Mold: Tough to Get Rid Of, but Use These Pointers to Manage It

Mold is far from unfamiliar to us here in Central Florida. We see it everywhere that decaying organic matter exists. Even if we seldom take walks alongside the many rivers and lakes, it’s there in the drainage ditches and retention ponds that are part of our everyday landscape. For us, mold can be tough to get rid of, but we can use these pointers to manage it.

Dreadfully Ideal

Mold thrives in locations that are warm, humid and have available nutrition. Orlando winters, such as they are, seldom drop out of the 50s, and humidity typically remains above 50 percent October through January. The very reasons most of us moved here are the exact conditions that encourage fungus to flourish.

In the Home

When we do have our cold snaps, we button up our houses so that heated air can’t escape, and the chilly outside air can’t get in. As we make ourselves comfortable, we’re doing the same for unwanted guests in the form of mold spores and colonies. We also feed them; the decaying organic matter they need to survive is present in our homes in the form of cooking residues, shed skin, and dead dust mites (among other things). When those contaminants go airborne, then settle on colonies of fungal growth, we’ve created their ideal environment.

Control

It is important to keep mold under control. At the least, colonies are unsightly and malodorous; at their worst, they are actively toxic health hazards. People with allergies and pulmonary diseases suffer worst, of course. We can control the risks by being vigilant in inspecting trouble sites, such as where condensation from windows collects on sills and in trimwork. We also need to check regularly inside closets that are typically closed off, in rooms where we seldom go, and in extra-moist locations such as bathrooms and the kitchen.

Infestations can also get inside our HVAC systems, predominantly in the area around the warm, damp coils and drainways of the evaporator that’s part of the inside unit of heat pumps and A/Cs. Detection and eradication are jobs for the pros. Please contact our experts at Rinaldi’s Energy Solutions to schedule an evaluation.

Our goal is to help educate our customers in Orlando, Florida and surrounding areas about energy and home comfort issues (specific to HVAC systems).  For more information about mold prevention and other HVAC topics, download our free Home Comfort Resource guide.

Image courtesy of Shutterstock