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Are HEPA cabin air filters unsafe for some vehicles? (piefed.social)
submitted 2 months ago by to c/mechanicadvice@lemmy.world
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Yes, I'm aware that companies sell HEPA cabin air filters for vehicles. But, is it safe to install a HEPA cabin air filter on a vehicle who's HVAC system wasn't designed for HEPA air filters?

https://www.engineersedge.com/filtration/hepa_filter_pressure_drop_considerations.htm

By design, HEPA air filters will create resistance to flow, and a high differential pressure drop will exist across the filter. Most HEPA air filter manufacturers literature suggests replacement of HEPA air filters when the resistance due to dust loading has reached 2 in.wg.

So if your car's HVAC is designed for high airflow and you slap a HEPA filter on it, are you adding more stress and wear on the system? Seems like it's the exact same problem of installing an overly restrictive filter on your home's HVAC return vent.

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[–] 3 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Shadetree guy here, so you know take with grains of salt.

Is it unsafe? Nah. You might add additional wear on things like the cabin fan and depending on the age of your vehicle you might have a resistor block to control fan speeds, if you reduce airflow it could get hotter and fail faster.

But first off you probably are not adding an additional HEPA filter to the existing cabin filter, so the increase in airflow resistance probably isn't all that much especially since some people let that filter sit there until it is nearly plugged and the systems can survive that too.

Seems like it’s the exact same problem of installing an overly restrictive filter on your home’s HVAC return vent.

Well except the house has way more airflow and it might throw off the air balance for the building. Your car A/C and cabin fan will be fine.

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