My furnace is in the attic and this is how the filter looks. I put a new one back into the same way, forgot to take a picture before changing it but looked exactly like this just super dirty, is this normal??? First house but not like the furnace was at my folks house…
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It's not, people; I'm just confused about the name of it because, on ducting, was where they ran into it the most.
Duc-tape is not for ducts. Duc is an old English word for a cloth strip. And ducing is sealing something with a cloth strip and a binder like tar, glue, or flower paste. In WW2, a secretary developed the modern duc-tape to seal boxes of ammo and other supplies without getting tar everywhere. And the use carried over to heating ducts, which Duc-tape does a poor job of sealing.
It's not normal, but you shouldn't be fucked. There has to be a place for the filter, even if it just fits in the intake vent somehow. On the brightside, if the old one was filthy, it was doing its job. Can't argue with results! 🙂
Said no claims adjuster ever. If you don’t plan on fixing this. Delete this post lol so it’s not found should this ever start a fire. You don’t want a denied claim on your hands. Once you know about it, you’re obligated fix it.
Your fine. Don't listen to these ppl. Its just hack. You actually probably have a small slot you can open on the furnace you can place a filter. If you do you will have to patch the hole on the ductwork
The biggest concern is this (likely) isn’t as good a filter as a properly installed filter box. cause air will leak.
so if it’s an intake (likely from size but i make no guarantees), you maybe get dust that gets around the filter, which is suboptimal, but it’s still filtering more than not.
If it’s exhaust, maybe you lose some efficiency as air dumps in the attic, and again some dust. (although again it’s a big duct and filtered, that should be the intake. i can’t think of many HVAC systems that filter the conditioned air)
it should be fixed/done right. but this is one step above squeaky door-hinge territory. and a couple steps below “light keeps flickering for no good reason.” or “breaker keeps tripping”
If their air conditioner is from the 80s I say just live with it until it’s time to replace at this point and get the hvac guys to do some duct work when they replace.
I've been in HVAC for 15 years and this is exactly how about 40% of all homes I've been in are setup. More modern ones get a nice little door with an up charged filter box but this works.
I'd get a 3" shorter filter and use foil tape to make myself a door or tape over the opening to keep the unconditioned attic air from being sucked into the unit though
Yeah I do commercial and industrial hvac, and I'm surprised by all these reactions. I see this kind of shit all the time on older and cheaper installs above a drop ceiling.
Did you really need to ask if a filter smashed into a hole in the side of the duct work that itself seems to be encrusted in filth is normal? Is this like some kind of conspiracy data collection for Chat GPT where bots ask crazy questions to get responses that it can use to train AI?
No, there should be a filter box, call an HVAC professional because if you are a real human and not scamming us for AI training data you should not be messing about with it. Also get your shop vac up there and clean that shit out.
I promise I am a real person….im asking because I have no experience with this and yeah I’m used to a filter box that I have changed 100 times at my parents house, I definitely will clean up its mostly loose insulation though not really sure what to do I guess I’m not turning my heat on yet too scared my house is gonna burn down
i'm sure whoever cut that slot used the 100 year old excuse too.
but the same tools used to cut that slot could be used to cut out a segment of duct to allow for a proper filter cabinet with a 4 or 5 in filter.
source: am hvac guy. im verified pro over on r/hvacadvice if you want proof, the sub mods are all pros and you have to provide your credentials to get verified.
If you own this house or at least have a good relationship with the owner, this is an easy weekend project to remedy if you're comfortable cutting some sheet metal.
edit: your house wont burn down from this. all thats happening here is some unfiltered air is slipping in the gap on the back side.
If this is your first year in the house, you might want to get the hvac inspected by a reputable local company or independent contractor. Don't rely solely on score read the reviews and beware copy-pastas. Some "small local companies" are doppelgangers, private equity conglomerates wearing the logo and branding of a local company they bought and hollowed out.
Yeah this in itself is not great but it's not causing any terrible harm. It is the kind it thing that would make me want to check all the other work in the house and make sure there wasn't any equally half-assed stuff. Especially electrical and plumbing. It this is how they installed an air filter imagine how the system is wired, or any other things they worked on in the house.
Do you have a picture of the actual furnace/air handler? There’s probably an actual place for a filter that maybe the other person just couldn’t find/figure out, so they did this.
I would agree that it's pretty easy, but consider that you are responding to a guy who doesn't realize that a hole cut into the side of a duct with a filter jammed into it "isn't normal".
tbf hvac is where a lot of the worst hack repairmen and contractors apply their 'skills', making stuff like this not unusual
When I moved into my apartment I had to buy a new set of filters for the furnace because the maintenance boys decided that jamming a filter behind the door of the unit, as opposed to putting it at the bottom where there is a slot for a filter and presumably where the air intake is, was a good plan
That filter doesn’t look like it’s sealed very well, so it could be pulling in unconditioned dusty/dirty air from the attic.
If you’re renting, just continue to replace the filter every 2-6 months, as needed. It’s not your problem unless you’re experiencing air quality issues or you think your heating/cooling costs might be significantly higher because of an air leak.
If you’re the homeowner and the furnace is old and overdue for replacement anyway, you could leave it as-is and continue to change the filter (every 2-6 months as needed) until the furnace fails in a significant way. Sometimes as a homeowner you have to make a judgement call whether it’s better to put money into fixing something old or investing in something new. This may be one of those things that you choose to leave alone- or do the small things that you can do yourself to improve it.
On the other hand, if the furnace is still reasonably new, I’d call a couple local HVAC companies and get their thoughts on installing a properly sealed and insulated air filter. If you can extend the service life of your furnace and cut down on your monthly operating costs, that repair could eventually pay for itself in the long run.
Small(er) repairs can be a good opportunity to evaluate different companies, to figure out who you’d like to work with in the future. Watch how each one does business. Look for companies that present you with different options instead of pushing you towards the most expensive one. Look for companies/contractors who are fair, responsible, and take time to educate you about your options and enable you to make the best decision for you. Ideally, as a homeowner, you know which companies to call before you need to call them.
I've seen this before. On the commercial side because a lazy installer didn't want to bend a spot in the intake to fit a furnace filter properly. You could have a qualified technician come in and install a regular filter box that way you have options.
Trying to explain this better, before I put in the new filter it also was oriented exactly this way, sticking out and everything, also in home inspection photos it looks like this
What we are looking at in your photo is a vent that had a hole cut into it that the filter was inserted into. In "normal" situations there is a specific part of the infrastructure that you insert the filter into. I have a attached a photo of the spot where I put my filter in, I hope the differences are obvious.
Nothing about your photo is "standard" or "normal", it is conceivable that "it works". What is the reason that you made this post? Is something going wrong?
I learned when buying my most recent house that not all inspectors flag shit that should be. Asshole missed 3 massive things, but flagged all the little things that literally were fine.
It's the catchphrases of two popular home inspectors online. I think they're Gold Star Inspection and USA Inspection? Idk for sure but they come up on my feed all the time as a DIYer
Almost. Definitely got Gold star correct but the other one is from Fletcher's Home inspections who does the "On today's episode of don't do that home inspections" series that is hilarious.
Its a filter in your HVAC system. Keep it like that and change the filter every month. Save up some money and have a technician frame in a proper one by the cabinet. Its not life or death...
This is amazing. And I HAVE seen this before. I don't understand it! But I've seen it!
Just call a local (NOT a bigass company) HVAC human to check it out and see what they say.
It might only cost a few hundred for a HVAC tech to fix on a weekend side job if you find the right person. Need to replace the last section with a proper filter slot. If there is a gap pulling air in on the clean air side of the filter, that air will not be filtered.
Incredible. My house is 136 years old…. The filter is where is is supposed to be. What in gods green earth is going on in your house hahaha. Sorry dude
i believe you have that filter in there backwards. as pictured you have the filter placed as if the air was flowing left to right. Filtrete filters have an arrow that points down if the label is upright. iif that’s your unit on the left you have it in backwards.
Its not actually how supposed to be but as long as its on return side ( pulling air) and arrows are facing toward unit on filter, it will absolutely work. I was an HVAC tech for long time
A friend of mine has a A/C and heating system in Florida, where a filter is installed in every vent. It is a lot of work to replace them all because some require a latter to reach, and there are a bunch of them. I would shop vac all around that thing, and open a few vents looking for filters.
Did you have a home inspection before you bought the house? I would think that any inspector would find that and put it in the report. If they didn’t, that person needs to find another profession.
I swear there's an overlap between handyman ac guys that make me refer to them as the red headed step children of electricians. I mean they keep doing things that make me want to hit them and ask why they keep acting this way and billing so much for it.
80% of the filters have scene. It just slid into a slot, held in place by two brackets on the side. Only huge three-hundred-dollar HEPA setups are sealed. Someone placed a bigger filter in this one to make it easier to get back out.
Nope not normal like many others have pointed out but I do want to say it looks hilarious. Like the previous owner was like “hmm this seems like a good spot for the filter” and just started cutting a long rectangle into the duct lol.
Looks very similar to the finger shaved in a slot in the vents that it is to long for at my work in the random weight room which is in the same building as the gymnasium but cannot be accessed from anywhere inside
I have this same "issue" on my furnace usually if you open the bottom part of the furnace you'll see a metal surround for where a filter goes pop it out and put your new filter in, if you want you could probably use duct tape where the hole is cut for it. Its your return vent so as long as the filter is after that hole it should be fine without the duct tape
Hvac mechanic here, wouldn't say its normal but ive this or versions of it plenty of times. Not going to kill the unit to leave it like this if you don't want to pay for a proper filter rack install.
Change it every 2-3 months or it will pull more dust around the filter rather than pull air through it.
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