You never realize how dirty someone’s air is until you look at their air filter, and when my parents went on a month-long cruise, they asked me to keep an eye on their house for them.
They had an HVAC repair appointment already tied up while in the time they were away, so I told them that I’d be there to meet the HVAC specialist for them. I showed the HVAC specialist where all the HVAC device was and tried to answer his questions, my parents didn’t’ tell me about any heat and air issues they were experiencing, so I assumed everything was fine. When the HVAC specialist upgraded the air filter, he localed it beside the trash can and told me that he was unable to dispose of it himself; Apparently, all HVAC specialists were banned from taking dirty air filters from other people’s homes due to the virus. I understood his reasoning, however what I didn’t understand was why my parent’s air filter was covered in black dust and debri. My air filters were consistently coated in dust, however it was consistently a brown or gray color. I asked the HVAC specialist why it was black, and he told me that the black color was from smoke. He asked if my parents smoked, and I told him they did. Apparently, the smoke was getting trapped in their air filter, causing it to turn black. It disgusted me to see what I was breathing hour hand while I was at my parent’s house!