Mach-E will get Ford's new Refresh95 Cabin Air Filter in the Fall

[phil]

KEEPING IT FRESH: NEW FORD REFRESH95 CABIN AIR FILTER CAN HELP IMPROVE VEHICLE INTERIOR AIR QUALITY

Is air quality in cars really a problem? I never noticed.

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[HuntingPudel]

Well, I’m kind of used to driving my Blazer with A wet dog, wet waders, and stinky decoys in it. I guess I really don’t notice either.

 

[dbsb3233]

I don't think I'll be in a hurry to change. The current one seems good. And more restrictive filters are usually harder on the fan.

 

[TheSeg]

Is air quality in cars really a problem? I never noticed.

When the air outside seasonally is literal poison due to multi-regional wild fires, yes it does.

The stock filters don't really cover the level of protection in these situations. And sadly… very sadly… these aren't one-off occurrences nor limited to one geographical area.

Halting all sales of ICE vehicles would be the real solution. Until then, I'd like to have my car be a safe air zone if there's a problem with my air filtering at home.

 

[praxiscat]

Is air quality in cars really a problem? I never noticed.

You clearly don't have allergies.

 

[phil]

You clearly don't have allergies.

I don't. Is the fancy filter mainly intended for sensitive folks?

 

[Chudsaviet]

Actually there are other brand's cabin filters that filter smoke pretty well. I have tested one during fire season in Washington state using Awair air quality sensor.

 

[Mach-Lee]

So one thing to note is the airflow will likely be reduced when using this filter. That's the consequence of going with a higher level of filtration unless they add a lot of extra pleats. If you live in a very hot climate like AZ you may prefer the standard filter because of the greater airflow and cooling.

As breeves mentioned, it would also clog up faster. If you drive through a lot of smoke you might have to replace it right afterwards.

 

[TruWrecks]

I don't think I'll be in a hurry to change. The current one seems good. And more restrictive filters are usually harder on the fan.

This is something I can confirm with real world, and very recent results.

My home HVAC air handler had 2 filters in it. The cold air intake filter and a air handler HEPA filter (I wasn't aware that the HEPA filter was installed as it is under my house).

A little background:
4 days ago my heat pump stopped pushing cold air. Breaker tripped. Reset the breaker. A few hours later the breaker tripped again. I checked the main filter and it was dirty but not too bad, so I changed it to be certain it wasn't a problem. Reset the breaker again and timed it. 3 hours and it trips. Called the HVAC company that installed it and opened a service ticket. They said it would be almost 3 weeks before they could come. Ugh. It was 90 F inside my house.

3 days later HVAC called and said they are on the way. Had a cancellation. Wonderful! The tech inspected the main filter and said it looked good. No leaks or gaps. He checked the heat pump and it was also healthy.

The air handler was the problem. The HEPA filter was so clogged the air handler fan blew out the limiting resistor and it kept shorting out and tripping the breaker after the motor got hot enough.

Results:
The advance HEPA filter did $3800 damage. The installers knew it was there it was not disclosed to the owner.

If high density filters are not serviced frequently they will damage the fan motor.

 

[Mach-Lee]

This is something I can confirm with real world, and very recent results.

My home HVAC air handler had 2 filters in it. The cold air intake filter and a air handler HEPA filter (I wasn't aware that the HEPA filter was installed as it is under my house).

A little background:
4 days ago my heat pump stopped pushing cold air. Breaker tripped. Reset the breaker. A few hours later the breaker tripped again. I checked the main filter and it was dirty but not too bad, so I changed it to be certain it wasn't a problem. Reset the breaker again and timed it. 3 hours and it trips. Called the HVAC company that installed it and opened a service ticket. They said it would be almost 3 weeks before they could come. Ugh. It was 90 F inside my house.

3 days later HVAC called and said they are on the way. Had a cancellation. Wonderful! The tech inspected the main filter and said it looked good. No leaks or gaps. He checked the heat pump and it was also healthy.

The air handler was the problem. The HEPA filter was so clogged the air handler fan blew out the limiting resistor and it kept shorting out and tripping the breaker after the motor got hot enough.

Results:
The advance HEPA filter did $3800. The installers knew it was there it was not disclosed to the owner.

If high density filters are not serviced frequently they will damage the fan motor.

[Putting on my HVAC tech hat] - Your home HVAC should not have a HEPA filtering all the airflow unless it's one of those IQAir boxes with the crazy expensive filters ($400 for a set every 1-3 years). Personally I would change the setup so you can go with a single 4" MERV 11 filter that costs $25, that's plenty of filtration for most people. A bypass HEPA system is much better idea because if it gets clogged the main fan still gets full airflow.

If your ducts are under your house I can almost guarantee that you have air leaks that are going to negate any kind of HEPA filtration in a hurry.

Airflow is king for HVAC, if you have limited airflow you will have limited heat transfer.

 

[TruWrecks]

[Putting on my HVAC tech hat] - Your home HVAC should not have a HEPA filtering all the airflow unless it's one of those IQAir boxes with the crazy expensive filters ($400 for a set every 1-3 years). Personally I would change the setup so you can go with a single 4" MERV 11 filter that costs $25, that's plenty of filtration for most people. A bypass HEPA system is much better idea because if it gets clogged the main fan still gets full airflow.

If your ducts are under your house I can almost guarantee that you have air leaks that are going to negate any kind of HEPA filtration in a hurry.

Airflow is king for HVAC, if you have limited airflow you will have limited heat transfer.

The point wasn't to derail the topic but point out increase fan motor wear with thicker filters.

But yes, my house only needs 1 filter and the duct work has been flow sealed about 2 years ago and that reduced the air leaks pretty well but obviously not completely or the air handler HEPA filter would not have gotten clogged. It took it 2 years to clog to the point of causing damage because of the restriction so it is not leaking much.

My house didn't need that second filter at all. It would have been fine without it. The main cold air intake filter would have been enough to keep it running smooth and clean.

 

[BadgerGreg]

I've been impressed with the aftermarket Pureflow filter I put in my Mach-E. Has definitely helped with nasty outside smells.

I purchased and installed one too (based on your advice). So far, I think it does a much better job than the OEM filter.

 

[dbsb3233]

This is something I can confirm with real world, and very recent results.

My home HVAC air handler had 2 filters in it. The cold air intake filter and a air handler HEPA filter (I wasn't aware that the HEPA filter was installed as it is under my house).

A little background:
4 days ago my heat pump stopped pushing cold air. Breaker tripped. Reset the breaker. A few hours later the breaker tripped again. I checked the main filter and it was dirty but not too bad, so I changed it to be certain it wasn't a problem. Reset the breaker again and timed it. 3 hours and it trips. Called the HVAC company that installed it and opened a service ticket. They said it would be almost 3 weeks before they could come. Ugh. It was 90 F inside my house.

3 days later HVAC called and said they are on the way. Had a cancellation. Wonderful! The tech inspected the main filter and said it looked good. No leaks or gaps. He checked the heat pump and it was also healthy.

The air handler was the problem. The HEPA filter was so clogged the air handler fan blew out the limiting resistor and it kept shorting out and tripping the breaker after the motor got hot enough.

Results:
The advance HEPA filter did $3800. The installers knew it was there it was not disclosed to the owner.

If high density filters are not serviced frequently they will damage the fan motor.

Yep. I've had multiple service techs tell me to ditch the fancy furnace filters and use the old cheapies (usually the basic blue ones). Which is exactly what I've been doing for years. I buy them by the case and change them every month or two. Much better on the furnace blower. And the air is plenty clean enough for our tastes. If we had asthma or something, it might be different, but we don't. We just want it to be reasonably clean. The stock filter in the car seems just fine now.

 

[ERIC8585]

My ford dealer tried to sell me a maintenance plan for changing cabin air filters.

 

[HuntingPudel]

I hope that maintenance plan was really low cost. The K&N filter is ~$50, with a million mile lifetime.

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