If you find yourself forever dusting and cannot understand why your home gets so dusty, your HVAC system may be the culprit.

There are things you can try to test the theory out for yourself. Try following the suggestions listed here and see if they make any difference with the dust levels in your home.

HVAC 101: Change the Air Filters

If it’s been a while since you’ve changed the air filter, start there.

Going forward, check the air filter more often. Checking the air filter once a month, especially if you have pets, will let you know the air filter is doing its job by catching the dust before it blows back into your home.

Shop around for a higher quality air filter, with a MERV (Media Efficiency Rating Value) rating of at least 8+. Higher quality air filters will catch more of the dust before it makes its way around your home.

Adjust Thermostat Setting

Before dusting, a little insider hack is to adjust the thermostat from the “auto” to “on” setting.

When the AC setting is in the “on” position, the blower kicks in and moves air around the home the entire time it’s running. The dust, along with the circulating air, is sucked into the air return vents and should get trapped in the air filter.

After dusting, re-adjust the AC setting to “auto” to turn the blower off to conserve energy.

Dust Escaping through Leaks in the Ductwork

All residential HVAC systems have some leaks in the duct system.

Typically, ducts are hidden in already dusty places, like behind walls and in basement ceilings. If there are leaks in the ductwork, the dust from these dusty places gets inside.

What this means is that in addition to the airborne particles generated from your weekly dusting, the AC blower also picks up dust that comes out of leaky ducts and blows all of it throughout your home.

Dust escaping from leaky ductwork has the potential to double the amount of dust generated in your home.

Upon inspection, a local HVAC professional can locate leaks in the ductwork. When they do, they can be sealed with duct tape to minimize the level of dusty air entering or exiting the duct system.

If you try these things and they don’t seem to be helping, call the HVAC experts at Dale HCS to schedule an in-home inspection. Serving Sonoma County and surrounding areas since 1993, our trained professionals can identify the problems and suggest a plan to correct and control dusty conditions in your home.