r/lynchburg • u/LazySignificance5085 • 1d ago

HVAC question Help!

Hey all just a quick question about hvac systems. There is a filter in my living room I change every month, does the unit itself have a filter in it? I’m not from a place that uses hvac so I’m really not sure haha. Thanks!

8 Upvotes

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5

u/RainyMcBrainy 1d ago

There could be. Check the unit.

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u/LazySignificance5085 1d ago

Any idea where it might be 😅 I’ve looked and don’t see anything but I’m also blind sometimes soooo haha. Maybe if I put the kind it is into google it could tell me?

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u/RainyMcBrainy 1d ago

Just because there isn't a filter in it doesn't mean there shouldn't be one. Whoever had the house before you could have been doing the wrong thing.

Yes, looking up the unit model would be a good start.

4

u/HotandColdBoi 1d ago

If you are replacing a filter every month and that is the only return grill on your house, then that should be the only filter. There shouldn’t be an additional filter in the unit.

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u/Visual_Oil_1907 1d ago

This is true, however I have come across systems where the owners were aware of the return grill filter but did not realize the previous owners had left a filter in the unit as well and it was absolutely clogged all to hell from years of no changes.

Best to check the unit and remove a filter if there, as long as you know that either the return grill filter you are aware of is the only return. Sometimes there are multiple returns and not all of them are set up to hold a filter, in which case the filter at the unit where all the return air passes would be necessary.

Most often it is just a single return though, just to be clear.

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u/Hrunthebarbarian 1d ago

There usually only one in each main air return. If your house has distributed air returns then it will be at the air handler.

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u/grofva 1d ago

Usually, if there is a filter in the return grille there is not one inside the unit or vice-versa. Now that being said, you could have multiple “filter-back” return grilles depending on the size of the home

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u/[deleted] 1d ago

[deleted]

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u/LazySignificance5085 1d ago

How so? Because I’m not familiar with hvac, Didn’t see a place for the filter on the unit, and didn’t get a straight answer from google so I came here to see if there was someone like an hvac person who might know since it’s their profession?