I moved into a upstairs apartment- studio 425 sq feet. The building is a 2 story building. It was built in 1971.
I had a bad musky meldew smell in my apartment. My AC broke and the landlord placed a brand new one in, which helped a lot.
However, I still retain some of that sour musky smell in the apartment. I have 3 ac ducts and here is what one of them looks like in the photos.
Strangely, I still smell the odor with the windows open and AC off. But I guess it's the ducts.
My question is, I have read that some AC ducts are beyond cleaning. I don't mind spending money to get them clean just to get rid of the odor(if they are the cause). Does anyone know if these ducts are beyond cleaning or can they be cleaned? The pics below are of just one of the 3 air ducts.
Best Answer
Those ducts are not that dirty. The bottom picture shows what looks like dirt in the bottom of the duct but the sides and top are still shiny. The duct in the top picture is the dirtiest. The insides of these ducts are made of rigid insulation , not sheet metal. First and the cheapest possible solution is to place charcoal briquets (not the self start kind) any where you can inside the ducts, for a couple weeks. If there is a spot where you could place a netted bag full of charcoal in a duct, do this also. Last idea, Home Depot and Lowes both sell a cut to size charcoal combination filter and charcoal filter called "the web sbsorber", and costs about $10.00, that can be mounted in a filter rack or "made to fit" elsewhere near the blower. The green filter, filters the air and the charcoal takes out the smells. I have been using these for years since my wife has a nose that detects odors form 1000 feet. I replace the filter every 3 months and run my fan 24/7. This works for me. BY the way, We moved into an apartment 20 years ago while our house was being built and I did the charcoal in ducts and netted bags in the furnace housing to get rid of the musty smells.