When you think about poor indoor air quality, you may not link it with the winter months. However, when you have a properly sealed home and a heating system that runs nonstop, it can lead to contamination buildup fairly quickly. When you throw in desert dust from a semi-arid climate, it can significantly worsen your home’s air quality.
Understanding Desert Dust and Why It’s an Issue in Winter
The term desert dust is used to describe extremely fine particles of minerals, sand, soil, and organic matter. All of these become airborne when the ground gets disturbed. Many of these particles are less than 10 microns in diameter and can remain suspended in the air for very long periods of time.
While there’s no doubt that summertime dust storms can greatly increase the amount of desert dust in the air, winter conditions can also contribute. Dry winter air reduces the moisture that would otherwise weigh down the fine dust particles. This allows them to more easily become airborne and affect your indoor air quality.
As the temperature drops, your heating system is running more often to produce heat for your home. As it’s running, it’s constantly circulating indoor air throughout your home and kicking up any desert dust on your surfaces. With minimal rainfall during the winter months, the desert dust can remain airborne for much longer than normal.
How Does Desert Dust Enter Your Home
When desert dust particles linger in the outside air, they can easily infiltrate your home through various entry points. Some of the most common are on your exterior walls around door and window frames. Any cracks in your foundation or openings around your plumbing or electrical entrances can allow contaminated air inside your home. Some other spaces include attics, crawl spaces, dryer vents, and exhaust fans.
No matter how well-built your home is, there’s always going to be some air displacement when running your heating system. As your heating system runs, it will force exhaust fumes out of your vent. While this is necessary to maintain your indoor safety, it creates negative pressure inside your home. This pressure will pull outside air in through small gaps around your doors, windows, and other areas.
Why Does Winter Make Indoor Desert Dust Control Harder
During the colder months of the year, homeowners are less likely to open their windows to provide natural ventilation. This allows desert dust that’s already trapped inside to remain in your home. As your heating system continually runs to warm your home, it’s constantly recirculating that desert dust and picking it up off surfaces. As the air dries out because it’s being heated, it’s more susceptible to keeping those dust particles airborne for much longer than if it were more humid.
How Does Desert Dust Impact Your Health
There’s no doubt that desert dust can be really frustrating when it comes to cleaning your home. However, those fine dust particles can really have a tremendous effect on your overall health and general well-being. High concentrations of desert dust can exacerbate your allergy symptoms, lead to dry and irritated eyes, cause sinus congestion, and even headaches.
You may experience throat irritation and coughing, alongside difficulty breathing and even fatigue. Children, the elderly, and those with respiratory conditions are more susceptible to these issues. To make it even worse, the dry winter air will dry out your nasal passages. This starkly decreases your resistance to illnesses and the inhalation of dust particles.
How Does Desert Dust Affect Your HVAC System
With your heating system running constantly to warm your home, it’s circulating that desert dust throughout your ductwork. This can easily clog up your air filters and reduce system performance. Dust can coat your blower components and decrease their overall lifespan. The dust can accumulate inside your ducting and restrict airflow, which will affect system operating performance.
Furthermore, dust buildup leads to increased wear and tear on your system’s components, which shortens their lifespan. You’ll be more susceptible to experiencing higher energy bills, uneven household heating, and more frequent breakdowns during the winter months.
Why Your Heating System Makes Dust Feel Much Worse
Desert dust inside your home tends to be more noticeable in the winter months as a result of your heating system. It’s important to realize that warm air is much less dense than cold air. This allows the dust particles to stay suspended in the air for longer.
This makes them more noticeable and more likely that you’ll be inhaling them. Additionally, your heating system will continually dry out the air. With less moisture in the air, dust particles are much less likely to clump together and settle down on surfaces. This further allows them to remain suspended in the air.
Using HVAC Air Filters
Your very first line of defense to deal with desert dust is your HVAC air filter. All the air that circulates throughout your home goes straight through this filter. It’s important to choose the right filter that can handle the small dust particles. Standard HVAC filters aren’t typically designed to filter out these fine particles, leaving them suspended in your air.
Opt for getting a high-efficiency filter if it’s rated to capture fine dust particles of around 10 microns in size. These usually have a MERV rating of between 11 and 13. Because desert dust is worse in the wintertime, you’ll likely find that you need to change your air filter more often. We recommend checking it twice a month and replacing it whenever necessary.
How Does Whole-Home Air Filtration Help
Whole-home air filtration systems work right alongside your HVAC system to remove unwanted airborne contaminants from your home. Many are designed to capture the fine desert dust particles that are circulating throughout your home in the winter months. These whole-home air filtration systems work to improve your indoor air quality level and reduce dust accumulation on the surfaces throughout your home.
You’ll enjoy not only cleaner air but cleaner ductwork and HVAC system components. Your family will breathe in healthier air, and you’ll enjoy more efficient HVAC system performance, which can lower your energy bills.
How Does a Whole-Home Humidifier Help
Another great option for your home is a whole-home humidification system. This works in tandem with your HVAC unit to introduce moisture into the air when your relative indoor humidity level is too low. When your home has proper humidity between 30 and 50%, it can have a big impact on the desert dust in your home.
Dust is more likely to come together and settle with ideal indoor humidity instead of just remaining suspended in the air during low humidity conditions. When humidity levels are ideal, your nasal passages will remain normal and work to block out those fine dust particles from reaching your lungs.
Top-Notch IAQ Services
Hermetic Heating & Air offers top-notch IAQ services for the Coachella Valley, CA community. We can also assist with all your HVAC installation, replacement, repair, and maintenance needs. Just call our office today to schedule your next service appointment.
