Air Conditioners obviously cool the warm humid air inside our homes. As the air travels through the system water condenses, flows through the air handler, across coils and converts from a gas to a liquid. The water then flows into to specially designed drains or possibly condensate pumps to be removed from the home.
This water is by definition “distilled water”, and inexperienced or misleading adjusters will attempt to claim this water is clean. In reality, the coil to which the water condenses is subject to all contaminants traveling through the air. Any Industrial Hygienist will tell you Fugal or mold spores are present everywhere in our environment. Those spores and bacteria in the air which pass the filter impact with the coil and are washed into the drain. The drain water the adjuster claims to be “clean” distilled water may actually contain bacteria like Legionella, Zooglea, et al. Bacteria can create drain slime, or algae can develop clogging the drain and causing water damage to the home. We see contaminants present in water commonly result expedited accumulation of excessive settled fungal spores leading to sporulation and visible mold.
Failure to properly mitigate this water loss may result in the need for mold remediation. Do you have mold coverage in your policy? Yes, no, maybe $1000, maybe $5000 of coverage.
Back to the point of this article. While we at Emergency Restoration Solutions, do not perform HVAC inspection or maintenance but we do understand and appreciate its necessity. A good maintenance plan will ensure clean air filtration is working as designed. It will ensure the coils do not have excessive buildup of debris and reduce contaminates. It will help to minimize the microbial growth in the drains. Proper refrigerant levels will prevent freezing and potential drain blockage. Additionally, building codes require the air handlers be installed in drain pans. These drain pans must be kept free of dust, dirt, insulation or debris which can clog the pan’s drainage. Code also requires a shutoff switch designed to stop the system should the primary drain fail, and the pan’s drain fail. A good maintenance plan is money well spent.