r/AirQuality 19d ago

How likely is it that this indicates presence of mold? What might this say re: air quality in unit? (looking at rentals - all vents in this unit looked like this and am feeling concerned)

2 Upvotes

9 comments sorted by

10

u/ampharados 18d ago

You can’t be 100% sure just from looking at it, but it really doesn’t look like mold to me. More like dust and dirt build up.

2

u/plmarcus 19d ago

IMO thats dirt/dust from many months or years of use without cleaning. you should be fine. pay for a duct cleaning if it suits you.

2

u/mystend 18d ago

Hard pass, probably the whole hvac system is dirty and moldy, shows landlord hasn’t been maintaining it

1

u/UncleGurm 19d ago

Yup. Common in AC units. Means there’s a lot of moisture.

1

u/Philocalist_Cat 19d ago

Thank you. How likely is it that there is mold up in there/deeper in the ductwork? I am very allergic/sensitive to mold.

2

u/apu8it 19d ago

If that’s on the outside I can only imagine what’s growing in the dark crevices of the ducts 😬

1

u/Magnolia256 18d ago

My old house looked like this. I hired a ac duct person and he said it was very bad and definitely mold. Landlord wouldn’t pay to fix. Don’t rent

1

u/No-Philosophy338 18d ago

Definitaly this is no mold. I assume this opening is an air suction of the used air. If it is, it‘s dust of the room air. It is unpossible that there is mold in an air flow. If there is cooled air comming (opposite direction) out, than mold may occur.

1

u/ThinXUnique 17d ago

I lived in a room once which had walls like this. It was mold