At a time where just taking a breath may be dangerous for your well-being, face masks has become a necessity for daily life. We go about our day’s activities outside our homes with caution. With the fear of the next breathe maybe the catalyst to a serious medical condition or even worse.
Thankfully, medical strides have now been made to curb the situation but we are not out of the woods yet. We all still have to do our part to help stop the spread.
While our homes maybe safe havens from the situation. Our vehicles are essentially an extension of that safe haven. And doing our best to keep it and the occupants safe is of utmost importance.
Cabin filters act like face masks for our car. Scrubbing the air clean of impurities that can be detrimental to our health. Except for a select few models nowadays, cabin filters only filter dust at best. But there is a cabin filter available now that is equal to CN95 face mask performance for most vehicles available in the market today.
Actually, Hippo Industries has had their Hippo Tech CN95 cabin filters close to a year now and has been quietly introducing it into the market. Testing and improving their product during the height of the global pandemic.
Functioning both in fresh air and recirculation modes of the vehicle’s HVAC (Heat, Ventilation and Air Conditioning) system, it effectively filters smoke particulates, dust, bacteria and other pollutants. Just like the face masks, the CN95 cabin filters can remove 95% of particles and contaminants larger than 0.3 microns.
PM2.5 dust particulates are 98% filtered by the Hippo Tech’s cabin filter. There is a downside to all this filtering capability. You may notice that you need to run a slightly ‘higher than your usua’l fan speeds to push air thru the filter. In some cases, as much as 10-12% reduction of air volume being pushed through the HVAC system can be seen. Though the reduction is barely noticeable during out testing. A result of using multiple layers of filtering to achieve the CN95 rating.
These layers are formed into familiar shapes of what have come to know as cabin filters. There are two sides to the filter though. Just like the N95 face masks, there is an outer and inner side to it. Not to worry though, there are arrows indicated on the side of the filter element to tell you which side is which. Just keep in mind how the air flow with in your HVAC system.
Installation is easy. Purchasing the correct cabin filter application for your vehicle is the first step to a problem-free installation. The owner’s manual details how you can access the HVAC cabin filter if you’re the DIY (Do It Yourself) type of a person. But cabin filters are usually found within the dashboard just behind the glovebox. A panel usually hides the cabin filter, but access is easy.
Replacing the cabin filter is easy as popping in something into a microwave oven and closing the door. Easy and no fuss, just a small amount of elbow grease needed to get things done.
While applications for the CN95 cabin filter is currently limited to popular models like the Ford Ecosport, Ford Ranger/Everest (2013-Up), Mitsubishi Mirage/Expander, Mitsubishi Montero 2016/Triton 2019, the latest Suzuki Jimny, Toyota FJ Cruiser, Toyota Hiace Commuter/Hiace 2005-2018, Toyota Hilux/innova/Fortuner 2005-2015 and Toyota Hilux/Innova/Fortuner 2016-Up/Land Cruiser 200/Prado 150/Alphard. Hippo Industries is hard at work at expanding the list of applications at the moment.
With the Hippo Industries‘ Hippo Tech CN95 cabin filter, you can make your vehicle truly an extension of your home. Keeping you within your safety bubble from the dreaded virus Just keep in mind to sanitize up before entering your vehicle.