Air Handler Insulation

[Julio Riddols]

Just moved into a new apartment, have been waking up covered in sweat and both I and the gf are feeling unwell. Decided to look where the air handler is just to eliminate it as a possible cause, and I see this:

Just inside the housing, this insulation is before the air filter.


Other side of the part before the air filter:


This is after the air filter, inside the main part of the unit.


Back of the door covering the fan and electrical stuff:


Anyone have any experience with this stuff that can tell me what I am looking at? My assumption is that this is insulation that needs replaced pretty badly, but searching the web has not revealed any answers regarding such a thing. I'm hoping I am overreacting.

[Julio Riddols]

Had to re-size, fixed now.

[stevew]

Is that dust? You could take a shop vac to that. You're probably acclimating to the new surroundings and/or a sickness is going around.

[CU Tiger]

The inside of the duct works is lined with fiberglass batting that is essentially insulation that prevents the loss of conditioned air to the dead wall space and more importantly prevents sweating on the outside of the ducts.

What you are seeing is the result of poor routine maintenance, is changing the filter regularly. If I am looking at your photos properly that is the "return" side of the unit. So dust and dirt "before" the filter isnactuallybre!over from the air before it gets to the motor. Little known fact, air vent filters are actually there to protect the equipment from debris and potentially electro conductive dust, not to clean the air you breathe. That they do the latter was seen as an added bonus until the last few years and the marketing or healthy filters.

I'd wipe it down maybe spray with some bleach based cleaner to make you feel better and rock on.

Now if the apt is hot I'd want that fixed regardless of the look of the air handler.

[Julio Riddols]

Thanks for the answers, I think I was half overreacting and half reasonably concerned at this point, it might need a little bleach cleaning but it appears that it is ok. I turned the air off for the day and just had the windows open but we're still both feeling a little off, so I'm guessing there is probably just something going around. Not that one day would fix things, but I think I was just reaching for something to try and explain what felt like more than a coincidence.

I tend to do that sometimes I think.

Anyway, we had the apartment folks come check it out and they assured us that it is pretty much supposed to look that way, but they did give us a new filter just in case and a couple of other things to help handle potential moisture build up due to us having concrete floors and 3 days worth of rain soaking into the ground around us. I am mostly just hoping we start feeling better soon, because its clearly affecting our moods and has made the first week or so in the new place a rocky time.