What is a cabin air filter?
Is it:
- A filter for a house in the middle of the woods?
- A fresh, piney scent?
- A filter for the passenger compartment of your car?
Clever you, it’s selection number 3.
A cabin air filter cleans the outside air before it comes into the passenger compartment. It filters out dust, pollen, spores, bacteria, pollutants, sparrows, exhaust gas, and odors. These high tech filters can block particles larger than 3 microns. By contrast, a grain of sand is about 200 microns, so it’s catching pretty much anything that can get into your car.
Many older vehicles don’t have cabin filters, and some newer cars don’t offer them, either. They are fairly new on the scene. About forty percent of new vehicles come with cabin air filters, but the number is growing every year.
Cabin air filters can make for a very nice driving environment. Your car can be a haven during allergy season with very little dust and pollen getting into the cabin. However, the filter eventually gets too full of debris and pollutants to function properly. When this happens, your heating and air conditioning flow can become restricted. The filter can even get kind of smelly. If you turn on your AC and are met with a “dirty” or otherwise unpleasant smell, it may be due to a dirty filter.
Check your owner’s manual for recommended replacement intervals. Often, the owner’s manual forgets about the cabin air filter, so ask your service technician for a recommendation. It’s usually every year or 12,000 miles/ 19,000 kilometers. Change it sooner if you drive in dusty conditions or if you start to notice an odor from your ventilation system.
It’s always a good idea to keep your cabin air filter clean. It may not help with your brother-in-law in the backseat, but it will make your driving experience more enjoyable.
