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The original was posted on /r/tifu by /u/Majestic-Baby-3407 on 2026-05-08 04:11:24+00:00.

I've been renting a house for over 3 years and today there was a mandatory HVAC inspection. The technician asked me how long it's been without a filter and I realized it hasn't had one since I moved in over 3 years ago. I looked back in my old texts with my landlord and saw that I had texted him right after moving in that the airflow around the house was weak and there was this weird raggedy blue thing sticking out of a slot in front of the furnace. I sent him a picture and asked if it was a filter and if it could be removed. I took it out and it seemed to help, and he never responded to that message so I just promptly forgot about it until the tech asked me today how long it hasn't had a filter. When I showed the tech the same picture he said it was an old-school washable air filter. Fuck me.

The guy said all the internal components are probably gunked up with dirt and dust, but it would cost thousands of $$$ to properly take apart and fix. I have a fairly clean house but also lots of pets. I just don't know how fucked the thing is really. I did notice over all these years the air flow was always weak and uneven across the house. The ground floor got very little air flow and the basement a lot more. If it was really cold in the winter the house could not stay warm, really hot in the summer and it could not cool down. Again, in both cases, the ground floor was more of the issue. I always wondered what was wrong with it and could never figure it out. I just wonder if I accidentally broke it by never replacing the filter and that's what caused the issues. Also I believe it was a brand new system when we moved in as the house is a flip and I feel bad that it may be fucked.

TL;DR I have been living in a house for 3 years without an air filter in the HVAC system...probably ruined it and have been unnecessarily cold or hot all this time