Musty AC Smells After a Hot Texas Summer: Causes and Fixes
When late summer arrives in Central Texas, your air conditioner has already spent months working through intense heat and persistent humidity. Around this point, some Manor homeowners notice a frustrating change: the house still gets cool, but the air blowing from the vents has started to smell damp, earthy, or musty. That odor is rarely random. It usually means moisture has remained somewhere inside the cooling system. An air conditioner naturally removes water from indoor air. During each cooling cycle, warm, humid air travels across the cold evaporator coil. As the air temperature drops, water vapor turns into condensation. That water should move into the drain pan and leave the equipment through the condensate drain line. When the process does not happen correctly, moisture can linger. The evaporator coil may stay wet, water may remain in the drain pan, a clogged drain line may hold condensation inside the system, or dampness may develop in the ductwork. Moisture becomes even m...