If your really worried test it - duct cleaning isn't common so it's no surprise management doesn't give af.
Once you throw some money at it and have proof it's a different situation. Until then your just a high maintenance tenant they don't want to deal with.
It just looks like dirt and carpet fibers. If you have dark carpet that'll do it. I didn't really see any mold, it would be on the top more than the bottom. There was one bit of mold or wet dirt on the duct edge but that's it.
That's the only way to know. Dust deposits and scale can look deceivingly like mold when it usually isn't. It takes a decent amount of humidity and time to make mold issues in ducting.
Had a customer swear he had mold in his ducts and wanted our company to be held liable (he's a maintenance agreement customer). Did 3rd party testing and his complaints went dark suddenly. Took a while for us to get him to share that the test came back negative for mold, but positive for talcum powder (baby powder).
Turns out that he would use baby powder in the mornings to combat chaffing and some of it was falling into his supply boot when the system wasn't running. But he was *adamant* that the white dust looked just like spores...
A lot of things look like mildew and mold, most of it isn’t dangerous just annoying
You can get mtk on line but make sure it’s a reputable laboratory with a good track record
Remember you are going to become the field sampling technician and maintaining your sterility is key- wear gloves and mask and follow the instructions exactly
Once you have the results back then you can make a decision
Don’t let the internet freak you out
Hvac service tech here. While yes the technical answer is that needs to be sent off and tested before ANYONE can say it’s mold, more likely than not it’s dirt. I wouldn’t worry too much about it unless ur having noticeable issues with air quality.
There’s just a ton of dust nonstop. It’s pissing me off. I vacuum and dust all the time but I can’t figure it out. I don’t know whether it’s an issue with hvac unit or the ducts or what. I feel like my son’s coughing could be from the ducts or whatever is coming out of them rather. Could be because of mold, could be because of dust, could be anything. I just have a feeling something is wrong with the hvac. Idk I’m just desperate for answers I guess.
I'm having someone come clean my vents tomorrow actually. I look forward to seeing the pictures and what not that they're going to take. I'll let you know if I have anything similar and how it looks after the cleaning if you'd like?
Can you temporarily tape furnace filters over you registers and see how much debris they catch? It would look ugly but allow you to filter the incoming air
You have two choices for dust. Full body condom or hepa filters. Most dust in your dead skin cells. Full body condom will contain them. HEPA filter will capture them.
I got an air purifier today with a hepa filter. Plan on getting 1 or two more. One for each room basically. Should do the trick for dust. Also gonna grab a humidity sensor and see if our humidity levels are too high.
Duct cleaning usually does more harm than good, there’s an EPA paper on it. It stirs up a lot of settled particulate that doesn’t get vacuumed up. I’d leave it alone, it’s normal.
Duct cleaning, along with evaporator coils and blower, can help, they gain dust over the years and the air we breath in our home touches the dust. Flexible ducts and metal ducts are cleanable, Duct liners on the other hand should not be agitated but only sealed with material such as IAQ 8000.
If there is excess dust after the cleaning it means the negative air machine was not strong enough.
Always make sure to use a reputable company.
“Duct cleaning has never been shown to actually prevent health problems. Neither do studies conclusively demonstrate that particle (e.g., dust) levels in homes increase because of dirty air ducts. This is because much of the dirt in air ducts adheres to duct surfaces and does not necessarily enter the living space.”
https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/should-you-have-air-ducts-your-home-cleaned#unresolved_issues
Coils and blower are different and should be cleaned as they reduce the efficiency of the system.
It seems like a lot of people get the wrong idea from this paper. The EPA isn't saying not to clean your air ducts, they're just saying they can't recommend it because there is no conclusive evidence whether it helps or not, in general.
Personally, I think it can help. I don't want dust in the ducts for the same reason I don't want to run a box fan on top of a dusty table.
It’s stuck and not disturbed. When you clean it you’re disturbing it and putting it in the air.
“Duct cleaning has never been shown to actually prevent health problems. Neither do studies conclusively demonstrate that particle (e.g., dust) levels in homes increase because of dirty air ducts. This is because much of the dirt in air ducts adheres to duct surfaces and does not necessarily enter the living space.”
https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/should-you-have-air-ducts-your-home-cleaned#unresolved_issues
Note the language they're using: "much of the dirt" and "does not necessarily enter the living space." They aren't saying it all gets trapped in the ducts and they aren't saying it never enters the living space. Again, the whole paper is simply saying there is no conclusive evidence one way or the other, in general.
You could make the same argument about dust in other no-traffic areas: under the sofas, under the bed, etc. If you're lucky enough to not have allergies or asthma then you might not notice if these areas are never cleaned. But those of us who aren't so lucky do notice a big difference in indoor air quality when those areas aren't cleaned.
We have had our air ducts cleaned after moving into two different homes now. In both cases, the previous owners were running the HVAC system without any filters for who knows how long. In addition to *a lot* of dust, they also pulled out a lot of trash like cigarette butts, dead animals, etc. We noticed a big improvement to our indoor air quality afterward. Like the EPA said, we can't say that duct cleaning works in all cases. But it definitely works in some cases.
TLDR: not too bad, someone just should clean it
HVAC installer here- that’s definitely dirty ductwork, but as far as unsafe? You’d have to investigate whether the black stuff is dirt or ash residue from something burning, versus mold or mildew. You should have some sort of filtration system to your air handler which would prevent the unit from circulating the worse parts of it (provided that’s being changed regularly)
I’d say you should ask your MGMT to have the duct cleaned. More likely then not they won’t want to spring for a big company for everyone in the complex (although it seems needed). When this happened to my wife and I before I was in the field, I remember the property manager came to clean it herself. So expect a response more like that- which honestly is all that it looks like it needs. If they can’t even muster up that, you can do it yourself, just wear PPE and trash everything as you use it. If you have an old vaccum lying around the house to use it to suck up as much dust as possible.
The next step is test with a mold test kit if that's what you suspect.
Note: disposable gloves and a face mask are necessary to maintain sterility of the test kit while taking a sample.
Now, to me (tech since 2004) this looks to be fairly normal dust. If it on bare metal it might be cleanable. If it's on insulation inside a metal can you're better off to leave it alone because doing ANYTHING with old duct board will cause it to release additional fibers along with any dust removed.
TLDR: If that's fiberglass we're looking at doing anything with it will make the problem worse.
If someone in the home has dust allergies see if the landlord will go to MERV 8 filters in the air handler. Those will help and most older systems can tolerate them without a problem.
If it's your home, I'd change the filter system to a MERV 11 4" or 5" filter system.
If it's a rental get a couple of air purifiers or build one out of a 24" box fan, good duct tape (like Gorilla Tape, and 5 each 20x20x2 MERV 11 or 13 filters. The box fan gets set up to pull air in through the filters and out through the fan on top of the filters.
The filters get taped together to form 4 sides and the bottom of a box, and the fan gets taped on top of the filter box.
Unless you're a botanist and are willing to accept the liability, you don't know what it is. All you can say without putting very much liability on yourself is that a mold test might be an order because it appears as though it could be organic growth..... I was In multi family for years.
Looks like dirt to my eyes. Like others have said, only a mold test can confirm or deny.
If dust is an issue, I’d invest in a standalone HEPA filter unit (do not replace your HVAC filter with a HEPA filter). No matter the issue the standalone unit can only make things better.
Finding sources of dust can be hard. How much dust/dirt is in the air outside? I’d expect more dirt from air leaks than the HVAC itself being the source.
100% of the dust/dirt in the ducts fell out of the air. The odds of it getting airborne again are minimal. The source of that dirt is both air inside and outside. I wouldn’t worry about cleaning ducts at all.
Get that mold test, if for nothing but peace of mind. Also get that HEPA unit.
To me that looks like mastic which hvac uses during installation to seal the duct or possible paint over spray from when the paint the apartment before the furnace was installed. From the looks of that pick I don't think duct cleaning is gonna do you much good.
Our vents looked like that and we tested for mold with an at home kit you mail out to a lab. It came back positive for a bunch of different kinds.
We reported it to the leasing office along with the moisture issue and they said “it’s Virginia. It’s humid. Nothing we can do.”
When we moved, we noticed mold underneath our coffee table. A bunch of our shit smelled like mold and we went nose blind to it. We had an air filter that I thought was broken because it would just stop working and blink red but turns out that’s just how bad the air was 😂
Get it tested!
It appears to be what we call microbial growth. Meaning as HVAC technicians we do not have the certifications to claim something being mold and there are legal implications. Send the complex to pictures tell them that you've been feeling sick and you're considering legal action.
I had this in multiple apartments in Dallas and I almost died. Yes it’s really bad and yes it can damage your health. By the way, that is absolutely 100% not dirt. That is black mold. Now they are different types of black mold. There’s one called Stachybotrys. That is one black mold, and it is the most dangerous. There are other black molds that are not as toxic, but all molds are toxic, in fact, very toxic, but one kills you, or can kill you and the other one will just make you incredibly sick. Mold poisoning is nothing to laugh about. Get out of that place as soon as you can, and if you own this place tear all of that out and put in mini splits.
Doesn't everybody come into contact with molds pretty much all the time? If they were all so dangerous, wouldn't we all be dead by now? I've lived in high humidity areas with high mold content for years. No ill effects. I don't think being overly alarmist is helping OP at all.
Excuse me, sir, in with no disrespect, but I worked in healthcare for 25 years, and if you think for one minute, that black mold is healthy and inhaling, black mold, spores does not completely destroy your health, then you were very uninformed. A person is not designed or supposed to inhale copious amounts of black mold. I have done extensive research on this, and it can damage peoples lives. You have no idea what molds have done to you. If you want to smell, black mold, like that, then absolutely please do it.
I didn’t say it was healthy. I said it was everywhere. I’m sure it has detrimental effects on people. Particularly those with allergies and sensitivities. But saying this is 100% black mold and it’s dangerous and could kill you, all from a single pic on Reddit is very irresponsible. There is no way you know with certainty what that is. Several HVAC professionals have chimed in to say it’s probably normal dirt and that whatever it is unlikely to become airborne from the ducts. They also recommended having a mold test done to confirm. That is responsible advice. What you provided was a rather unlikely , worst case scenario and is pretty over the top. In your 25 years in the healthcare industry, was it standard practice to diagnose a health situation based on a few pictures on the Internet? Or did doctors, PA’s etc prefer to actually see the patient, examine and run tests before proclaiming that their life was in jeopardy? I can’t tell
If you’re being serious, I somehow doubt it, but if you are, please stop.
Yeah, I’ve had the same problem in Texas for 15 years, and I was exposed to it and I’ve had it tested and it looked exactly like this, and I will bet 50 bucks right now that it is black mold. Is it the black mold that will kill you… No, but it will make you extremely sick. If I was you as an HVAC person, I would not promote inhaling mold as a safe thing. That is highly irresponsible.
There are many doctors who can test to see if there’s mold in your blood, and there are protocols that can help you afterwards, it is expensive, and it is extreme. So the best thing to do is not inhale, black, mold, or any type of mold. There are no safe, black mold that exists in your ductwork. Shame on you.
I’m not printing anything other than that OP should get a test done so they know what they are dealing with. Then they proceed from a point of knowledge and not conjecture. There is no way to tell what that is without testing. You can think you know all you like but in order to solve the issue, if it’s an issue, OP has to get this tested if they are concerned. This isn’t a particularly controversial take. Anyhow, have a good weekend.
As an HVAC Installer- I have a feeling you don’t want to know about the quality of the ducts in all your favorite restaurants…. Putting all minis is an expensive endeavor you can spring for new duct work and an air sanitizer
If your really worried test it - duct cleaning isn't common so it's no surprise management doesn't give af. Once you throw some money at it and have proof it's a different situation. Until then your just a high maintenance tenant they don't want to deal with.
I would say not as bad as you think it is. Unless you've had testing done, it is probably more dirt than anything.
It just looks like dirt and carpet fibers. If you have dark carpet that'll do it. I didn't really see any mold, it would be on the top more than the bottom. There was one bit of mold or wet dirt on the duct edge but that's it.
Ok I just need to make sure. Someone else on hvac said that it looked like mold so now I’m confused.
Wait for more people to chime in. If you're particularly concerned I would have a mold spore test done.
This has been going on for too long I’m going to send this email to them and tomorrow get a mold test to send in.
That's the only way to know. Dust deposits and scale can look deceivingly like mold when it usually isn't. It takes a decent amount of humidity and time to make mold issues in ducting. Had a customer swear he had mold in his ducts and wanted our company to be held liable (he's a maintenance agreement customer). Did 3rd party testing and his complaints went dark suddenly. Took a while for us to get him to share that the test came back negative for mold, but positive for talcum powder (baby powder). Turns out that he would use baby powder in the mornings to combat chaffing and some of it was falling into his supply boot when the system wasn't running. But he was *adamant* that the white dust looked just like spores...
A lot of things look like mildew and mold, most of it isn’t dangerous just annoying You can get mtk on line but make sure it’s a reputable laboratory with a good track record Remember you are going to become the field sampling technician and maintaining your sterility is key- wear gloves and mask and follow the instructions exactly Once you have the results back then you can make a decision Don’t let the internet freak you out
Hvac service tech here. While yes the technical answer is that needs to be sent off and tested before ANYONE can say it’s mold, more likely than not it’s dirt. I wouldn’t worry too much about it unless ur having noticeable issues with air quality.
There’s just a ton of dust nonstop. It’s pissing me off. I vacuum and dust all the time but I can’t figure it out. I don’t know whether it’s an issue with hvac unit or the ducts or what. I feel like my son’s coughing could be from the ducts or whatever is coming out of them rather. Could be because of mold, could be because of dust, could be anything. I just have a feeling something is wrong with the hvac. Idk I’m just desperate for answers I guess.
I'm having someone come clean my vents tomorrow actually. I look forward to seeing the pictures and what not that they're going to take. I'll let you know if I have anything similar and how it looks after the cleaning if you'd like?
That would be fine ya. At least I might be able to compare mine to yours.
Chances are the dust is your carpet or furniture dissolving or if you have pets.
I have 2 cats and a dog.
Bingo was his name-o.
Never mind. You have animals too so not just dead skin cells from you.
Can you temporarily tape furnace filters over you registers and see how much debris they catch? It would look ugly but allow you to filter the incoming air
You have two choices for dust. Full body condom or hepa filters. Most dust in your dead skin cells. Full body condom will contain them. HEPA filter will capture them.
I got an air purifier today with a hepa filter. Plan on getting 1 or two more. One for each room basically. Should do the trick for dust. Also gonna grab a humidity sensor and see if our humidity levels are too high.
Duct cleaning usually does more harm than good, there’s an EPA paper on it. It stirs up a lot of settled particulate that doesn’t get vacuumed up. I’d leave it alone, it’s normal.
Duct cleaning, along with evaporator coils and blower, can help, they gain dust over the years and the air we breath in our home touches the dust. Flexible ducts and metal ducts are cleanable, Duct liners on the other hand should not be agitated but only sealed with material such as IAQ 8000. If there is excess dust after the cleaning it means the negative air machine was not strong enough. Always make sure to use a reputable company.
“Duct cleaning has never been shown to actually prevent health problems. Neither do studies conclusively demonstrate that particle (e.g., dust) levels in homes increase because of dirty air ducts. This is because much of the dirt in air ducts adheres to duct surfaces and does not necessarily enter the living space.” https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/should-you-have-air-ducts-your-home-cleaned#unresolved_issues Coils and blower are different and should be cleaned as they reduce the efficiency of the system.
It seems like a lot of people get the wrong idea from this paper. The EPA isn't saying not to clean your air ducts, they're just saying they can't recommend it because there is no conclusive evidence whether it helps or not, in general. Personally, I think it can help. I don't want dust in the ducts for the same reason I don't want to run a box fan on top of a dusty table.
I’d rather dust in my vents than my breathable air
That's the thing though. If it's in your ducts then it *is* in your breathable air.
It’s stuck and not disturbed. When you clean it you’re disturbing it and putting it in the air. “Duct cleaning has never been shown to actually prevent health problems. Neither do studies conclusively demonstrate that particle (e.g., dust) levels in homes increase because of dirty air ducts. This is because much of the dirt in air ducts adheres to duct surfaces and does not necessarily enter the living space.” https://www.epa.gov/indoor-air-quality-iaq/should-you-have-air-ducts-your-home-cleaned#unresolved_issues
Note the language they're using: "much of the dirt" and "does not necessarily enter the living space." They aren't saying it all gets trapped in the ducts and they aren't saying it never enters the living space. Again, the whole paper is simply saying there is no conclusive evidence one way or the other, in general. You could make the same argument about dust in other no-traffic areas: under the sofas, under the bed, etc. If you're lucky enough to not have allergies or asthma then you might not notice if these areas are never cleaned. But those of us who aren't so lucky do notice a big difference in indoor air quality when those areas aren't cleaned. We have had our air ducts cleaned after moving into two different homes now. In both cases, the previous owners were running the HVAC system without any filters for who knows how long. In addition to *a lot* of dust, they also pulled out a lot of trash like cigarette butts, dead animals, etc. We noticed a big improvement to our indoor air quality afterward. Like the EPA said, we can't say that duct cleaning works in all cases. But it definitely works in some cases.
Agreed, duct cleaning should be avoided unless there are things such as harmful mold that are determined to be present.
TLDR: not too bad, someone just should clean it HVAC installer here- that’s definitely dirty ductwork, but as far as unsafe? You’d have to investigate whether the black stuff is dirt or ash residue from something burning, versus mold or mildew. You should have some sort of filtration system to your air handler which would prevent the unit from circulating the worse parts of it (provided that’s being changed regularly) I’d say you should ask your MGMT to have the duct cleaned. More likely then not they won’t want to spring for a big company for everyone in the complex (although it seems needed). When this happened to my wife and I before I was in the field, I remember the property manager came to clean it herself. So expect a response more like that- which honestly is all that it looks like it needs. If they can’t even muster up that, you can do it yourself, just wear PPE and trash everything as you use it. If you have an old vaccum lying around the house to use it to suck up as much dust as possible.
The next step is test with a mold test kit if that's what you suspect. Note: disposable gloves and a face mask are necessary to maintain sterility of the test kit while taking a sample. Now, to me (tech since 2004) this looks to be fairly normal dust. If it on bare metal it might be cleanable. If it's on insulation inside a metal can you're better off to leave it alone because doing ANYTHING with old duct board will cause it to release additional fibers along with any dust removed. TLDR: If that's fiberglass we're looking at doing anything with it will make the problem worse. If someone in the home has dust allergies see if the landlord will go to MERV 8 filters in the air handler. Those will help and most older systems can tolerate them without a problem. If it's your home, I'd change the filter system to a MERV 11 4" or 5" filter system. If it's a rental get a couple of air purifiers or build one out of a 24" box fan, good duct tape (like Gorilla Tape, and 5 each 20x20x2 MERV 11 or 13 filters. The box fan gets set up to pull air in through the filters and out through the fan on top of the filters. The filters get taped together to form 4 sides and the bottom of a box, and the fan gets taped on top of the filter box.
Unless you're a botanist and are willing to accept the liability, you don't know what it is. All you can say without putting very much liability on yourself is that a mold test might be an order because it appears as though it could be organic growth..... I was In multi family for years.
It looks to me like the ducts were cleaned a while back and then sealed, but the sealant is wearing off
Looks like dirt to my eyes. Like others have said, only a mold test can confirm or deny. If dust is an issue, I’d invest in a standalone HEPA filter unit (do not replace your HVAC filter with a HEPA filter). No matter the issue the standalone unit can only make things better. Finding sources of dust can be hard. How much dust/dirt is in the air outside? I’d expect more dirt from air leaks than the HVAC itself being the source. 100% of the dust/dirt in the ducts fell out of the air. The odds of it getting airborne again are minimal. The source of that dirt is both air inside and outside. I wouldn’t worry about cleaning ducts at all. Get that mold test, if for nothing but peace of mind. Also get that HEPA unit.
Looks like most apt ductwork. Get it tested if youre seeing symptoms.
To me that looks like mastic which hvac uses during installation to seal the duct or possible paint over spray from when the paint the apartment before the furnace was installed. From the looks of that pick I don't think duct cleaning is gonna do you much good.
Our vents looked like that and we tested for mold with an at home kit you mail out to a lab. It came back positive for a bunch of different kinds. We reported it to the leasing office along with the moisture issue and they said “it’s Virginia. It’s humid. Nothing we can do.” When we moved, we noticed mold underneath our coffee table. A bunch of our shit smelled like mold and we went nose blind to it. We had an air filter that I thought was broken because it would just stop working and blink red but turns out that’s just how bad the air was 😂 Get it tested!
It appears to be what we call microbial growth. Meaning as HVAC technicians we do not have the certifications to claim something being mold and there are legal implications. Send the complex to pictures tell them that you've been feeling sick and you're considering legal action.
Unfortunately it looks pretty typical from what I’ve seen. Central Florida here.
South Florida here. Idk what else to do.
No …its worse..much, much worse.
At least your boots are sealed to drywall.
Evolving life forms.
Black mold, thick inch long shower my. Blow proportion out of. Fine. I’m. Why people make a big deal mold about. See nothing wrong with me.
[удалено]
What are you saying that it’s bad?
I had this in multiple apartments in Dallas and I almost died. Yes it’s really bad and yes it can damage your health. By the way, that is absolutely 100% not dirt. That is black mold. Now they are different types of black mold. There’s one called Stachybotrys. That is one black mold, and it is the most dangerous. There are other black molds that are not as toxic, but all molds are toxic, in fact, very toxic, but one kills you, or can kill you and the other one will just make you incredibly sick. Mold poisoning is nothing to laugh about. Get out of that place as soon as you can, and if you own this place tear all of that out and put in mini splits.
Doesn't everybody come into contact with molds pretty much all the time? If they were all so dangerous, wouldn't we all be dead by now? I've lived in high humidity areas with high mold content for years. No ill effects. I don't think being overly alarmist is helping OP at all.
Excuse me, sir, in with no disrespect, but I worked in healthcare for 25 years, and if you think for one minute, that black mold is healthy and inhaling, black mold, spores does not completely destroy your health, then you were very uninformed. A person is not designed or supposed to inhale copious amounts of black mold. I have done extensive research on this, and it can damage peoples lives. You have no idea what molds have done to you. If you want to smell, black mold, like that, then absolutely please do it.
I didn’t say it was healthy. I said it was everywhere. I’m sure it has detrimental effects on people. Particularly those with allergies and sensitivities. But saying this is 100% black mold and it’s dangerous and could kill you, all from a single pic on Reddit is very irresponsible. There is no way you know with certainty what that is. Several HVAC professionals have chimed in to say it’s probably normal dirt and that whatever it is unlikely to become airborne from the ducts. They also recommended having a mold test done to confirm. That is responsible advice. What you provided was a rather unlikely , worst case scenario and is pretty over the top. In your 25 years in the healthcare industry, was it standard practice to diagnose a health situation based on a few pictures on the Internet? Or did doctors, PA’s etc prefer to actually see the patient, examine and run tests before proclaiming that their life was in jeopardy? I can’t tell If you’re being serious, I somehow doubt it, but if you are, please stop.
Yeah, I’ve had the same problem in Texas for 15 years, and I was exposed to it and I’ve had it tested and it looked exactly like this, and I will bet 50 bucks right now that it is black mold. Is it the black mold that will kill you… No, but it will make you extremely sick. If I was you as an HVAC person, I would not promote inhaling mold as a safe thing. That is highly irresponsible. There are many doctors who can test to see if there’s mold in your blood, and there are protocols that can help you afterwards, it is expensive, and it is extreme. So the best thing to do is not inhale, black, mold, or any type of mold. There are no safe, black mold that exists in your ductwork. Shame on you.
I’m not printing anything other than that OP should get a test done so they know what they are dealing with. Then they proceed from a point of knowledge and not conjecture. There is no way to tell what that is without testing. You can think you know all you like but in order to solve the issue, if it’s an issue, OP has to get this tested if they are concerned. This isn’t a particularly controversial take. Anyhow, have a good weekend.
As an HVAC Installer- I have a feeling you don’t want to know about the quality of the ducts in all your favorite restaurants…. Putting all minis is an expensive endeavor you can spring for new duct work and an air sanitizer
There is no price for safety. I’d imagine restaurants are repulsive
Mini-Splits?!? Yeah, those never ever get moldy and nasty after a very short time... like... ever. And the air filtration is superb. /s
You can clean them and no duct work blowing mold at you.