Why Is Mold Growing In The Ducts, And How Can Duct Cleaning Service Help Prevent Future Growth? | San Antonio, TX
The air ducts are the largest component of your home’s HVAC system. They are critical for the smooth and efficient operation of your home’s cooling and heating system because they supply heat and cooled air within your San Antonio, TX home. Today, there are many air duct options in the HVAC market, including fiberglass, flexible, rigid sheet metal, and fiberboard ducts.
But whatever the type of air ducts you install at your home, they could be where the mold and mildew grow because they are dark, moist, and hot. Therefore, you should hire a professional duct cleaning service technician to clean the ductwork and disinfect them. To understand how you can prevent mold growth, you should first know why the ducts form a great place for them to breed and thrive. Below are the main reasons:
Why Does Mold Breed and Thrive in the Ducts?
Humidity
The air ducts are home to various aspects that could make the mold spores breed, grow, survive, and even spread to the other parts of your home. They compromise the indoor air quality because they are dark and warm and have moisture within. Optimally, the humidity should be between 30% and 50%. However, they could be higher in the months of summer, resulting in more condensation.
Mold will grow spontaneously as the cool air from the AC unit flows through the highly humid air ducts. Because the air ducts are dark, it could take some time for the homeowner to notice the issue and call for help from a licensed and professional duct cleaning service provider.
Dirty Air Filters
The air filters are the parts of your HVAC’s air ducts that trap the contaminants and pollutants of the air, ensuring that they don’t enter the air conditioning system or into your home. They ensure the AC system is protected from any damage. The dust, pet dander, dirt, and other air contaminants are some of the things that could clog an air filter within your HVAC unit.
Failing to call for a professional duct cleaning service to replace or clean the air filters will increase the chances that the air ducts will get dirty and clogged. Some of the contaminants enter the air ducts and into your home. Because mold feeds on the organic particles, dust particles, and debris entering the air ducts from the unit’s filters might act as mold food, making it grow spontaneously.
The organic contaminants inside the dirty ductwork, combined with the high humidity levels, could make your home an ideal space for the mold to breed and thrive. Are you the kind of a homeowner that pays attention to maintenance? Then you should retain a duct cleaning professional in San Antonio, TX, for regular duct cleaning and inspection. If they notice that mold develops inside, they will use an antimicrobial fogger to clean the air ducts and kill the mold.
Poor Insulation
Most HVAC professionals will prioritize the insulating duct as an essential component to ensure that the desired coolness or heat supply is maintained in your home. Insulation also helps lower the energy utility bills as it could make the air conditioning system operate at peak efficiency. This ensures that all the rooms at your home get enough supply of heated or cooled air in the winter and summer seasons.
The cool air moving via the warm pipes will cause condensation that could leak because the air ducts are poorly insulated. This problem required the attention of a licensed HVAC technician. The gaping within the ductwork could make the conditioned air escape off the HVAC unit, resulting in high energy utility bills.
Besides the higher energy use, the poorly insulated air ducts could also allow the dust and other pollutants like the mold spores to sneak from the system and other moist places in your home. Small openings could also allow spores in. Since they breed in dark and humid spaces, they will multiply quickly. The professional might notice the tiny gaps, molds, microscopic issues, and fractures in the air ducts as they perform a duct cleaning service and immediately resolve the issues.
Preventing the Growth of Mold Within the Air Ducts
Ductwork Inspections
The professional AC repair technician can also inspect your ductwork and the AC unit, meaning they will notice any underlying issues such as mold growth early. Mold could be detected through a moldy and musty smell or visible mold. This Fungus results in allergic reactions, sneezing, wheezing, watery or itchy eyes, or even respiratory issues. Hence, the regular inspections and maintenance of the air ducts and the HVAC system combined with a duct cleaning service can ensure that mold doesn’t thrive within the ducts.
Moisture Control in the ACs and Air Ducts
Controlling temperatures and moisture in the air conditioner and air ducts is among the best ways of preventing molds from thriving or breeding in the ductwork. A duct cleaning service technician in San Antonio, TX, will inspect the air ducts for leaks that could result in water damage and resolve it. If the leaks have caused water damage already at some areas of your home, they use dehumidifiers to remove the water and dry the affected parts of the duct system and your house. The professional might even recommend that you install a dehumidifier to regulate the moisture levels in your home.
Cleaning the Condensate Drains
The condensate drain pans are notoriously known for causing the formation of extra moisture within the air conditioner whenever they are clogged. Unfortunately, this increases mold growth that might spread into the air ducts. Therefore, you should have a duct cleaning service technician clean and disinfect the ductwork and the AC system to ensure that no clogs or any form of dirt will obstruct the smooth flow of the condensate from flowing smoothly into the drain lines and pans.
Proper Sealing of the Air Ducts
Duct cleaning service providers also can ensure that the air ducts are properly insulated and sealed. This insulation prevents the condensation from forming in the spaces where the air has been conditioned those that it hasn’t. This eradicates any possibility of mold growth in the house and protects your home from allergic reactions and structural damage.
The Highest Quality HVAC Services in Texas
Are you looking for a duct cleaning service? bluefrog Plumbing + Drain + HVAC of San Antonio, is your go-to service provider. We use various cleaning materials and antimicrobial foggers to eradicate any mold that could have formed in the air ducts. Call us at any time for any AC repair service.
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