Fix water leaks in your home to prevent moisture and mold growth.If you suspect you have mold growing in the air conditioning ducts of your home, it means you have moisture in your house. Mold cannot grow without moisture. If you get rid of the mold, it will return unless you get rid of the source of the moisture. Ignoring the mold in air conditioning ducts will eventually affect your health and that of everyone in your household. Safeguard your family members’ health by eliminating mold in your air conditioning ducts.
Step 1 – Stop running the air conditioning if you suspect the ducts contain mold.
Step 2 – Get the mold you see in your air conditioning ducts analyzed by an expert for confirmation. What may look like mold may actually be something else. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) suggests you send a sample to a microbiology laboratory by placing a sticky piece of household tape on what looks like mold.
Step 3 – Wear an N-95 respirator, which looks like a paper dust mask, to avoid breathing in any mold, and don rubber gloves when examining your air conditioning ducts to get suspected mold samples.
Step 4 – Fix all plumbing and other water leaks in your home as soon as possible. Make certain you keep surfaces dry.
Step 5 – Drain any standing water around the house or drip pans under the air handling units.
Step 6 – Hire a professional heating and cooling system contractor to clean the moldy air ducts. The professional will most likely use an EPA-registered biocide or ozone for cleaning. Understand that biocides and ozone can cause health problems for some people. Consider leaving your home while the contractor cleans the air ducts using the biocide, just as a precaution.
Step 7 – Hire a professional contractor to replace a moldy or wet air conditioning duct fiberglass liner. Having the professional clean the mold with chemicals like biocide, even if approved by the EPA, is not enough to prevent regrowth of mold — it has no effect on a moldy duct liner.
