Forgetting to clean car air filters properly can be harmful to our lungs. In fact, during the year, dust can accumulate in the filters. Furthermore, molds can form in the air conditioning ducts: when the air conditioning is used during the summer months, passengers find themselves breathing in decidedly unhealthy air.
The air conditioning is now an accessory essential for cars: not only regulates the temperature refreshing our car trips, short or long, in these increasingly hot summers, but it also breaks down humidity by reducing the rate, in fact if you notice it under the car with the air conditioning on for a while you will always find water dripping: it is the one subtracted from the air. You can also set the climate air not too cold, already removing the humidity gives a nice relief.
But in addition to these two important functions, the air conditioner performs another of fundamental importance: it filters the dangerous substances present in the air, from pollen to fine dust, which unfortunately once inhaled and entered the bronchi and lungs can cause allergies and even more serious diseases.
Recent scientific research has shown that exposure to smog with the windows down increases by 91% during rush hour. With active recirculation, however, this figure is reduced by 80%.
How to save health by changing filters and how often
All thanks to pollen filter that resides inside the air conditioning duct. In addition to filtering pollen, as the name implies, this filter also retains dangerous fine dust that, are poisonous to the human body: when they enter the lungs they are permanently deposited and we are unable to expel or dispose of them. But be careful because the filters get clogged over time, and if this happens two things happen: they no longer filter the air, and all the harmful components are released back into the duct, causing the genesis of fungi and molds.
For this reason, I filter they must be changed after a certain period of time. This is obviously proportional to the frequency with which both the car and the air conditioning are used. An average estimate indicates that they must be changed every 15-20,000 kmbut if you use your car less every day without driving too many kilometers, you can change it sooner, certainly immediately if you start to smell bad.
As a timing, we recommend changing every 6-12 monthsspecially if you live in large polluted cities. Normally it is an operation foreseen by ordinary maintenance when we take the car to have the service done.
Alternatively, you can buffer the situation by using cheap do-it-yourself methods to sanitize ducts. You can use vaporized products contained in spray cans, which must be inserted with the straw inside the outlets.
Then it is also advisable to periodically clean the vents with a cloth soaked in water and alcohol, which is an excellent way to eliminate germs and fungi. Then, blow compressed air inwards, so as to diffuse the alcohol vapors into the ducts.
