Let’s be clear about one thing right off the bat: every house has mold. Don’t panic just yet, though. Yes, your home harbors mold spores – it would have to be hermetically sealed to avoid allowing in at least a few.
The real problem doesn’t arise until those spores begin to colonize. When this happens, mold can become a danger to your structure and to your health.
Unfortunately, if you don’t engage in regular inspection and air duct cleaning, you might not even know that mold has infiltrated your ductwork. How does mold make its way into your air ducts and what can you do to keep it under control? Here are a few things every homeowner should know.
How Mold Gets In
Mold spores are microscopic and they enter your home through windows, doors, vents, pipes, and cracks in the seams of your structure. They can get into your ducts in a variety of ways, such as through the intake, but in truth, they can simply float right in through open vents, along with dust, dander, and other particulates in the air.
A home energy audit can give you clues as to where leaks are occurring in your home, providing you with the information you need to increase airtightness. Honestly, though, there are going to be mold spores in your home regardless, so a better bet is to understand how mold colonizes so that you can prevent mold growth.
Growing Conditions
Certain conditions inspire mold growth. You need organic matter for mold to feed on, as well as heat, humidity, and oxygen. Oxygen is everywhere in your home.
As for heat and humidity, there are probably certain times of year when your HVAC ductwork provides ideal growing conditions. In addition, dust, dander, and other debris in dirty ducts can give mold spores the organic matter they use as a food source. In other words, your ducts could be a prime breeding ground for mold colonies if you don’t engage in appropriate residential air duct cleaning.
Eliminating Hazards
You already know you can’t eliminate mold spores in your home, but you can take steps to avoid ideal growing conditions in your ducts. Just as businesses engage in commercial duct cleaning and trash chute cleaning to keep environs safe and workers healthy, you too can hire technicians to inspect and clean your ducts and your entire HVAC system regularly.
This will help to ensure that the conditions needed to support mold colonies are discovered and eliminated before mold is allowed to grow and flourish. If you want to protect your home and the health of inhabitants, preventing mold growth in air ducts is a must.