How Do I Reduce Dust In My Home?

Response from Dan Dearden, CAFS

When I started as a young HVAC technician back in the 1970s, we didn’t have many options for home air filtration. You could choose from three basic types:

• Fiberglass filters (roughly MERV 6)

• Space-Gard media filters (MERV 10)

• Electronic Air Cleaners (EACs) (around MERV 14)

So, when a homeowner wanted the best air filter available, we sold them an EAC.

I’ll never forget one customer in particular. She bought an electronic air cleaner, hoping it would keep her ebony black baby grand piano dust-free. She was tired of dusting it every day. After installation, she called to say the large dust was gone—but a very fine dust still appeared daily. I went out to check everything. The voltages were perfect, and the system was working as designed. But without today’s tools—no particle counters, no building science knowledge—I couldn’t explain the remaining dust.

That unsolved mystery bothered me for years.

Fast-Forward 50 Years

We’ve come a long way since then. While it’s still impossible to completely eliminate dust on furniture, we can dramatically reduce it.

To understand how, let’s first look at where dust comes from.

The Two Main Sources of Household Dust

1. Outdoor Dust (Infiltration Dust)Much of the dust that settles on furniture comes from outside air leaking into your home. This “infiltration air” sneaks in through small cracks and gaps in the building envelope—around windows, doors, and framing. It carries in fine particles like PM2.5 (particulate matter smaller than 2.5 microns) and larger dust.The best way to stop this is by installing a depressurization duct, which prevents dirty, unfiltered outdoor air from being pulled inside.(To learn more, see our articles “What Is a Depressurization Duct?” and “Achieving Truly Effective Air Filtration in Residential Applications” on the You Ask, We Answer page.)

2. Indoor Dust (Generated Inside the Home)The second—and trickier—source is the dust produced inside your home. This includes particles from:

   • Carpets and rugs

   • Bedding and clothing

   • Dryer lint

   • Skin cells and pet dander

   • Towels, shoes, and general activity
     

   Most of these are PM10 particles or larger, meaning they’re heavy enough to settle before your HVAC system can pull them into the return air ducts. It doesn’t matter how great your air filter is—if the dust never reaches it, it can’t be captured.

Capturing the Dust That Does Reach Your Filter

For smaller indoor dust particles—those between PM2.5 and PM10—your filter quality makes a huge difference. The closer your system is to HEPA-level filtration, the more dust it will trap.

If your goal is to minimize furniture dust, aim for MERV 16 or higher.

This is where the NovusAer system truly shines. It’s the only residential air filtration system with filters laboratory tested to capture 100% of PM2.5 particles and larger. In addition, the NovusAer filter has four times the collection surface area of the most popular competing system, allowing it to capture more dust and last longer between filter changes.

Bottom Line

No air filter can completely eliminate dust on furniture—there will always be some. However, by taking these steps, you can reduce it to the lowest level possible:

1. Minimize indoor dust sources (vacuum often, wash bedding, use vented dryers, remove carpeting).

2. Add a depressurization duct to block unfiltered outdoor air.

3. Use a NovusAer air filtration system integrated into your HVAC ductwork.

Together, these solutions can make a dramatic difference—leaving your home cleaner, your air fresher, and your dusting days fewer.