what are some ways to control the dust that collects in a house? I find that fine black particles collect on smooth surfaces around the house. what could this indicate? i’ve owned other homes before, but they have never produced the amount of dust that this house has.
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Forced hot air heat?
I hate that question.....been doing renovations for over 27 years and no matter how much plastic I TAPE to the walls..dust gets through...When doing work in your home just get use to the fact that along with noise.....comes dust....appreciate it! Dont be a baby
Now what did I do? Geez.
I just asked because fha does tend to manufacture more dust, I think most of it is shipped with the furnaces, but there are filtering options.
What worried me is "black dust", and I should also ask if there are gas appliances. If so, natural or propane.
Qtrmeg, yes, forced hot air ,heat pumps. i have got to find away to reduce the dust in my home. this is not construction related.any comments on duct cleaning.
David,
I would be concerned about black particles. That sounds like some type of combustion byproduct. Do you have oil heat ? I would have someone come out and check the furnace very thouroughly. My house has forced hot air heat. It was oil for 20 years but we changed over to gas about three years ago. We have never had any black dust. We do get our share of "regular" dust from the carpets etc. When we put in the gas furnace, we also installed an electronic air cleaner and we have seen a big difference.
Hope this helps,
On the surface of this thread, I would agree that the black spots are organic and he may have an indoor garage that's not properly separated or sealed off, or he's close to a lot of traffic.
Just another thought,
Gabe
Just a few thoughts for those of you with more brains than me to consider.
1. are the windows open or closed?
2. Are we heating or cooling at this time?
3. Have the ducts been really cleaned?
4. How close is the airport? I lived nxt to SeaTac for way to long and it was always dusty!
5. Where does he go to get it tested to see what it started out as?
That is about the limit of my ideas, hope that they start some helpful thinking, GOOD Luck
Dan
Dan, Have you any luck with duct cleaning.
I have had no experience either good or bad with cleaning ducts, but I am pretty sure that whatever is in your house will continue to spread if the heat pumps are running. It seems to me that you should have the dust tested to see if it can be identified so that you can figure where it is originating from. Fireplace, barbeque, car traffic, etc.... Only if you know what you are fighting, can you take proper preventative measures. Most of the causes that i can think of are bad, but some would be way worse than others!! I am not sure how, but I would try real hard to identify the source rather than trying to just filter the dust. Good luck!!
handydan, thanks for your input. Having it identified should be my first step.
david:
Yesterday I said I could provide a number for an air-filter company. Their number is 1-800-745-5811. If your problem is dust from your house and duct system this will work. I tried others and this one works. In fact it is so good that I will be putting it in all of our new houses.
Our cleaning lady said it has reduced dust by 95%.
Charlie
HI. Charlie, Thanks for the phone number. i'll call. If I can reduce the dust in my huose by 50% I would happy.
The reason I asked about gas appliances is they can soot off if not adjusted right, or if you have the wrong nozzle. I understand that your heat pump doesn't contribute to the black dust, but something is. Other sources (smacks head) are candles and vehicle exhaust, diesels are wicked for this. As long as you are comfortable with the source of black dust, I am.
As for duct cleaning, I would think a filter will control the dust after a time, why bother? If you have duct board I would leave it alone.
Mr. Bill, I do not think its a combustion by product this house has heat pumps. electronic air filters my be my next step. Have you had any luck with duct cleaning
David:
We had the same problem in our 27 year old house-tons of dust. We ordered a filtering system, (about $60.00), from a company in Tennessee and in solved our problem. I do not have their number but I'll get it for you this eveing.
As a precausion I would check the system to make sure there is no fire hazard.
charlie
I'm surprised no one has brought up candle burning. They could be producing the black soot........
Truss Designer Extraordinaire
I had a lot of black dust in an apartment a long time ago. It was close to one of the busiest intersections in LA, and I figured most of the dust was rubber worn off of car tires.
-- J.S.
The black dust is organic residue from the car exhaust. Carbon monoxide.
Gabe
You could well have it figured out-I had an elderly lady recently complain to me about black dust in her house. I noticed some votive and aeromatic candles when I walked in. She never realized how much soot those things can put out.
JohnJohn Svenson, Builder, Remodeler, NE Ohio (Formerly posted as JRS)
Check out Boss Hog's post. I have a member in my family and her refrigerator had black dust attached to the plastic walls of the refrigerator. It was from burning the scented candles. Also My home and two other members of my family's homes just went through a maintenance check. All three had problems with the returns not being sealed off properly. You could take and remove the filter and look into the return chamber and see black fuzzy dust where ever it was drawing air into the chamber without going through the filter. All three homes had returns that were boxed in area's in a closet before the duct connects to the filter frame. One home had not sealed the wall off above the top of the filter frame and they closed off with wood and painted a white mastic for complete sealing. The last home was the worst. It had a box built in the closet and had the black fuzzy dust every where the box was leaking. It had one chamber in the wall that allowed air to be drawen in from the attic with being filtered. No wonder my evaporaator coils were always dirty. All faults were corrected by closing the large gaps with tin and wood and then painted with this masking product that the technicians used. Larry
Thanks Larry , I'll take a look at my returns .