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I need your help. We had a new HVAC complete system installed including air handler. About 3 months down the road in the bathroom we started smelling musty smell. We don't know where it was coming from. We thought it was sewer. So one day in the evening i closed the bathroom door and A/C set to 76 went to bed. In the am the bathroom was musty. It was bad we had to open windows. I went to the crawl space to check the crawl space is big that i can walk in. The crawl space smelled the same as the bathroom. We have a big plastic covering the ground in the crawl space. The HVAC i would say it is below the bathroom and on the 1st floor. The 2nd unit upstairs is okay.
I don't smell it in the living not sure if it is because of high ceiling?
One thought: since bathrooms don't have any return grills (as above poster said), and bathrooms are usually pretty small rooms, when you set the HVAC and closed the bathroom door, you essentially prevented the room from getting any air conditioning, I think, because of pressure buildup. So, it would smell musty. Maybe, as the above poster said, there are leaks in the supply tubing and the pressure buildup caused air to come out those leaks. Just why it smells musty (the same as down in the crawl space), I don't know.
I love mysteries! Anxious to hear other people's thoughts.
I need your help. We had a new HVAC complete system installed including air handler. About 3 months down the road in the bathroom we started smelling musty smell. We don't know where it was coming from. We thought it was sewer. So one day in the evening i closed the bathroom door and A/C set to 76 went to bed. In the am the bathroom was musty. It was bad we had to open windows. I went to the crawl space to check the crawl space is big that i can walk in. The crawl space smelled the same as the bathroom. We have a big plastic covering the ground in the crawl space. The HVAC i would say it is below the bathroom and on the 1st floor. The 2nd unit upstairs is okay.
I don't smell it in the living not sure if it is because of high ceiling?
What do you all think is going on
Google "Dirty Sock Syndrome". That'll tell you everything you need to know.
Migosh! Who knew! We have our HVAC system cleaned/tuned up every year and I wonder if they take action to avoid these problems when they come out each year. I will have to ask them. The article did say it didn't matter whether the unit was new or not, these problems can happen.
Get a humidity meter and see what it says in the bathroom. If someone in your house takes nighttime baths/showers, it may be extremely humid in there. Setting the AC at 76 isn't going to be low enough to dry it out and you'll get the musty smell. In my old house, if I took a shower later in the day when the AC was set a higher temperature, the bathroom would not dry out as well and the towels would mildew. I would have to move them into the other bathroom that was next to the dehumidifier.
If the odor is localized I wouldn't start with A/C as it serves the whole house. I'd look for signs of dampness under the bathroom. You can pick up a moisture meter suitable for checking wood levels for not much money.
We have a/c (inlet) vent in the bathroom and also the exhaust fan.
But you don't have an AC outlet vent nor is the exhaust fan running all the time.
Quote:
With Dirty sock syndrome...
Whether you have that or not the first question to determine is whether the source
of the odors is INSIDE the ductwork or being drawn into it somehow such as through
unsealed joints.
Once under the house you might notice some other source of odor immediately below
that room in particular ... such as a bad waste line joint in the pipes there.
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