New heat pump with no filtration

[Loco Gringo]

A new system was installed in our home 2 yrs ago but the installer didnt follow through and finish the filter. How would you feel about that? Could that cause health problems? Particularly respiratory? I know its not good for the system itself and would void any warranty.

 

[buddylee]

No air filter was installed?

 

[Loco Gringo]

No sir.

 

[buddylee]

Its gonna cause your evaporator to clog up with dust. You need a filter and your evaporator needs to be cleaned. I have seen this many times. One guy didn't change his filter and after a year his unit froze up and knocked the valves out of his compressor. The $1500 bill was much more expensive than a case of filters.

 

[WhitePine]

I assume this is a regular heat pump. You might get more responses in the DIY forum than this one.

Aside from that, if the installer did not provide for a media filter at the air handler or filters in the returns, then something is very wrong. You are pretty much guaranteed to have a very dirty coil in the air handler.

As to your family's health, it certainly won't help it, but it's hard to say how harmful it is. For someone with respiratory issues, it could be serious. It would probably take a health professional to give you a good answer.

However, leaving something like that out calls into question the entire installation. I would be very concerned about the quality of the work, especially the evacuation and charging of the system. If that wasn't done properly, the system may have a greatly reduced life, and may not be nearly energy efficient as it should be. It's probably time to call in another HVAC person.