Excessive dust

[Mark440]

I am constantly having to fight excessive dust. When I first moved out here, the road was unpaved, and so I attributed the dust to living off a dirt road. But, the county paved it about a year ago - and the dust doesn't seem to have declined at all.

I replaced the entire A/C exchange unit a couple years back, and installed new flexible vent tubing underneath. I keep above average filters in it at all times, and I change the filters every month - and they always look pretty full of dust.

My assumption is that the floor duct distribution line for either one or both sides is the culprit - but when I pull the vent covers to take a look-see - well, it doesn't look too bad. Still, I got dust.

Now, I know I will never get it to the point of looking like a 'clean room' - but I'd sure like to find the source(s). Is it practical to re-create the ducting underneath using the flexible tubing? Or should I be looking elsewhere?

[DaveyB]

If you are sure that the dust is coming from outside, then build an air washer to take it out. For the dust already in the ducts, I would rent a shop-vac with a high rating and use that to purge the ducts first.

As far as the air washer is concerned, use the principals involved in a swamp cooler, where straw (or similar) is encased in a wire net frame and water is poured through it. The dust will stick to the moisture and the air will pass through it relatively clean of dust.

This doesn't mean you have to keep water running at all times, you can collect the water in a sump, filter it and recirculate it through the filter. You could probably use an aquarium pump for the water, and make a filter unit to fit inline between the AC and the beginning of the ducting. The thicker the filter, the more effective it will be in removing the dust, so plan on 6" or more of straw in the filter. This should also take out most of the pollen in the air too, for those with allergies.

The final unit could probably be home made fairly easily, and should not cost much to run since the pump is the only moving part. I hope that sparks your imagination and helps you out some!