How To Prevent Mold In Window Air Conditioner
Knowing how to clean a window air conditioner is a very valuable skill. Over time, these units can develop mold and other harmful bacteria if you make clean them improperly or irregularly. If you're an Arizonian, y'all may need to be aware of how long your unit lasts in Arizona. In this mail service, nosotros'll walk y'all through the steps you should take to make clean a window air conditioner, including how ofttimes you should practice it and what cleaning products are prophylactic to utilise.
Keep in mind that nosotros're focusing on window air conditioners in this piece. If you have a primal air conditioner, check out this article for some tips on cleaning.
How To Clean A Window Air Conditioner
The steps required to clean a window air conditioner differ depending on whether you're trying to get rid of something specific like mold or simply performing a general cleaning. Let's look at either scenario.
How To Clean A Window Air Conditioner For Mold
Mold can be very detrimental to your health, which is why information technology'south then important to address it promptly. This is especially true if the spores are festering in your air conditioner equally you and your family unit tin easily end upwards animate them in.
But look – how does mold get into your air conditioner in the start place? Well, if you live somewhere that gets humid and you don't take time to clean your air conditioner regularly, a combination of dust and wet within the unit will harbor spores. These pesky growths proliferate inside just 24-48 hours and so information technology doesn't take very long to finish up with a huge problem.
Hither'due south how to clean a window air conditioner for mold.
- Get together the right protective gear.
At the very least, you lot should be wearing an N-95 respirator mask when getting rid of mold. You should as well wearable gloves and launder anything that the spores come up into contact with.
- Unplug your window air conditioner and discharge the capacitor.
Whenever yous desire to perform internal work on your window air conditioner, you need to belch its capacitor. Fifty-fifty after you've unplugged the unit, at that place may exist residual electricity inside that can stupor you.
Your air conditioner's manual will tell you the exact steps required to avert this. Generally, you lot'll demand to remove the side panel, identify the capacitor, and use an insulated screwdriver to connect its terminals, which will cause a brusk circuit and release the electricity.
It'southward very important that y'all use a screwdriver with an insulated handle when doing this. Otherwise, you'll be shocked!
- Ideally, remove your air conditioner from the window.
Window air conditioners afford you the luxury of portability. This allows you to get a better bending for cleaning. Most importantly, though, you lot'll exist able to clean the air conditioner inside rather than having the mold spores circulate through your home.
Removing your window air conditioner typically involves disconnecting the power, removing the forepart console, and then gently pulling the unit inside. If the air conditioner is on your home'due south kickoff floor, y'all can likewise gently push information technology out. But brand certain y'all accept something soft for the unit to land on.
If you're not able to remove your window air conditioner, don't worry. Yous tin can yet follow the upcoming steps; they'll just be slightly trickier.
- Remove your air conditioner's front panel if y'all oasis't already.
On some air conditioners, the front end panel (which is the i that faces inward when the unit is installed) is simply pressure level-fit. On other units, you lot'll have to remove a few screws.
- Remove anything that's gotten damp.
You'll most certainly need to replace your filters and insulation. These components are porous and can easily soak up wet, which volition cause a reoccurrence of this problem down the road. If your filters are reusable, you lot'll need to clean them with warm and soapy water. However, you lot're ameliorate off replacing them if you tin can, depending on the severity of your mold problem.
In order to access these components, there may be an additional U-shaped metal cover resting atop your air conditioner that yous have to remove.
- Utilize a moisture vacuum to pull any remaining moisture from the unit of measurement.
It's very of import that you don't just supervene upon your filters so call it a day. If you leave moisture trapped inside your air conditioner, you lot'll just terminate up with a mold event once more. Utilise a wet vacuum to get rid of the contaminated water before you lot scrub the unit down.
- Spray your air conditioner's interior with a defended mold cleaner.
Check out this post from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for more than information most cleaning mold. The EPA likewise recommends sure products specifically designed to safely remove mold in your air conditioner.
Ideally, you'll want to get a foaming spray disinfectant that can permeate throughout your air conditioner and hunt those spores down. Follow the instructions on the bottle. By and large speaking, yous'll need to spray the affected areas and and so allow them sit down for about five minutes.
- Use a brush and some warm h2o to scrub the affected areas of your air conditioner.
Brand sure you lot wear your mask and gloves as the combination of mold and the disinfectant spray will exist hazardous if inhaled. Pay special attention to scrubbing the unit of measurement'southward grille equally mold likes to hide out at that place.
- Let your air conditioner dry out for about 24 hours.
Before reassembling and reinstalling your air conditioner, let it dry thoroughly. While y'all may not need to wait a total 24 hours if y'all live in a hot and sunny place similar Phoenix, it can't hurt.
- Spray a mold inhibitor inside your air conditioner earlier reassembling it.
Goodway'southward CoilShine-BC is a good, EPA-approved option designed to inhibit mold growth for 2 years.
- Reassemble and reinstall your air conditioner.
Finally, you're ready to get your air conditioner back in place! This should be relatively straightforward. But exist sure the unit of measurement is fully assembled and in identify before you plug it back in.
How To Prevent Mold In A Window Air Conditioner
A mold inhibitor will go a long way towards helping you avoid mold buildup. Hither are some additional tips on how to prevent mold in a window air conditioner.
Avert Moisture Like The Plague
Moisture and mold go together similar Camelback Mount and hiking. 1 piece of cake fashion to avoid excess moisture is to get an air conditioner that incorporates humidity control. You should likewise avert leaving the air conditioner off for extended periods during the summer months (such equally when y'all go on vacation). When you do this, warm, moist air tends to build up inside the unit of measurement. Rather, set your air conditioner to run on 'auto.'
Have Your Air Conditioner Serviced Regularly
In this post, we discussed the importance of having your air conditioner looked at past a professional twice annually. This will help you stay ahead of the curve on whatever problems that may be coming down the pipeline. Some of these issues, such as excess condensation or leaking, could lead to mold down the line.
Our air conditioning services in Phoenix are designed to help you lot pinpoint and bargain with these issues promptly.
Clean Your Air Conditioner Regularly
Keeping your air conditioner free of dust and debris will rob mold spores of their fuel. The best way to do that? By cleaning your air conditioner regularly instead of only performing 1 deep clean every few months. In the next department, we'll wait at the steps you should have.
Day-To-Solar day Tips: How To Clean A Window Air Conditioner Without Removing It
While the steps we've mentioned so far are bully if you're looking to tackle a major problem like mold, you won't want to do that on a daily footing. Here's how to make clean a window air conditioner without removing information technology.
- Shut your air conditioner off and disconnect it from the wall.
While you won't be opening the unit up to the degree that a deep make clean requires, yous'll even so be accessing it enough to warrant disconnecting the power.
- Remove the filter.
To access your air conditioner's filter, you may need to remove a front panel, which volition be either pressure-fit or held in place by screws.
- Soak your filter in warm, soapy water.
Permit it sit in a bucket or your sink while you complete the remaining steps. Alternatively, if your air conditioner'southward filter tin can exist replaced, bandy it out. We recommend cleaning or exchanging your filter at least in one case a calendar month.
- Spray your air conditioner with a iii% hydrogen peroxide mixture.
Direct the spray into the air conditioner fins, which (being the outermost components) harbor much of the clay and grime.
- Employ a soft castor to gently scrub the fins.
Avoid applying also much pressure to the fins equally they tin can bend out of shape and crusade airflow problems.
- Let your air conditioner dry for a few hours earlier reassembling information technology.
Some experts recommend just turning the air conditioner on afterwards y'all've finished spraying and scrubbing. It'south always good to let things dry for a flake, though, but in case you lot got some moisture in the electrical components.
For more than air conditioning and water filtration blogs, you can check out our next articles on the "Dissimilar Types of Hot Water Tanks" and "How to Remove Nitrate from Well Water".
Frequently Asked Questions
How practice y'all clean mold from air conditioner ducts?
Cleaning mold from your cardinal air conditioner ducts is a bit more finicky than removing it from a window unit. You should contact a professional person who tin can properly look at your ducts, particularly if the mold has spread through an surface area greater than x foursquare anxiety. They'll need to actually remove the afflicted portion of your ducts and give it a skilful scrubbing.
What causes mold in your window air conditioner?
Mold is the event of a damp environment combined with grit and clay. It's especially common in areas where the weather gets boiling and wet.
Is mold in a window air conditioner unsafe?
Mold anywhere in your house is dangerous. The spores proliferate through the air extensively and can end up in your lungs, causing symptoms similar:
– runny nose
– watery optics
– dry coughing
– rashes
– wheezing
Mold inside your air conditioner gets an added heave equally it literally flies through the air and into your lungs.
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Source: https://americanhomewater.com/how-to-clean-a-window-air-conditioner/
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