Air Duct Dust – What’s In It?

Here in Minnesota, we rely on our central heating and air condition systems to keep our homes comfortable year round. Whenever the furnace or air conditioner is running, it’s powerful fan circulates all the air in your home several times per hour. But what’s in the air that’s circulation throughout your home? What you don’t know might hurt you.

On a sunny day, with sunlight streaming through a window, you can actually see the dust in your air. You see it, too, as you clean your home. It settles on every surface, accumulates in corners and under the beds. It’s a never-ending struggle to keep surfaces free of dust.

What’s in The Dust in Your Minneapolis St Paul Home?

Dust is just dust, right? We all see it. We wipe it off surfaces constantly. It’s just dust. The reality, though, is that dust is made up of many things, both organic and inorganic, all in tiny particles that are almost too small to see. You’ll be surprised at what’s in the dust in your home. And there’s a lot of it. One study shows that over 2500 particles of dust per square inch settle on every surface in your home every hour.

Inorganic Material – finely ground minerals from the dirt outside, along with particles from the paint and other materials in your home make up part of the dust you see.
Human Skin – Really! The human body constantly sheds tiny flakes of dead skin. Millions of them per day. Skin flakes make up a good portion of household dust.
Dust Mite Feces – Feeding on that human skin and other organic debris are thousands of microscopic dust mites. Like all other animals, they excrete their wastes, in particles small enough to circulate in your air.
Pet Debris – Fido and Felix, like humans, also shed dead skin, along with bits of hair that breaks off. We call it “pet dander,” and it’s all part of the dust, and many of us are allergic to it. Pet litter, too, contributes to dust.
Fibers – Carpets, bedding, towels, clothing, and other fabrics constantly lose tiny bits of the materials that make them up. Some of it is small enough to circulate in the air. Larger fiber particles accumulate, with other particles, into the “dust bunnies” we spend so much time sweeping up.
Molds – Molds are everywhere. They’re nature’s way of breaking down organic matter. Molds reproduce using spores, microscopic particles that waft invisibly through the air. Many allergies are related to these mold spores.
Bacteria – As with molds, bacteria are everywhere, no matter how much cleaning we do. Millions of them. They’re microscopic too, and make up part of the dust in our air.
Smoke – Microscopic particles and oil droplets in smoke also make up part of the dust in homes containing smokers or wood burning fireplaces.

Your Air Ducts Collect Dust

Since air circulates constantly when your furnace or air conditioner runs, it’s only natural that the dust particles in the air settle in these ducts. Over time, they can build up into layers that reduce the efficiency of your heating and cooling systems. That costs you money. While the filter in your heating and cooling system blocks some of this dust, it can’t cope with the huge quantities in your home.

The accumulation of dust particles in your air ducts doesn’t always stay put, either. Look around a heat register in some little-used room in your home. There will be dust accumulating on the floor and wall near the register.

Twin Cities Duct Cleaning Is The Answer – Minneapolis St. Paul, MN

Twin Cities Duct Cleaning can rid your air ducts of dust and debris. Cleaning dust and debris from your air ducts can dramatically cut down on the amount of dust circulating in your home. If allergies are a problem for you, duct cleaning is essential. If you’d rather dust surface less often, duct cleaning will help. Twin Cities Duct Cleaning is a full service duct cleaning company. Our technicians, using high powered, van-mounted equipment can remove the dust build-up in your air ducts. They work quickly, efficiently, and economically to solve the problem. Call them today to handle all of your duct cleaning needs.