If you have found mold in your home, office space, or other commercial property, then it is a very good idea to have your HVAC system inspected.  A tune up could be enough to deny the mold the environment it needs to continue to spread.

Mold requires two general things in order for the spores to prosper:

1. a high relative humidity
2. dust, dirt, or debris to feed on

If the HVAC system is not being utilized properly, or is malfunctioning in some way, mold can result.  This is why it is so imperative to have these systems inspected on a regular basis.

Very often, mold is a problem seen during the air conditioning season, because the AC keeps the temperatures cooler, but when the system turns off, the humidity levels can quickly climb.  That cool, damp air would provide the perfect environment for mold growth. In large commercial buildings, it is not uncommon for doors to be opened and closed numerous times throughout the day, which can amplify the problem by introducing even more moisture into the space.

Mold growth can be averted by adding or maintaining RH sensors in the air handling system. The Michell Instruments DT282 Digital RH &Temperature Transmitter for duct installations is a great sensor to control relative humidity in any given duct system. The sensor provides RH conditions reports back to the controller.

Depending on the reports received from the sensor, the system handler will adapt to provide less cooling to the space, to speed up fans or even to temporarily employ re-heat coils that help by drying out the air blown into the space.

With such a sensor in place, it is possible to regulate the system so that the relative humidity in the space never reaches the 60% mark, which means that mold is deprived the moisture that it requires to grow.