New room, possible mold in the A/C

[Konstant]

Hey. I just moved into my new dorm room and I love it. Besides one problem.

There is this old musty smell in the room that is very pungent. It also is very humid. I have the room to myself right now and I don't want top move out, but the smell is very annoying and it irritates me.

Someone told me this smell and feeling in my lungs could be from Mold. Which really concerns me because ill be living here for a year. What are the chances this is mold and what should I do? It's freaking me out.

[Rennie1989]

Get on to the landlord to get it sorted. Sometimes the cause of mold can be simple to fix.

[Dedre88]

Hi Kon,

Is there mould in the room itself? If so It sounds like it's a problem with condensation which often causes mould growth. This is caused by lack of ventilation, high moisture content internally (from showers, drying clothes internally etc) and cold spots on th external walls. Try to ventilate the flat as much as possible. Then use a sugar soap solution to wash away the mould (tell landlord first that you're doing it in case walls aren't washable paint).

Is it full on air conditioning with ventilation as well? Or is it just comfort cooling? Just comfort Cooling won't have any grilles or vents and will just be a wall, floor or ceiling mounted unit. If it's just comfort cooling, now new air is getting in so this may be why it smells stale.

If it's just from the AC as above you should speak to landlord and see whether it's been serviced recently. Also check where the external unit is located, if it's proper air conditioning it will be sucking air in from somewhere outside, if this is next to an odour source the smell will be brought in doors.

[.Poppy.]

Mold shouldn't be that dangerous. It's a good idea to get it cleaned out, but many people live with mold without knowing it's there and are perfectly fine. As long as you don't have major allergies (and you'd know by now if you did) you'll likely be okay too.

I'd recommend you do a good, deep cleaning. Have someone look at the vents to make sure they're cleaned out and not moldy. You may want to look into getting a dehumidifier to keep the air drier.

FWIW, I just moved out of my college room that I had been in for 3+ years. When I lifted the hutch off my desk, there was a hole mess of mold under it. I guess I spilled something (who knows when) and it collected there. I'm fine :) but it was gross! Thankfully, some Lysol cleaned it right up....and I learned a valuable lesson too.