3 Ways To Get Rid Of The Musty Smell Caused By Your Central AC System
When you first turn on your central air conditioning in the summer, do you notice a bad smell? It might be a musty odor, or it could be any other type of smell that is less than pleasant. If this smell doesn't go away after a day or two, it could be due to dirt and contaminants trapped inside your air ducts. If you want to get rid of these bad smells, you may want to complete the following three steps.
Get the Ducts Cleaned
Air duct cleaning can make a world of difference with the way your house smells when the AC is running because it provides a thorough cleaning of the entire air duct system. This service is available through HVAC contractors and may take a couple hours to complete, depending on how big your home is.
In addition to eliminating the musty smells your home has, air duct cleaning offers additional benefits, including that it:
- Can help your house stay cleaner – When there is dust or any other types of debris inside the air ducts, these things get spread through your house when the system is running. If your ducts contain a lot of dust, you will have to spend more time cleaning your house if you like a dust-free home.
- Helps provide a safer environment – If mold is found in your air ducts, you or your family members may experience more illnesses. When this is removed, the quality of your indoor air will greatly improve.
- Makes a furnace run more efficiently – Furnaces and central AC systems run better when they are not fighting resistance. Contaminants, such as dust, in the air ducts create resistance, which causes the system to have to run harder than normal.
You can reap a lot of benefits from this, and it may only cost between $250 to $400, according to Home Advisor.
Wash the Register Vent Covers
The second step to take is to remove the register vent covers in each room in your home, and doing this one-by-one is the best way to accomplish this job because then you will know exactly where to replace each one.
After removing each of the covers, you can wash it in hot, soapy water. This will clean the covers and may help freshen your house. This is especially important if you discover animal urine or rodent droppings in or near your registers. When you finish washing them, you must dry them and replace them.
If you are having your ducts cleaned, you may want to complete this step as the HVAC company is performing the service because they will typically have to remove most or all of the register vent covers to complete the job.
Pour Scented Oil in the Registers
Finally, you can use essential oils to create a fresh scent in your home, and there are many ways to do this. Here are two that tend to work well:
- Pour a couple drops of essential oil in a register vent in each room in your house.
- Pour a couple drops of oil onto your furnace filter each time you replace it.
Both of these methods will spread the smell of essential oil through your house, and this will help you obtain a nicer scent throughout your entire home. You can use any type of oil for this, but peppermint oil and cinnamon oil tend to work great.
Essential oils may actually remove odors from a house instead of simply masking them. Research also shows that the use of essential oils in a home may be successful in killing bacteria and viruses.
If your house smells bad each time you run your air conditioning system, contact an HVAC company to learn more about duct cleaning services. This is a great way to achieve a cleaner and safer house, and you will love it because you will finally be able to get rid of that bad smell.