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Heating & Air Conditioning

Condensation in A/C vent

17 years ago

I have A/C vents in my ceiling. I have baseboard heat so they are not used in the winter.Even with the damper screwed closed moisture is getting in the bathroom air line and condensing out and dripping on the floor.I pulled the flex pipe off and found water and mold on the inside so I took that section out for replacement. The room has a exhaust fan that is on during showering to remove moisture. It looks like I need an air tight damper because apparently enough is getting past the present one to cause problems. Is there such a thing available or another solution?

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Comments (4)

mr_havac
17 years ago
unfortunately your problem is pretty common metro_58 and may be worse then you think. Its what happens when a central A/C system is installed in a cold attic where heat rising like it is from your baseboard is condensing on the cold surfaces. The bathroom may be the worse but you may also be having the same problem in other sections of duct including the return right back to the air handler itself. About the only fix is totally covering up all registers including return grills with plastic, or towels or anything that will block the flow of heated air into the system. It may not look pretty that way but it sure beats soaked insulation and ducts that will produce mold. Thats one of the big problems with the type of system you have.
mayfly_2007
17 years ago
I am also having a problem with my A/C vents. And, I have FHW baseboard heat with a separate A/C system installed in the attic. Cold air is escaping the vents into the house making some areas quite cold. (Its 20 degrees outside here in Mass.) I slid a piece of thin foam (placemats) into the vents, but the cold air comes out of the side. If I could find some good air tight vents it would be helpful. Can anyone help?
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mr_havac
17 years ago
They don't make anything specifically for this situation. You have to use some imagination. Maybe run and get a sheet of foam rubber to cut and place in the vents,,, whatever works and you can live with. Good ole Yankee Inginuity! The worse case I ever saw was where there was so much water collected in the flex duct the weight of it pulled the duct off some of the fittings, the water soaked the insulation, then started coming through the ceiling, one heck of a mess. If I were to ever do an after thought central air set up like this in a house I lived in I would probably install a small strip heater in the duct in effect making it a combination heat and cool system and just run it in the heat mode occasionally to keep the system dry. It might be a little pricier to run but its cheaper then repairing wet ceilings and replacing soggy insulation. The insurance companies will put the kabash on multiple claims for that real quick. Not to mention ingesting the mold spores the system will produce.
funnycide
17 years ago
You should look into buying magnetic sheets like they use to stick on cars. That's assuming the registers are steel and not aluminum. I have same setup in my house but I do not have a condensation problem. I may just be lucky. I do not close the dampers all the way though. I think the natural air circulation may provide enough air movement to not allow the moisture to condense. I do feel cold air if I put my hand up to the register.

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