It’s Time To Change Your Cabin Air Filter

 
You need to change your car’s cabin air filter.

We took a poll of our followers a couple weeks ago. The results were surprising. Less than 10% of responses said they’ve changed their vehicle’s cabin air filter within the past 12 months. We followed up, and most people didn’t know what a cabin air filter is. They assumed it is a thing that gets changed when they take their car in for an oil change or inspection. Most of the time that’s not the case. So you could have gone years without changing your filter.

So what is a cabin air filter? Just as your apartment or house has air filters that need to be changed periodically, the same is true for your car. Typically it’s located in the back of your glovebox. There’s 2 important reasons why you need to change your filters:

1. If your filter is dirty, so is the air you’re breathing in. When driving, the car is taking in outside air and passing it through your filter before it comes out of the vents. You’re driving around behind big rigs and trucks puffing out smoke. The filter cleans this out of the air before you breathe it in.
2. A dirty filter is bad for your A/C. When your filter is dirty, it makes your car’s A/C have to work harder to push air through it. Over the long-term your car’s A/C system is more likely to fail or need repairs or replacement. Just like in your home, this can cost hundreds or thousands of dollars.

Replacing your cabin air filter is incredibly easy. You can do it in just a few minutes without needing any tools. A replacement filter is typically under $20 and can be installed in less than 10 minutes!

If you’re not sure when the last time your filter was changed, it is worth taking a look.