DUST

[bak2MN]

I have a house we built in 2006 and the dust is terrible this time of year with the furnace running. What would cause this? We have a elec heat pump with propane back up. The filter is the big thick style and I change it often. Any ideas or suggestions?

[Surface Tension]

I'm guessing.

House is drier and therefore all those tiny particles are easily lifted and moved around by the forced air.

Some tumble and collect into a clump then eventually settle.

This time of year add dead skin to what is dust.

[pureinsanity]

If it makes you feel any better I have a boiler not forced air and the dust is ridiculous in my house. Add two people living there, a dog that sheds and shakes and opening and closing doors. I would hate to see what my house would be if I had forced air!!!!

[Surface Tension]

Stopped in while on my way to get the vacuum.

I'm blaming my dog for more of the dust and sink full of dirty dishes too.

[pureinsanity]

Stopped in while on my way to get the vacuum.

I'm blaming my dog for more of the dust and sink full of dirty dishes too.

He is supposed to lick them before he puts them in the sink!

[Tom7227]

Maybe you need to get the ducts cleaned out. I suspect they can get pretty full of dust during the construction particularly with sheet rocking. Only advice I can give is to not go with one of the outfits that advertises they'll do your whole house for $X. I did it once and they did a pretty lousy job. A few years later I had someone else come out and it took twice as long. There is something they did that made a lot of sense to me but I don't recall exactly what it was. Might have been something like putting some sort of vibrating snake into the ducts while the tornado style vacuum was going 100 mph out in the driveway. Maybe someone can pipe in with some specific insight into how to do it correctly.

[MNice]

Be careful with duct cleanng, many times cheap HVAC people use flex duct and flex connectors (legal by code) and the brush type cleaners may wreck the duct. FYI.

[nobody05]

Many new house's with the floor trusses that's the only way you can run ducts is via flex.

[CAMAN]

Many new house's with the floor trusses that's the only way you can run ducts is via flex.

And what makes trusses different than joists? Sounds like laziness to me...

[MNice]

I would say cheaper, more than lazy. HVAC companies are pretty tight right now with construction as it is.

[CAMAN]

I would say cheaper, more than lazy. HVAC companies are pretty tight right now with construction as it is.

Still doesn't explain why is HAS to be done with trusses as nobody05 posted above.

What I get from nobody05's post above is "because there are holes in trusses where we can run flexible ducting, we will do that instead of doing it the right way...

[RoosterR]

When you order truss joists you specify for the main trunks and they will do the webbing accordingly. Absolutely no flex allowed in houses we build, all hard pipe. Maybe more work but alot better in the long run.

[Redlantern]

I was inspecting a house my friend was having built, the plumber decided to go underneath the trusses since he didn't have a straight shot through the trusses. While it met code, it sure defeated the purpose of trusses. This is what fittings are for. I agree with Caman, laziness pure and simple (or too cheap to do the job right).

[CAMAN]

Being lazy and being cheap is essentially the same thing IMO.

Rooster, that is what I like to hear! Builders who do it the right way, not the easy way. Glad to hear there are still some around. The easy way ALWAYS comes back to bite you in the @$$ sometime down the road and will end up costing more than if it were done the right way.

Quote:

the plumber decided to go underneath the trusses since he didn't have a straight shot through the trusses.

How the ^#&% didn't he have a straight shot, or atleast a semi straight shot? Trusses are like 90% air! Jeez!

[Tom7227]

The guy wants to know about dust in his house. Can we get back that?

[CAMAN]

Sorry Tom.

Like was said, it is normal for dust amounts to go up in the winter. Nothing much you can do to prevent it, but to lessen it, get ducts cleaned, vacuum carpet and furniture a couple times a week, change/clean vacuum filter often, don't dust with tools like feather dusters and those fuzzy duster things - wipe with a damp rag, change air filter regularly, run the forced air fan constantly to keep air circulating through house, clean under appliances, clean and dust window drapes/shades, if your skin is dry use lotion, comb your pets fur and bathe them regularly. Anything you can do to cut the amount of dust.

In the early spring and late fall on a really windy day when I can get a wind tunnel through the house I open all the windows, even if its cold, and vacuum and dust everything. Any dust that gets raised and not caught is then swept out the window with the wind. Makes a huge difference.

[nobody05]

IMO flex duct does have a place. For instance we just completed a house that was virtually all flex duct. In-floor heat under the subfloor, supply & return duct work for a/c, central vac lines, electrial wiring, water/sewer lines. Simply no room for 5 or 6 inch duct due to crossing and such. Works just fine also.

[CAMAN]

IMO flex duct does have a place. For instance we just completed a house that was virtually all flex duct. In-floor heat under the subfloor, supply & return duct work for a/c, central vac lines, electrial wiring, water/sewer lines. Simply no room for 5 or 6 inch duct due to crossing and such. Works just fine also.

[Redlantern]

Caman, while I agree with the ducts being larger and taking some precedence over other trades, remember, plumbers are somewhat restricted by gravity so we take more room than some would think. This is why I loved it when the tinner, plumber and electricians were all on the job at the same time when I was in housing. Work these things out amongst ourselves. The jobs I'm on now are all done with some 3-d autocad [PoorWordUsage] that doesn't seem to wrok worth a [PoorWordUsage].

[CAMAN]

Yes, I agree with that, but there is absolutely no reason HVAC should be forced to use flex and have to yield to electrical, or even hot/cold water lines. And if you think through it well enough and like you said discuss it with the plumber, the sewer and ducting should be able to work together also. There are millions of homes with rigid ducts, sewer, water, and electrical, what makes it different now? Laziness!

[pureinsanity]

Should we change the name of this thread to DUCT instead of DUST?