Why Does Mold Grow on Air Conditioners?
All air conditioners are prone to mold. That’s because mold needs moisture, a food source (such as dust collected by AC unit filters), oxygen, and a warm temperature in order to grow.
Research suggests that the damp surfaces of an air conditioner can be breeding grounds for microorganisms like fungi. The amount of microbes growing on an AC unit’s cooling coils can vary based on factors like climate and the efficiency of the device’s filters.
Air conditioner mold growth may be inevitable in some parts of the United States where the climate is often hot and humid, says Jordan Peccia, PhD, a professor of chemical and environmental engineering at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut.
“In humid areas like the eastern U.S., a lot of water will condense on the air-conditioning unit’s cooling coils and potentially get onto other components like the fans, so that’s where one would have the highest risk for mold growth,” says Dr. Peccia, an expert in molecular environmental biology who’s conducted research on fungal and bacterial growth on air-conditioning units.
This differs from regions where the climate is hot and dry, such as in Arizona or certain parts of California. Because there’s not as much condensation flowing through the air conditioner, researchers haven’t noticed as many microbes brewing on AC units there, Peccia notes.
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