Keeping The Air Inside Your Car Clean

One of the little known features on many cars is a cabin air filter. Also known as a air conditioning filter or a pollen filter, cabin air filters are in place on most vehicles and do a good job of filtering out contaminents in the air like pollen and industrial particles. With the passage of time, the effectiveness of the cabin air filter can decrease as it becomes clogged. When this happens it can actually make the condition of the air inside the car worse as the heating and air conditioner act as a propellant that launches the clogged particles into the interior of the car.

The solution to this is to regularly change a vehicle’s cabin air filter. Depending on the climate and surroundings of the area the car is operated in, the filters should be changed ever 12,000 to 20,000 miles. The regular checking and changing of cabin air filters can go a long way in keeping the contaminates that negatively affect allergies and asthma out of the interior of the vehicle. The regular changing of cabin air filters can keep both the driver and the driver’s friends and family healthier in the long run.

Depending on the make and model of the car in question, the time it takes to change a cabin air filter can vary from a few minutes to upwards of an hour. A quick consultation of the vehicle owner’s manual will show both if the vehicle is equipped with a cabin air filter and how best to go about changing out the filter. There are two types of filters on the market, the particulate filter and the activated charcoal filter, many times both types of filters are available for the very same vehicle. This allows the driver to replace the current filter with whichever type of filter they prefer, or what is readily available.

When you combine the ease of filter replacement with the benefits that the process can provide, it seems like an obvious choice of vehicle maintenance to stay current on. With cleaner air and the possibility of better health as possible benefits, changing cabin air filters in a vehicle is a definite worthwhile maintenance procedure to stay up on.