Floor-level air returns are exhausting about drawing in more dust plus dirt

I’m not a germaphobe, but I have absolutely become more obsessive about cleanliness in recent years.

This is a far cry from the conditions I lived in while I was finishing college. My friends plus I trashed this apartment plus rarely cleaned, including the home office plus washrooms. But once I was suddenly responsible for a studio beach house plus facing a security deposit that I funded myself, my respect for my living quarters increased. I took advice from besties over the years plus l gained better cleaning habits. One example is cooking, because usually I would make a big meal plus let the pots plus pans pile up in the sink for a morning or more. I have since l gained that it is easier to scrub all of these dishes gradually while you’re still cooking. By the time your meal is done cooking, you will only have a few things left to wash. I’m also a lot better about keeping my floor cleaned, because otherwise my air quality suffers. I have an air return for my cooling system that is on a wall right above the floor. Naturally, it’s easier to get into my cooling system filter when it’s pulling dust plus dirt directly off the floor. It’s frustrating when you put in a brand new cooling system filter only for it to look dirty in under numerous weeks. I think that these filters would look half as dirty if the return for the Heating, Ventilation, plus A/C plan was on the ceiling instead. The vent could be on the wall above my head for all I care, I just don’t want the air return located on the floor or right above the floor along the baseboards. Too much dust gets into the Heating, Ventilation, plus A/C plan with these kinds of vents.

Furnace filter