u/No-Justice-666

I know the standard advice is every 1 to 3 months. But I check my filter regularly and it still looks almost new after two months. No pets, no smoking, decent air quality in the house. I don want to waste money or create unnecessary waste by changing it early. At the same time I don want to damage my system by letting it go too long. Is there a downside to leaving a filter in for 4 or 5 months if it still looks clean and I can see light through it. I use a basic MERV 8 filter, nothing fancy. The system seems to run fine and airflow feels normal. Am I missing something here or is the 3 month rule more of a guideline for people with pets or dusty homes. Curious how the pros actually handle this in their own houses. Do you just go by how it looks or do you stick to a strict schedule no matter what.

I really don’t like the idea of guns or seriously hurting someone, but I’ve been thinking more about personal security lately and looking into less harmful self defense options.

I’m mostly interested in something that can help stop a threat long enough to get away, not something meant to cause major harm.

For people here with security experience, are less harmful self defense tools actually worth relying on? Or is it usually better to focus on awareness, prevention, and escape instead?