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What's Do These Two Pictures Have in Common? 6.1.11

By Robert Dirienzo

Home Inspector with HABITEC Home and Building Inspections, LLC

June 02, 2011 02:58 AM

What do the following two pictures have in common?

ANSWER: Look closely at both pictures. The first one is the HVAC ductwork in an attic. Notice a small box mounted on top of the ductwork. We don't see these very often when we do home inspections.

Now look closely at the HVAC register in the second picture. You should be able to see some fungal growth on the round register blades and up inside on the shutoff controllers. This is clearly fungal growth. So now look at a closeup of the small box in the picture below.

UV Air Cleaner

UV Cleaners are seldom installed during the initial installation of an HVAC system. However, they are installed as a method to combat air quality issues related to mold. These two first pictures are clearly related. The cleaner is there to resist a mold related issue. But the issue is still clearly underway when looking at the register.

Thank you,

Richard Acree

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http://habitecinspections.com

Comments in this blog posting are the copyrighted intellectual property of Richard Acree, President, HABITEC Home and Building Inspections, LLC, and contributing members of the Active Rain Real Estate network, and are intended to educate and otherwise assist home owners, sellers and buyers, building owners, sellers and buyers, realtors, real estate investors, property managers, and lenders in the process of owning, buying or selling homes or commercial buildings. HABITEC is a residential (home) and commercial building inspection company serving Middle Tennessee including Nashville, Brentwood, Franklin, Murfreesboro, Smyrna, Mt. Juliet, Hendersonville, Dickson, Belle Meade, Columbia, Spring Hill and more! In addition to building inspections HABITEC offers Environmental Services for mold assessments, radon testing and water quality analysis. Additional information about HABITEC can be found on our website at http://habitecinspections.com, or call 615-376-2753.

Richard Acree is the author of the HABITEC Home and Building Inspections ActiveRain Blog and founder of the ActiveRain Group Tennessee Home and Building Inspectors. All are welcome to join and see more blogs like this one. You can also join HABITEC on Facebook or Linked .

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Mickey Hayward

Sunset Properties, Hayward Realty - Onley, VA

Farm - Land - Home Sales & Commercial Real Estate

Richard - very intersting photos and something which was not noticeable to me with my untrained eyes. Do these photos suggest that, though it's good to have the UV filter, the UV filter is not doing its job in this case?

Jun 02, 2011 04:39 AM

Robert Dirienzo

HABITEC Home and Building Inspections, LLC - Franklin, TN

Home Inspections - Nashville TN

Good question Mickey. It is hard to say whether the UV Cleaner is doing its job. Probably difficult to measure. But the growth on the register is clear evidence something more needs to happen. One of the points here is that even if the register was clean, a UV Cleaner in the HVAC system is a red flag that something has happened in the air quality and further investigation is warranted. A first step is to ask the owner why the UV Filter was installed.

HABITEC Home and Building Inspections, LLC

Jun 02, 2011 05:55 AM

Gina Tufano

Ask Gina & Company with Pearson Smith Realty - Sterling, VA

Ask Gina & Company, Northern Virginia Real Estate

It looks like a licensed HVAC person should be brought in to detemine what exactly is happening. I have never seen one of these.

Jun 02, 2011 06:00 AM

Richard - I was thinking that the IV filter was installed at the time the HVAC was installed but I understand now that this may not be the case. Are they a good investment on an initial install of a HVAC system or are they only necessary after the fact . . . as may have been the case per your description of the photos? Thanks for the education.

Jun 02, 2011 06:04 AM

Hi Gina,

That is exactly what happened next. A contact sample was taken and analyzed by a laboratory technician to determine the nature of the material. Then an HVAC tech was called in to clean and fix issues with this system.

Mickey: I do not think UV Cleaners are necessary as part of an initial HVAC installation. If installed and maintained properly most HVAC systems should not need this device. I only see these devices in older units that have some of the red flags indicative of a mold growth environment.

Thanks,

Jun 06, 2011 02:49 PM

What's Do These Two Pictures Have in Common? 6.1.11

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