Dust and Dirt In Your Home? Check Your Air Conditioner
If you’ve ever opened up the hood to a brand new car, it’s a special moment. It’s clean — nearly immaculate. Take a picture.
Because you’ll likely never see it like that again. It’s the same with any large machine. Eventually with wear and tear, even the most efficient machines become consumed with dirt, oil, dust, or any other “gunk” that is a bi-product of what’s made necessary to allow them to run. While we’d all love our machines to not have a scratch nor a speck for the duration of their lives, we understand that’s part of its lifecycle.
The one question for your AC unit, however, might be, when is that dust and dirt affecting your home — and is part of the issue with your air conditioner?
How Dust and Dirt Affects Your Air Conditioner
If you’ve owned a window AC unit, you remember the “vacuum” sucking in your indoor air when you run your hand over the condenser. With this comes dust and dirt that your filter often catches. Your central air unit works the same way on a larger scale. But your filter isn’t going to catch everything, and that’s where dust and debris make their way on the unit, in your duct system and throughout your home.
It’s well known that too much dust or dirt deceases performance from your AC unit or your duct system. If you’re not changing air filters or cleaning your ducts regularly, dirt and dust can:
- Slow down reliability an overall performance from your duct system and AC unit
- Put you in line for more costly, expensive repairs, wear and tear and shorter term HVAC shelf life
- Hurt energy efficiency and increases your energy bills
- Make it more difficult to clean and maintain your home’s living space and is less aesthetically pleasing.
How Poor Quality AC Affects Your Indoor Air Quality & Health
An inefficient air conditioner unit that collects and disperses dust particles from your home compromises more than just the unit itself. Dust and debris particulates can fill up your duct system, albeit on a small scale, can cause cardiovascular and respiratory problems, as well as act as an irritant. If you have a senior citizen living in your home, particularly someone with a chronic respiratory issue, you should take care of the dust in your AC and duct system.
Removing dust from your AC and home isn’t just for aesthetic maintenance. Though though there is no current research suggesting dust directly causes allergens, it can bring in dust mites. These tiny bugs can cause signs of hay fever, sneezing and runny nose.
Why Does Dust Accumulate In My AC and Duct System?
The two components of an AC that typically get dusty are the condenser (which has a giant fan) In the air handler, there is usually a filter — but it can’t catch 100% of all particulate matter that passes through. However, a properly installed AC unit should allow little dust on the inside of the air handler or your air ducts.
When Should I have My Ducts Cleaned?
When it comes to duct cleaning, mold is the number one issue you should look out for. So if you have a little dust, you might ask yourself, “who cares?” It may never become an issue. Only your own good judgement can determine when it is beneficial to have your ducts cleaned, based on the cost, your financial situation, size of your home and the size if your family (including pets).
According to the EPA, “You should consider having your ducts in your home cleaned if there is substantial visible mold growth inside hard surface (e.g., sheet metal) ducts or other components of your heating and cooling system.”
Remedies For Dust In My Central Air Conditioning
The top remedy is ALWAYS to ensure you have an air filter and you are changing it regularly. If you don’t feel your filter is working well enough, you have two options. You can upgrade or get your ducts inspected. No air filter helps if you have a leaky duct system.
A duct cleaning from Moore Home Services, plus an Indoor Air Quality package can get rid of 99% of dust. The cost of duct cleaning varies based on the size and system installed in your home. Read more below!
Signs & How To Find Dust In Your Duct System and A/C
If you are concerned with the pile-up of dust in your AC unit or around your home, there are a number ways of inspecting:
- Open up your return air registers — or just look at them.
- Check your air filter for dust and dirt
- Look at the blades of your ceiling fans
- Remove your air conditioner condenser panel and check to see if it is dirty or dusty
How Moore Home Services Can Help With Dust and Dirt
Moore offers complete home duct cleaning with an Air Scrubber package.
Our Aerus(R) Air scrubbers are scientifically proven to eliminate allergens with ActivePure(R) Technology — “The most powerful air and surface purification ever discovered. You can enhance your existing HVAC system, help get rid of dust, dirt and allergens and experience longer unit lifespan.
Regular maintenance programs – get a yearly tune-up on your AC unit through Moore’s Gold Club program and save!
Moore’s AC Duct Cleaning and Inspection:
- Searches for asbestos-containing materials (insulation, register boots, ect.)
- Uses only high-efficiency particle air (HEPA) vacuum equipment that exhausts particles outside of the home
- Always wears protective boots to shield carpet and household furnishings during cleaning
- Our brushes work in conjunction with our vacuum to remove dust and debris.
- Soft-bristled brushes work on fiberglass and sheet metal ducts.
- Can re-seal or insulate any holes your previous service provider may have created
- Follows all National Air Duct Cleaners Association standards for air duct cleaning and North American Insulation Manufacturers Association recommended practice for ducts containing fiberglass
Moore’s Diamond Certified service technicians are dedicated to making your living environment more comfortable and energy-efficient by offering education and expertise in all aspects of total home comfort. Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you with dust and dirt in your AC system