Why is My Home So Dusty?

Do you spend all day cleaning only to see a smattering of dust in less than 24-hours or less? If you find yourself in this unfortunate scenario, it may be time to look beyond the dust cloth and figure out where the mess is coming from. While most of our Santa Rosa homeowners are quick to point the finger at the outdoors, or messy kids and pets, we can say they should be looking at their HVAC system. If you ever find yourself wondering why your home is so dusty, it’s time to take a second look at your HVAC system.

Why Do We Blame HVAC?

There are more than a few reasons why your HVAC could be the driving force behind the dust in your home. One of the best reasons we can give is that dust can travel through your HVAC system and into your home. Look for exceptionally dusty spaces under heating and cooling vents. While some amount of dust is normal in nearly every home, an excessive amount of dust could be caused by your HVAC system. This could be for several reasons. Some are:

• Dirty Air Filter – Before we get too far, let’s take a look at what makes up dust. Household dust is usually made from a mixture of skin cells, hair, clothing fibers, bits of bugs (including dust mites), soil particles, pollen, and bacteria. As gross as this all sounds, your HVAC system is made to help clear the air and trap these contaminates. Unfortunately, we see far too many homeowners forget to regularly change their air filter. If an air filter isn’t clean, it can’t trap enough dust particles, and instead those particles make it into your home, your lungs, and on every surface in your house.
• Cracked Ductwork – If your HVAC system was installed in an attic, you have ductwork running throughout your home. Many of the homeowners we work with don’t think about their air ducts until it’s too late and something goes wrong. With a lot of use, small cracks and holes can appear in your ductwork. Though these holes are small, they can let in a lot of dust. In turn, that dust gets circulated through your home.
• Dry Air – Another culprit in the battle against dust is dry air. Without humidity, dust travels faster and farther. When there’s an acceptable humidity level, the moisture helps clump dust together and weigh it down, making it harder to travel. It’s a common fact that heat treated air is very dry, this means you may see more dust during the winter than summer. Talk about what the humidity levels should be in the home. The ideal humidity level for your home is between 30% and 50%.

What Can I Do About It?

Fortunately for you, there are several things you can do to help alleviate any dust caused by your HVAC system. If you don’t already schedule regular tune-ups, that should be your first step.  Our expert HVAC technicians meticulously go through every part of your HVAC system and give detailed visual inspections along with  a professional cleaning. We recommend scheduling two tune-ups per year. One before furnace season and one before AC season. Other steps you can take are:

• Routinely Checking Your Air Filters – Your air filter is the first line of defense against dust and dander in your home. A dirty or overloaded air filter can’t catch the debris you don’t want in the house. If you want to keep dust from you home, we recommend checking your air filter every other month or so and replacing it twice per year.
• Think about a MERV filter – MERV stands for minimum efficiency reporting value. Which is another way of saying the higher the MERV rating, the more particles it will clear from the air. If you live in a home with someone who suffers from asthma and allergies, you may want to consider investing in a higher MERV rated filter regardless of the dust in your home.
• Invest in an Air Scrubber – When it comes to combatting dust and keeping your home air clean, our favorite tool is the Air Scrubber. The Air Scrubber uses UV technology to “zap” bacteria, viruses, mold, and other airborne contaminants that could be floating around. Also, it clumps dust particles together, making them easier to clean.
• Think about a Humidifier – As we mentioned above, a dry home is a dusty home. The most effective way to combat this is with a humidifier. This small system add-on attaches to your furnace and helps counteract the drying effects of the heated air.

Ready to Rid the Dust? Call Moore Home Services!

If you want to take action against a dusty home, we’re here. Call the number at the bottom of the screen or click here to schedule an appointment online. We take the time to expertly train our HVAC technicians so that they can assess your home and provide the best solution.