Six springtime dust-busting tips for your Delaware-area home

Your furnace gets quite a workout during heating season as it labors to keep you warm and comfortable in your Delaware-area home.

One consequence of all that work is that your furnace filter gets a workout, too – and eventually it will become too clogged to remove the hair, dust and other particles that are circulating in your indoor air. The result? An over-dusty home poor indoor air quality.

If you haven’t checked your filter yet this year, it’s a good idea to do so ASAP – in addition to creating a potential dust problem, a clogged filter will cost you more money now (with higher energy bills) and later (with a greater risk of breakdowns from heating system overload).

In the meantime, try these six dust-busting tips if you want to give your furnace filters an assist:

• Opt for slippers – About 80 percent of household dust enters the house on shoe bottoms, so adopting a shoe-free policy is a great place to start if you want to keep dust under control. Keep a basket of slippers or slipper socks at the door for guests.
• Wipe your feet – If you can’t go all-in on an in-home shoe ban, make sure you have mats inside and outside of every home entrance to give guests a place to wipe their feet before entering your space. Just be sure to clean and shake out the mats regularly.
• Vacuum regularly – Vacuum each room thoroughly (preferably with a HEPA-filtered vacuum) once a week; go over high-traffic areas twice a week.
• Use a microfiber cloth – Feather dusters simply push dust around; to remove dust, use a damp microfiber cloth.
• Consider a duct cleaning – A professional duct cleaning will purge your system and remove any clogs or excessive amounts of dust, debris and/or particles that could potentially be released into the home from your supply registers.
• Service your furnace – Dust can also be a sign that your furnace isn’t working as efficiently as it should be – or that your ductwork isn’t moving air properly. If you are noticing more dust than usual and haven’t had your furnace serviced in a while, it’s probably time for professional heating system maintenance.

Keep dust at bay this spring: Check your furnace air filter once a month to avoid unnecessary repairs and premature heating system breakdowns.

If your heating equipment isn’t working as well as you think it should, contact Poore’s Propane and Oil for expert heating system maintenance within our Delaware HVAC service area, today!