Have you ever given any thought to why your house is always dusty? It seems that you can never dust or vacuum enough. Have you tried taking your shoes off before you come into the house, have you tried washing the dog more often, have you gone out and purchased a HEPA vacuum cleaner; all to no avail?
If you can answer yes to these types of questions then there is a very good chance that the problem is air vent dust. The air vent is nothing more than an extension to the ducting system, if you are having problems with dust coming from the vents it has to be coming from the duct. It should come as no surprise that almost all ductwork leaks, even if you have great filtration set-up, dust can be sucked in through the return vents from such places as the attic, the result being that this dist ends up being distributed throughout the home.
There will always be some evidence of air vent dust but if there is excessive dust there can be problems; if there is too much dust in the air it is not good for your health and it can block the free flow of air through the system which results in excessive energy bills. What steps can you take to mitigate this problem?
Visual inspection: This is not something that you have to do frequently. The only times when you should really be concerned are when you see evidence of mold growth, if you have a problem with insects or vermin in the ducts or when there is excessive dust, dirt and other debris in the ducts. Keep an eye on the ducts; look for evidence of mold as well as the odor of mildew.
Cleaning: Remove the grill over the air vent and give it a thorough cleaning, clean the area that surrounds the vent as well. The next task is to clean the actual duct; this can be done with the help of a vacuum. In the majority of cases the duct runs are too long for domestic tools to be used, when this is the case there are professionals that can perform this task.
Even though the ducts will be clean after this, unless the joints are solid the problem will soon recur. It is at this time that you should consider sealing the interior of the duct. Once sealed, ducts will be air tight, you can be assured there will be no further mold growth and you will see a drop in your energy bill as well as there is no air restriction.
