Main Character of the Week is a weekly column that tells you the most prominent “main character” online (good or bad). It runs on Fridays in the Daily Dot’s web_crawlr newsletter. If you want to get this column a day before we publish it, subscribe to web_crawlr, where you’ll get the daily scoop of internet culture delivered straight to your inbox.
Here’s the Trending team’s main character of the week: It’s air filters from Home Depot.
The Premium filters that you use to relieve your HVAC system and protect your breathing quality sure seem awesome. They can pick up pet dander and cigarette smoke, allowing you to puff rings into your cat’s absorbent, thin nostrils without a worry.
But hold on, what if there are unintended consequences to the Premium air filters from Home Depot? I mean they are made of higher-grade, thicker material. What could possibly be the matter here?
Thicker may not be better for your HVAC
As we reported this week in our most viral post: “because of their dense build, these filters can restrict airflow from the HVAC system. This can potentially lead to an increased energy bill and, more importantly, cause damage to your unit. Other HVAC experts agreed.”
That’s just great.
I’ve been a Premium man for years now, as a dog and cat dad who loathes pet dust on my millennial moonbeam flooring. But I might be hurting my HVAC unit, which is the quarterback of the home given that we live in Austin, Texas. (Where the heat and humidity wears your soul out so much that all of your summer vacations are to Canadian territories that do not happen to be experiencing forest fires that week.)
And it could be costing me more on two fronts.
So get the cheaper air filters that are thinner?
According to the home expert, @twinhomeexperts, yes. Unless you have a health need to go thicker, such as allergies.
“I work in hvac and honestly just get the cheapest ones and swap them out every month,” the top comment on this TikTok video read.
Another shared their disappointment upon switching to the Premium-grade filters: “Ha! no wonder my electric bill went up from $89 to $295… I have the highest rated filter. Changing it asap.”
Editor celebrates a milestone
A special note from Ramon
This month I mark 10 years with the Daily Dot.
It’s an honor to help keep the lights on here in the name of journalism. South of the border, just five hours from where I live by car, being a journalist is extremely dangerous. There’s a bit of misconception in Mexico, where my mother is from and where I regularly visit. The cartels don’t care much if you publish stories about them, a colleague in the profession told me about his research. The danger for journalists is more so uncovering hidden truth—that someone in power is secretly working with cartels. Publish that scoop and your life is in more danger than if you produce the headline “drug dealer sells drugs.”
I take the privilege of reporting here extremely seriously. I’m grateful to live in a country that doesn’t restrict the flow of information as much as Mexico. Especially online.
That’s what the looming TikTok ban is really about. Our elected officials are being housed by a social media algorithm that changes perceptions around everything from the Middle East to whether you should touch your cheese.
We publish as a newsroom about 30 stories daily, with an emphasis on bringing new information to the public square that no one else has. This Home Depot story is a great example.
It’s been an honor serving first as a breaking news editor, then entertainment editor, then news director, and since 2022, managing editor.
I’m excited for the opportunity to continue being good enough to start for this team.
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