Hi there! I live in Orlando in a home where the HVAC is in an outdoor "room". People have been having allergies and I have been noticing a mildewy smell from the vents. An HVAC guy came out and cut out part of the duct box ( see image attachment where the arrow is pointing) and it was coated in mold. He said although it is a more normal thing since we are in a humid climate and the HVAC system is outside, he recommends taking out the first 15 feet of duct and installing an air scrubber.

What do you all think of this suggestion? Is there a better, easier fix/ is a air scrubber necessary? Is this something we could handle ourselves? I'm alarmed that this is happening and I don't want it to happen again. Would love to hear your guys' opinions and anecdotes! Thank you!!

 

If there's mold in the ducts, why do you think removing only the first 15' will solve it? What about the rest of the ductwork?

There are companies out there that will clean the existing ductwork using compressed air and an industrial-sized (or truck-sized) vacuum. They finish up with an anti-microbial spray (which to be honest, I have no idea of the effectiveness). But in general, they work great for decades of gunk buildup, and supposedly work well for mold too.

As for the air scrubber, I'll have to defer to others, that's outside my knowledge.

 

I used to live in east orange county. Your air handler room isn't really outside, it's part of the inside of the house with access from the exterior. I don't know about air scrubbers either but with central fla's humidity it's often a good idea to install a dehumidifier. Sometimes running the HVAC isn't enough.

 

Thank you! I'm very new at all of this, so forgive me- is there a way to attach a dehumidifer to HVAC? Or are you talking about running dehumidifiers in the house?

How else did you maintain the AC so that it wouldn't grow mold?

 

I don't know a lot about dehumidifiers but there are 2 types, 1 is the stand alone models that you basically just plug in and the other is part of the HVAC system. I don't know how they are installed but I think they go in at/near the air handler. Often running the HVAC more/less all the time will keep the humidity level down, when that isn't enough you need a dehumidifier. I like open windows when it's cool but with fla's humidity that really isn't a good idea if you hope to keep the humidity levels down.

 

Have the HVAC system cleaned, Treated with something like BBJ and the supply box coated with Fosters 40-20.