Changing filters is essential for maintaining your AC equipment. If you use a shitty filter, dirt will get sucked through your intake duct and into your coil (the part in basement or attic). This will directly contribute to worse cooling, cause higher electrical bills, and equipment to fail sooner. Having a very clogged filter will decrease the quantity of air being thrown around, and cost more as the unit works harder and longer to cool down your house. This uses up more power and causes the compressor and equipment to wear out sooner as they are on for longer. I hope you don’t change your filter once every 2 years.

Both cases will use more power and cause equipment to fail sooner. When you replace an AC unit what do you think happens to the refrigerant inside? Some of it is recycled, some of it is released to the atmosphere by douchebag techs. R22 refrigerant is very harmful to the ozone layer and is in every single unit produced before ~2008 and many after. The copper in units is usually sold at scrap yards for 2$ a lb. the rest is tossed or sold for penny’s a lb to be recycled.

Both cases aren’t great for your lungs either. Buy quality filters and check them often to change when they are dirty. I don’t think you can take the ethical high ground above Honeywell pushing filters while running up 100s of dollars of electrical bills on air conditioning every summer. If you choose to get AC, know that it’s unnecessary and terrible for the environment and ozone.