Dust Mites Vs Homeowners

Many people don’t know that the common dust mite can be the trigger for an asthma attack. Mites live in the dust that accumulates in your home. The allergen that creates a person’s breathing problems is excrement from the mite.

Dust mites produce  feces up to 20 times each day. The feces are light enough to float through the air in the home. This makes them easy to inhale and causes an allergic reaction. As there are as many as 40,000 mites in a single dust particle, you can only imagine how much can enter your lungs.

If you live in humid areas of the US or your house is subject to more humid conditions, the indoor environment of your home is going to be more vulnerable to dust mites. Whenever the weather is humid, this creates the perfect habitat for these creatures by providing them with a greater food supply. Their dietary staples include fungi, mold, and plant materials which all flourish in humid weather.

Based on the information above, you can see why taking action is dire if you are going to lower the dust mite population in your home, and possibly eliminate them altogether. The following 6 suggestions may help you accomplish this:

1. Air conditioning can be effective at reducing the dust mite population in your home because it dries out your indoor environment. This reduces their food supply which eventually reduces their population.
2. Heat helps to minimize the presence of these creatures; some examples of which include direct sunlight, electric blankets, carpet steam-cleaning, and tumble-drying.
3. Bedding is the dust mite’s favorite home. Encase all of your bedding and pillows in rubber or vinyl wrappings.
4. Despite other efforts you put into getting rid of dust mites in your home, it is still recommended that you use an air purifier because the mites are so plentiful and they propagate too fast to keep up with their numbers without a purifier.
5. Dry cleaning your clothing and other fabrics will also kill dust mites.
6. Wash your bedding and your clothing regularly as 130° F water will kill off these creatures completely while washing in cold water kills up to 90% of them.

Where the last point above is concerned, even the best of these air purifier filters (e.g. HEPA) will not capture all of these creatures simply because they are just too minute to be caught by these air purifier filters. Additionally, dealing with an extensive dust mite population is never easy and you may or may not eliminate them all.

Home comfort and air quality are what we do at Bell Brothers Heating and Air Conditioning. We are your local heating and air company. Visit www.bellbroshvac.com to see what services and products we have to make your life more comfortable, and your home a more healthy haven.