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You are no doubt only too aware how annoying dusting can be: almost as soon as you’ve finally managed to wipe away the dust, the next layer has settled on the dresser.

Not only does it look and it can also build up in technical devices such as printers, projectors or TVs in the absence of effective protection against dust. In extreme cases, dust can even represent a safety risk. In this article, you’ll learn why dust protection is always worthwhile.

Dust and the right protections – how to protect your electrical appliances

Dust is a completely natural phenomenon and household dust mainly consists of human cells, small particles such as pollen, as well as dirt, lint, and hair. As such, there’s no way to avoid dust altogether in even the cleanest household. Household dust often only truly becomes visible to human eyes once the dust has accumulated in the form of noticeable dust bunnies: however, technical devices are more sensitive.

In the absence of dust protection, problems are most significant with PCs or laptops, as they have two fans with air vents. While the exhaust fan expels warm air, the air intake pulls in cool air. Projectors work using the same principle, and over time a thick layer of dust builds up inside the devices and can even stick together due to atmospheric humidity. Because the temperatures inside a PC can reach 40 degrees Celsius, the dust that builds up is virtually baked together.

This causes technical devices to lose their cooling capacity, putting the electronic components under greater strain. In a worst case scenario, this can cause the projector or PC to short circuit, while excessive dust build up in a projector or TV very frequently causes brief outages of the picture or sound.

Devices such as printers, cameras or DJ equipment are also at risk without appropriate dust protection. Household dust penetrates the smallest cracks of printers, as the printer’s electromagnetic charge literally attracts the dust to itself.

Dust in a printer’s internals can cause print output to become smudged or cause the rollers to fail to grip the paper properly. A similar effect can be observed in the balls of older computer mice.

Sliders and rotary knobs on DJ equipment or musical hardware are the ideal entry points for dust to penetrate the unit. Cameras, with their settings dials provide openings for household dust: the greatest risk, here, comes from adjusting the focus of the lens.

Dust is not disastrous – damage can still be avoided

The biggest actual risk is represented by dust in the mains outlet, where household dust can even catch fire. Nevertheless, this only occurs in exceptional circumstances and in most cases, household dust in printers, projectors or PCs is more of an annoyance, as well as potentially reducing the quality or the lifespan of the device.

With the right dust protection (such as a compact dust cover) the damage caused by dust can be prevented, while the cost savings for you are substantial compared to buying replacement equipment.