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HVAC in basement
Posted on 7/15/25 at 8:40 am
Posted on 7/15/25 at 8:40 am
Have an American Standard unit a few years old, and change the filter every 30 days. The last few weeks, there is a moldy smell coming up from the A/C vents and I can smell it through the house. I have a dehumidifier running and it catches a little water every 24 hours. Can this be from dirty coils inside the unit? Should it be cleaned, or something else? Any suggestions would help. Thanks.
3
Posted on 7/15/25 at 9:00 am to ChestRockwell
Evaporator coil could have a little mold in it that needs cleaning. Open the access panel and check it out.
If it needs cleaning, I use a foaming cleaner specifically for HVAC coils and a pump sprayer (like you use for herbicide in the yard) filled with water. Spray the foam cleaner, allow it to sit, then spray the coil with the water from the pump sprayer. The evaporator will have an integral pan (not the emergency over flow pan) for condensate and should have a drain connected to it. So when you spray the coil off, it should just drain like the condensate does.
If it needs cleaning, I use a foaming cleaner specifically for HVAC coils and a pump sprayer (like you use for herbicide in the yard) filled with water. Spray the foam cleaner, allow it to sit, then spray the coil with the water from the pump sprayer. The evaporator will have an integral pan (not the emergency over flow pan) for condensate and should have a drain connected to it. So when you spray the coil off, it should just drain like the condensate does.
This post was edited on 7/15/25 at 9:01 am
Posted on 7/15/25 at 9:16 am to southern686
Ok thanks. Could it also be the condensation line is plugged? Its PVC pipe T going out. Should have a tiny float on there. Could be clogged as well. Thanks for the input
Posted on 7/15/25 at 9:24 am to ChestRockwell
welcome. i have a whole thread on this somewhere on page 1 or 2 here.
4t unit, house built into the side of a hill so crawl space is cut into it and been fighting that stinky smell for months. this is in nashville and it hasn't stopped raining for months it feels like.
i was given nothing but bad news by hvac guy; encap$ulate the entire crawl space (4000sf house), dehumidifier (which i added), replace burned out UV lights, changed crawl space filter
(WHO KNEW!?) and ultimately inspect the ductwork after all of that is done to see if there are air leaks from condensation on the exterior of the metal housing causing the tape to come loose from the moisture. none of that was good news but i did swap the box filter and the humidifier is doing an admiral job; brought it down from 84% humidity to around 50%
This post was edited on 7/15/25 at 9:26 am
Posted on 7/15/25 at 9:36 am to CAD703X
Im not sure what all that means lol
Posted on 7/15/25 at 10:09 am to ChestRockwell
sorry
hvac guy came out and i thought he was going to check my evaporator coil but we went under the house and the ductwork was SOAKED in condensation. he didn't really want to go much further after that.
the unit is only 3 years old; i talked him into swapping the box filter (because i had no idea where it was or what the size was) and it was completely CLOGGED. apparently you are supposed to change it once a year and you dont need a hepa filter in the house return since this is doing the majority of the filtering; a green screen filter is enough just to stop pet hair from getting into the system.
there is apparently a nice UV system down there with 2 lights that sanitize..the air? i dont know..but he said one UV light is out ($300 each but i'm going to shop amazon) and he recommended replacing both if i crack that open.
but the main issue is how wet the space is. encapsulation (sealing the crawl space) is considered the gold standard for addressing the moisture & smell issue but its expensive AF. probably 5 digits expensive.
they want to inspect the ductwork for leaks that may be pulling crawl space air into the house but only after the crawlspace is properly sealed and the moisture has been pumped out.
so i all i could afford at the moment was to stick a $190 costco wifi dehumidifier down there and ran the hose into the sump pump drain so i don't have to go down there & mess with it.
the wifi great because i can monitor it to make sure its working properly and the humidity levels are down without crawling under the house on my belly with a flashlight.
tl;dr cad bought a house 1 1/2 years ago from the 1970s and was told the HVAC was only 1 1/2 years old so cad marked that off his 'things to worry about' list while we focused on all the other renovations and apparently..it wasn't quite as simple as that.
hvac guy came out and i thought he was going to check my evaporator coil but we went under the house and the ductwork was SOAKED in condensation. he didn't really want to go much further after that.
the unit is only 3 years old; i talked him into swapping the box filter (because i had no idea where it was or what the size was) and it was completely CLOGGED. apparently you are supposed to change it once a year and you dont need a hepa filter in the house return since this is doing the majority of the filtering; a green screen filter is enough just to stop pet hair from getting into the system.
there is apparently a nice UV system down there with 2 lights that sanitize..the air? i dont know..but he said one UV light is out ($300 each but i'm going to shop amazon) and he recommended replacing both if i crack that open.
but the main issue is how wet the space is. encapsulation (sealing the crawl space) is considered the gold standard for addressing the moisture & smell issue but its expensive AF. probably 5 digits expensive.
they want to inspect the ductwork for leaks that may be pulling crawl space air into the house but only after the crawlspace is properly sealed and the moisture has been pumped out.
so i all i could afford at the moment was to stick a $190 costco wifi dehumidifier down there and ran the hose into the sump pump drain so i don't have to go down there & mess with it.
the wifi great because i can monitor it to make sure its working properly and the humidity levels are down without crawling under the house on my belly with a flashlight.
tl;dr cad bought a house 1 1/2 years ago from the 1970s and was told the HVAC was only 1 1/2 years old so cad marked that off his 'things to worry about' list while we focused on all the other renovations and apparently..it wasn't quite as simple as that.
This post was edited on 7/15/25 at 10:15 am
Posted on 7/15/25 at 11:48 am to ChestRockwell
We have an HVAC in our basement, which is a daylight basement. I will assume a daylight basement doesn't have all the moldy type characteristics as full underground basements.
Other than an occasional water seepage after some hard rains, we typically don't have many issues with the basement. We have no crawlspace, it's a full basement.
As far as I know, the HVAC is a standard AC unit with no special filters.
One note, is that we typically don't run it very often since the ambient temperatures typically don't vary wildly as a typical floor above ground will.
If I do not run any AC, the temperatures might go up to the low 80s , and if I don't run the heat, the temps in the winter will drop to around 63.
In the spring and fall, we may not run the HVAC at all .
Perhaps, this is not an overall good thing for a system and could create a mold growth environment.
Other than an occasional water seepage after some hard rains, we typically don't have many issues with the basement. We have no crawlspace, it's a full basement.
As far as I know, the HVAC is a standard AC unit with no special filters.
One note, is that we typically don't run it very often since the ambient temperatures typically don't vary wildly as a typical floor above ground will.
If I do not run any AC, the temperatures might go up to the low 80s , and if I don't run the heat, the temps in the winter will drop to around 63.
In the spring and fall, we may not run the HVAC at all .
Perhaps, this is not an overall good thing for a system and could create a mold growth environment.
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