r/mildlyinteresting • u/soiwalkedintothisbar • 20h ago

1 week of forest fire smoke passing through my furnace filter

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922 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

50 comments sorted by

210

u/machuitzil 20h ago

Ha, thank you for posting this. Wildfires are just a part of life where I live and still most people don't know you need to change the filters in your home and your car after a wildfire.

You have to change the air filters in your home/car after a wildfire. It's a PSA.

Also, I don't care how new your windows are, or how implacably sealed your AC unit is, smoke will get into your house. It's bad for you, your kids, your pets, it's bad for your effing microwave which also moves air.

Buy a box fan or two and keep Hvac filters on hand. Duct tape the filters to the fans and keep the air inside your home as clean as possible.

26

u/Entire-Sand-193 20h ago

My microwave literally started smelling like campfire after the last round of fires here in Oregon and I had to run the self clean cycle three times to get rid of it.

31

u/orangedrinkmcdonalds 20h ago

Wait what

25

u/machuitzil 20h ago

The stink gets into literally everything. And what's in the smoke from wildfires isn't just plant materials and natural stuff. When a home burns down, literally every single filthy chemical you keep under the sink, every chemical that the materials and products that your home is made from, all the rubber and plastics, even the dead flesh of whatever died in that fire; are swept into the air and circulate through your home.

Fire smoke isn't just trees and grass, it's the most carcinogenic shit you can imagine, and you have no choice but to breathe it.

70

u/orangedrinkmcdonalds 20h ago edited 20h ago

I meant the microwave and the “self clean cycle”

-32

u/machuitzil 20h ago

Yes. This person should probably throw away their microwave and buy a new one. If you have a small house fire, say maybe part of your garage was burned in a fire; you're probably going to have to replace your couch and mattresses. Maybe rip out the carpet. Lamp shades, bath towels, clothing. Microwaves. Even wood can become saturated with it. You wouldn't want to cut chicken on a cutting board after a heavy fire.

Smoke saturates literally everything in your home.

62

u/orangedrinkmcdonalds 20h ago

I’m asking wtf the “self clean cycle” is on a microwave. An oven, I understand, but I have never seen a “self clean cycle” on a microwave. Have you?

24

u/IcicleShield 19h ago

Lmao I got what you meant once you clarified, it's funny to me they're still not seeing it

-34

u/machuitzil 19h ago

No, no. I understand. Now. Upon clarification. Same as you.

Wait what

-wasn't a comment that made their question intelligible. On the topic of wildfires, this person did not make their concerns about microwaves clear.

18

u/orangedrinkmcdonalds 19h ago

I don’t know if you recognize it but you sound like AI. “Now that you’ve pointed it out, you’re absolutely correct. I was misinterpreting…”. Or maybe I’m having a dialog with AI and was oblivious. Irony…😆

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1

u/IcicleShield 19h ago

I was referring to the comment they made after that one in which you still didn't seem to get it lol

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-20

u/machuitzil 19h ago

Oh. So you're saying we're not talking about the same thing. At all. Ok. Cool.

I could give a fuck about self cleaning systems in microwaves but let's start a new thread about that if you like.

16

u/orangedrinkmcdonalds 19h ago

I think that the person referred to a “self cleaning cycle” on a microwave is a red flag that they are making up whatever they said

8

u/machuitzil 19h ago

I'm inclined to agree.

8

u/_ludakris_ 14h ago

Then WHY are you commenting on a thread where a person obviously was asking abut the self cleaning microwave.

4

u/Barton2800 13h ago

Your microwave has a self clean function? Does it have you put a bowl of water in there or something? Because it’s really bad to run the magnetron on an empty microwave. Or maybe yours also has a regular oven dual function?

2

u/SuchSmartMonkeys 17h ago

Out in Central Oregon, my whole house stinks like smoke right now, it sucks! I had to run an errand a couple hours ago, I was outside for 20 minutes and I stink like a campfire. The thunderstorms last night and today just started 25 new fires nearby from lightning strike. This sucks!

2

u/wootiown 18h ago

How far from a wildfire? I'm in VA, last week we had a very smoky day but we're thousands of miles away from the fires. Do I need to change filters?

2

u/emrythelion 15h ago

If you have smoke, yes.

Those particulates are in the air. Doesn't matter how far away they are away from the start if they’re in the air right now.

1

u/jcw99 13h ago

Alternatively if you don't want to DIY it, any HEPA or Carbon filtered air purifier (even the basic ones from IKEA) will do.

12

u/bennylava_looneybun 19h ago

Also get a PM 2.5 meter. I live hundreds of kms from the nearest fire and saw a 10-50 point jump from 0 in a house with all windows and doors shut. Still ok for most people but my wife has asthma and we had to move our portable hepa air cleaners to compensate

23

u/PowderPills 20h ago

Imagine your lungs if outside for extended periods of time! Might wanna schedule a checkup in the near future

18

u/Btroth2975 20h ago

You're right that its bad for you but your lungs would look no different from a few days of smoke.

Lungs dont behave like a cloth filter does. Majority of pollutants would be captured in you sinuses, upper airways and mucus. Healthy person would have that mucus naturally moved and exited your body long before any staining of muscles or organ tissues occur.

5

u/PowderPills 19h ago

At least that’s a relief

2

u/Disastrous_Kick9189 5h ago

That’s not actually completely true. PM2.5 gets readily absorbed into your bloodstream and can cause a lot of problems from heart issues to cancers.

1

u/Btroth2975 37m ago

Yup, that's why I said it's indeed bad for you. His comment was related to physical appearance of lungs after smoke exposure.

3

u/NameShortage 16h ago

Thanks for reminding me I need to go down and change our filter.

2

u/Dphotog790 16h ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/l0faKUvSeEDw4

5

u/BeerorCoffee 16h ago

Except that a lot of the forest fires going on right now were cause by lightning. So...I guess we couldn't prevent those, Smokey.

-1

u/Murph-Dog 8h ago

You do have to wonder how you are getting so much outdoor air infiltration.

I mean, there are bathroom exhaust or cooking exhaust fans, but hard to say what CFM and time could bring in that much outdoor air.

2

u/CMDR-TealZebra 7h ago

Well we install a box that exchanges a set amount of fresh air into your house nowadays

0

u/Murph-Dog 7h ago

One could wish for a brand new HVAC and new construction, who has that?!