It's 4am and I have bites everywhere.
April 7, 2010 1:30 PM Subscribe
Is it possible that mosquitoes are coming in through the air conditioning?
I can't find anywhere else they could be getting into my apartment. Is it possible mosquitoes could be getting sucked from the outside and brought in? If so, what should I check?
I can't find anywhere else they could be getting into my apartment. Is it possible mosquitoes could be getting sucked from the outside and brought in? If so, what should I check?
Do you have any indoor plants, with soil that you water occasionally?
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 1:51 PM on April 7, 2010
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 1:51 PM on April 7, 2010
How neat are things under your kitchen and bathroom sink? If there's just a splash of standing water from a leaky pipe somewhere on your floor in which they're breeding, they could be escaping the walls into your apartment this way. Same thing goes for drop ceilings.
posted by desuetude at 2:01 PM on April 7, 2010
posted by desuetude at 2:01 PM on April 7, 2010
Most air conditioners have a filter. If yours is missing or if a finer mesh version can be bought to replace it, that might at least rule the air conditioner out.
posted by esome at 2:05 PM on April 7, 2010
posted by esome at 2:05 PM on April 7, 2010
Response by poster: It's a unit like this. The apartment would only be a couple of years old, so there isn't any problems with a leaky sink (just checked). I don't have any indoor plants either.
posted by simplesharps at 3:02 PM on April 7, 2010
posted by simplesharps at 3:02 PM on April 7, 2010
Best answer: Is it possible for central air vents (running cool air) to contain pockets of water (condensation) to allow mosquitoes to breed?
Not really, systems are designed to avoid water traps and air that has been cooled is usually below it's saturation point so will dry out any small drops of water. IE: You'd need an external source of water to keep the pool full. Having said that it does happen sometimes (usually on very large systems like hospitals) but the first symptom isn't mosquito but rather mould and legionnaires disease.
And anecdotally I've never seen mosquitoes (and we have a dozen or so different species locally in size from noseeums to examples the size of a dime) in A/C systems though I've worked almost exclusively on residential systems.
posted by Mitheral at 3:16 PM on April 7, 2010
Not really, systems are designed to avoid water traps and air that has been cooled is usually below it's saturation point so will dry out any small drops of water. IE: You'd need an external source of water to keep the pool full. Having said that it does happen sometimes (usually on very large systems like hospitals) but the first symptom isn't mosquito but rather mould and legionnaires disease.
And anecdotally I've never seen mosquitoes (and we have a dozen or so different species locally in size from noseeums to examples the size of a dime) in A/C systems though I've worked almost exclusively on residential systems.
posted by Mitheral at 3:16 PM on April 7, 2010
Response by poster: No no, I hear 'em them. I see 'em. I squash 'em.
posted by simplesharps at 3:18 PM on April 7, 2010
posted by simplesharps at 3:18 PM on April 7, 2010
Your unit will not suck air in from outside, it's strictly recirculating. That said, there will be water coming (condensate) from your unit, and that should run outside in a separate pipe to a drain point somewhere. Maybe check that that's draining ok?
posted by defcom1 at 4:44 PM on April 7, 2010
posted by defcom1 at 4:44 PM on April 7, 2010
so there isn't any problems with a leaky sink (just checked).
Oh, what I meant was that the building pipes in the walls could have leaked some moisture, mosquitoes hatched behind your walls, and then found their way into your apartment where the pipes come through the walls under your sink.
And I actually watched mosquitoes hatch out of a small opening in a drop ceiling into my bedroom. It was like a scene from a horror film, a cloud of mosquitoes tumbling down from overhead.
posted by desuetude at 4:46 PM on April 7, 2010
Oh, what I meant was that the building pipes in the walls could have leaked some moisture, mosquitoes hatched behind your walls, and then found their way into your apartment where the pipes come through the walls under your sink.
And I actually watched mosquitoes hatch out of a small opening in a drop ceiling into my bedroom. It was like a scene from a horror film, a cloud of mosquitoes tumbling down from overhead.
posted by desuetude at 4:46 PM on April 7, 2010
Response by poster: a cloud of mosquitoes tumbling down from overhead.
Just great - thank you for that wonderful picture.
Your unit will not suck air in from outside
That's what I think, but I have a weird suspicion that it is. I'm going to buy a mozzie tent to place over the unit inside. I will post back if I capture any of the suckers.
posted by simplesharps at 9:50 PM on April 7, 2010
Just great - thank you for that wonderful picture.
Your unit will not suck air in from outside
That's what I think, but I have a weird suspicion that it is. I'm going to buy a mozzie tent to place over the unit inside. I will post back if I capture any of the suckers.
posted by simplesharps at 9:50 PM on April 7, 2010
Check your front door. We get mosquitoes that wait by the front and back doors and sneak in when we enter or exit.
posted by ljesse at 7:47 AM on April 8, 2010
posted by ljesse at 7:47 AM on April 8, 2010
I went through a phase where I thought they were coming through the bathroom vent. I haven't had a problem since I cleaned the gutters. YMMV.
posted by notned at 3:12 PM on April 8, 2010
posted by notned at 3:12 PM on April 8, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by phoenixy at 1:35 PM on April 7, 2010