Smell from Vents Every Time A/C Runs (5 Month Old System and Ductwork)

[kitgoat1]

Earlier this year we had all new ductwork w/ dampers and a 3 TON 18 Seer Bosch Heat Pump and Ruud variable speed furnace installed (as supplementary heat). From day one, we had issues and 5 weeks in had to bring a second contractor in to help us figure out why we had water pooling around the supply plenum and had a horrible musty smell coming from the vents. The first company kept telling us the unit was just sweating (which it clearly wasn’t) and the smell we were experiencing was in our head and to try an air freshener. Turns out the original installer ordered a furnace/air handler that was best suited for a 5 TON unit and could only be turned down to accommodate roughly 3.5 TON – so the air was blowing water around inside the supply plenum and it was occasionally leaking out. Also, the installer had strapped 4 of our ducts so tightly that much less air was making it to the one side of the house. We paid $5k to have the second company order and install a new single stage furnace (to work with a 3TON AC), strip and reinsulate the supply plenum, clean the coil box, and install a new return plenum (it’s a downflow furnace setup). We couldn’t afford more, so we left the ducts as they are. They did a terrible job too and we had air pouring out of the unit because they didn’t seal things up and the supple plenum is clearly sweating now because the insulation they used was insufficient. They didn’t hook up the thermostat correctly either, so it was cutting off at odd times and the dehumidifier function was never enabled. We fixed the leaking issues ourselves with tape, caulk and mastic and had the thermostat rewired. Worst of all, and the thing we can't resolve, the smell has gotten worse. Bosch’s response to the $20,000 mess we found ourselves in – so sorry, that’s between you and your contractors.

Five months later and we’re living with musty funky air coming out of every vent every time the AC turns on and for the entire length of time that it’s running. I can only hope that come winter, the smell will get better with the heat running. Unfortunately I’m guessing that means it’ll be back in the spring. Bosch contractors in our area, who have a good reputation and actually know what they’re doing, seems to be a big fat ZERO. What did I expect for a piece of equipment that’s only been on the market for a few years. Some of these contractors don’t even have a reputation with Bosch, they just got on the Bosch list because they purchased from a local supply house that sells multiple brands. For that reason, I would never ever EVER buy another one, ever. Also, we haven’t had great success with it dehumidifying.

I’m just wondering a few things. Because we have dampers in all of the runs and the ducts are located in the crawlspace (which is partially encapsulated), could it be drawing funky air in through the damper openings? I haven’t seen any complaints about dampers in crawl spaces, but doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. Also, would having the four ducts with less than stellar air flow cause mold issues in all ducts? Anyone having issues with mold in ductwork from the amount of condensation being created from the new variable speed units? My only other guess would be dirty sock syndrome, but that’s an expensive proposition because Bosch refuses to replace the coil because they don’t believe in it.

Thanks for any input. This has been pure hell, and because we both have severe allergies, is making us feel like crap.

Liz

[kitgoat1]

Sorry, forgot to mention that we had ductwork tested for air leaks and it passed code