Here's What Your Home's Dust Bunnies Are Trying To Tell You

Did you just wipe off the TV the other day or sweep the floor a few hours ago, and you already see the dust piling up again? Your home is trying to tell you it's time to clean the air ducts. Dust bunnies, no matter if they are on the surface of the home or blowing across the floor, are a sign that there's too much buildup of debris in your home's air ducts — the pathways that allow heated or cooled air to travel from the HVAC system into each room of the home.

Dust is hazardous for those with respiratory conditions, but not getting it under control can be a problem for anyone. Dust is made up of a wide range of materials, including pollen, dander from your pets, dirt, and other allergens. That's in the air you breathe. If you are seeing dust bunnies in your home, it's a sign that there's an overabundance of dust present, and it needs to be removed.

Yet, just dusting surfaces isn't enough. You need to find the source of the problem and remove it. A good starting point is with your home's HVAC system. Both the air filters within it and the ductwork itself can be caked with dust that eventually blows through the vents and onto the surfaces throughout your home. You can bring dust back under control by tackling this problem, such as with air duct cleaning.

Dust bunnies are nothing to overlook. Not only are they messy and can cause respiratory distress, but they are also an indication that your home's heating and cooling systems are working harder than they need, and that's going to cost you extra money with higher energy costs.

When dust comes from your air vents to cover the surfaces in your home, it's already traveled through the air ducts and HVAC system. That shouldn't happen, though. Rather, when your HVAC pulls air in from outdoors, it goes through a filter that is supposed to remove most of the particles from it. The air then travels into the system to be heated or cooled and moves through the ductwork into each room of the home. If there's too much dust in the filter, it moves into the HVAC system and the ductwork.

To resolve this, you'll need to replace or clean your HVAC filter as a starting point. That prevents the problem from worsening. Then, consider the benefits of air duct cleaning. This will remove the buildup in the ductwork. With the help of a professional company, they will remove all of the buildup stuck in the ducts and vents. This way, as air comes into your home's HVAC and passes through the clean filter and clean ducts, there's no dust for you to deal with throughout the home — or at least, you'll have less of it.

Take a second to remove one of the vent covers from a room in your home. Do you see dust there? Then air duct cleaning and air filter replacement are necessary steps to get rid of the big problems. Then, make sure you vacuum out all the vents and wipe down surfaces. This helps prevent that dust from circulating back into the HVAC system again. The next step is to work on the prevention of dust getting into the system in the first place.

Make sure all doors and windows are sealed. If you have the windows open in your home, screens minimize, but don't prevent dirt from getting into the area. One way to curtail this is to keep windows closed whenever you're doing any type of landscaping, or if there's construction work near your home. Walk around the exterior of your house and caulk any openings present, too.

In addition, if someone in your home has respiratory distress, including allergies or asthma, consider the value of a whole home air filtration system. This will work alongside your HVAC system to remove more of the dirt and debris that clogs your home. For a less expensive option, and one you can put in place now, invest in a room-sized air cleaner or purifier. These cleaners can help to remove more of the particles from your home and are helpful if you like to leave windows open or if you have pets.