go throw some insulation around vent boxes in attic. I wasnt satisfied with that no big deal answer so i called another company. They cane out noticed vent boxes werent screwed to joists and vent boxes were in rough shape. I got them to change all vent boxes, mount the properly to joists and silicone around vent boxes. Seemed like that may have done the trick but now about a month ago i see mold again on side of my dresser that wasnt there before. Looking for some direction here please. All equipment was clean and in good working order according to both companies.
3
Posted on 10/22/20 at 4:48 pm to Relham10
What is the humidity in your house like? What do you maintain your indoor temperature at - 70, 72, 74....?
Often problems such as yours is not caused by a single issue, but perhaps 2 or more issues. Vents boxes could have been an issue that needed to be addressed and has been, but sounds like there might be some other issues in play. Here is a nice particle that can provide more insight into possible causative factors. LINK.
Where are you located?
Often problems such as yours is not caused by a single issue, but perhaps 2 or more issues. Vents boxes could have been an issue that needed to be addressed and has been, but sounds like there might be some other issues in play. Here is a nice particle that can provide more insight into possible causative factors. LINK.
Where are you located?
Posted on 10/22/20 at 5:04 pm to Relham10
most common reason for mold growth is the unit short cycling and not running long enough to remove the humidity from the home most often from a unit too big for the heat load.
likewise it could be from excess moisture from the vents sweating but it sounds like you addressed this part already
did you oversize the unit when you replaced it? that could be your main issue
likewise it could be from excess moisture from the vents sweating but it sounds like you addressed this part already
did you oversize the unit when you replaced it? that could be your main issue
Posted on 10/22/20 at 5:07 pm to keakar
Unit is 2 ton i believe and home is under 1000sq ft. Also answering the other posters question, i usually run my ac on 72-73, dont change it for day or night.
Posted on 10/22/20 at 5:34 pm to Relham10
quote:
Unit is 2 ton i believe and home is under 1000sq ft. Also answering the other posters question, i usually run my ac on 72-73, dont change it for day or night.
well you are getting high humid conditions for a reason. it could be coming up from under the floors if its a raised house or maybe some other source but that size unit is right for the house so its not an oversized unit issue.
sounds like the immediate cure would be to buy a whole house dehumidifier for now to stop the mold growth, but you will still need to solve the mystery where the high humidity is coming from.
Posted on 10/22/20 at 7:27 pm to Relham10
2 tons with a 1000 sq ft, 500 sq ft/ton, which is a old rule of thumb for sizing, and often oversizes tonnage for modern homes, and keakar explained the implications of over sizing, short cycling and excessive humidity which leads to mold growth, but you did say it is an older home so it may not be over-sized HVAC given your insulation, house leakage, etc.
You don’t keep your home excessively cold, say 68-70, which can result in condensation issues, so I’m thinking that is not the issue. It very well may be an outside air infiltration (air with high humidity) into your house - might be expected in an older house but you didn’t provide the year of the build. A blower door test would identify air infiltration issues and air infiltration sources - those can cost in the $300-500 range.
You could also have an air leak(s) in your return air ducts, pulling hot, humid air from the attic into the air handler (assuming your air handler is in the attic). I would have hoped that would have been investigated by the HVAC crew you already had there but who knows. Of course it could other issues.
These little humidiity meters can help with seeing where you stand with regards to house humidity - cheap and accurate. Relative humidities above 60% can cause mold growth problems. As keakar recommended perhaps you should look into a inexpensive dehumidifier to help until the source of the problem can be identified.
If you live in the New Orleans area Paul LaGrange is a forensic building inspector and spends a good bit of his time diagnosing these types of issues for homeowners. LINK
You don’t keep your home excessively cold, say 68-70, which can result in condensation issues, so I’m thinking that is not the issue. It very well may be an outside air infiltration (air with high humidity) into your house - might be expected in an older house but you didn’t provide the year of the build. A blower door test would identify air infiltration issues and air infiltration sources - those can cost in the $300-500 range.
You could also have an air leak(s) in your return air ducts, pulling hot, humid air from the attic into the air handler (assuming your air handler is in the attic). I would have hoped that would have been investigated by the HVAC crew you already had there but who knows. Of course it could other issues.
These little humidiity meters can help with seeing where you stand with regards to house humidity - cheap and accurate. Relative humidities above 60% can cause mold growth problems. As keakar recommended perhaps you should look into a inexpensive dehumidifier to help until the source of the problem can be identified.
If you live in the New Orleans area Paul LaGrange is a forensic building inspector and spends a good bit of his time diagnosing these types of issues for homeowners. LINK
This post was edited on 10/23/20 at 8:25 am
Posted on 10/23/20 at 10:31 am to Relham10
I have HVAC company and we install air purifiers in the duct that can help you out email me bigedlsu@yahoo.com
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