Every person in loses about four kilograms of dead skin cells every year. As we sleep and live in our houses for almost sixty percent of the time, a lot of this dead tissue is sucked into our home air conditioner, where it accumulated with other biomatter in the ducting and filters of the system. The decay of this biomatter can cause a terrible smell and poses a significant health hazard.
Air vents, ducts, and filters must be cleaned, serviced, and disinfected annually. Use a vacuum cleaner to clean the intake and exhaust vents, replace the filters and allow a disinfectant fogging vapor to circulate throughout the system to kill all bacterial growth and other pathogens in the system.
The bad odor in the ducting and filtration system is caused by the bacteria feeding on dead organic materials sucked into the air conditioning system. If left untreated, air conditioners can spread harmful pathogens into your living space resulting in bad smells and potentially deadly diseases. Let's look at the cleaning process required to keep your house smelling fresh and staying healthy.
Where do Bad Odors in Air Conditioners Come From?
Air conditioning systems are designed to draw clean air in at ambient temperature and to cool the air down or heat it, depending on the desired temperature in the house. Air that has already been reconditioned is also recirculated to save cooling or heating energy.
In the process of taking in fresh air or recirculated air, the air is passed through filters to screen out the intrusion of dust, insects, small mammals, or biomatter like human skin cells. The filters should be cleaned regularly when the air conditioner is running for long periods.
If not cleaned off the biological materials and dirt, natural bacterial breakdown will occur, generating bad smells. The air conditioner will also be more efficient if the ducting and air filtration system is kept clean. Use a vacuum cleaner, hot antibacterial soap, warm water, and a microfiber towel. The cleaning process is very simple.
Vacuum the air conditioner's vents, removing any dust, hair, and visible signs of buildup. Remove the vent covers and vacuum in between the grooves, removing as much loose material as possible. Wipe the surfaces as far as you can reach with the damp soapy cloth.
Place a bowl of baking soda or charcoal pieces in the ducts to absorb any lingering smells. Vacuum the filters thoroughly to remove all visible signs of dirt buildup. If the filter medium already has a smell, change it out with a fresh filter. You can purchase a vapor-borne biocide to spray into the air intake vent when you restart the system.
The biocide is safe for humans but will kill all harmful pathogens that may still be in the air conditioner system. These biocide aerosols are also used to clean and refresh the air conditioner in cars.
How to Get Rid of Bad Odors from Your A/C
The bad odors emanating from your home or car air conditioner are caused by the growth of mold on the dirt accumulated in the filters and ducts of the system. (Related: Mold In Air Ducts: The Causes & Solutions Homeowners Need to Know About) The conditions inside the ducting are ideal for mold to thrive on the dead skin, hair, and dust extracted from the passenger cabin.
In the dark, moist ducting, the accumulated dirt will quickly become a breeding ground for a colony of mold. The bad smells result from the mold feeding on biological dirt accumulating in an uncleaned air conditioner. If you are running the air conditioner continuously during the hot summer month, you should be doing monthly basic cleaning steps.
Prevention is better than cure. Once you can detect a bad smell, the remedy required is more costly or demanding. Releasing a 75ml biocide aerosol inside a car with the air conditioner running on full recirculation will kill all bacterial activity and flush the dead matter into the filter media.
If you vacuum-clean the floors and carpets weekly, include cleaning the air vents and releasing a biocide aerosol into the air conditioner's intake. Allow the biocide fogger to be released inside the house and circulated throughout the ducting and filters.
If you have bad odors emitted from the air conditioner, you will need to deep clean the entire system. Start by vacuuming up all visible signs of dust, hair, dead insects, or accumulated dirt from the visible portions of the air vents and ducts. Place a saucer full of baking soda ( sodium bicarbonate ) into the ducts where the bad smell emanates from. Use hot water and antibacterial soap or vinegar solution to wipe clean the ducts as far as you can reach.
Also, clean the evaporator coil and ensure that the drain line is open to allow water condensate to drain out of the system. Clean or replace the air intake filters to ensure that the intake air is clean. Switch the air conditioner system and circulate air through the cleaned system and over the baking soda.
If the smell persists, it may be that you have a dead rodent trapped somewhere in the duct system. Contact specialists to come and assist you in such cases. If you keep your house and car clean of dust, skin, and hair and disinfect the system monthly, you should never have to contend with smelly air conditioner ducting.
Conclusion
Bad odors coming from the air conditioner system are a sign of bacterial contamination in the system. Air conditioners are designed to draw air in from outside but also to recirculate some already conditioned air. The air drawn in contains biological matter and moisture, creating the risk of mold growth.
If the intake air vents and ducting are not frequently cleaned and disinfected, the mold growth will generate unpleasant smells and potentially harmful emissions. Doing weekly cleaning of the house or car removes the main source of dirt from getting into the system.
Biocide aerosols can be released into the air intakes to kill any mold or other pathogens, but cleaning vents and ducts and replacing filters will also prevent mold growth. A canister of baking soda placed in the ducting will extract and neutralize any bad smells most effectively.