My wife suffers greatly from her tree pollen allergies. Since this is my first Spring with the TCH, we've been running the climate control on recirulate when she's in the car. This almost always means the AC must be on, or the air gets really stale. I'm wondering if anybody has any good data on the cabin air filter's capabilities? Size of molecules removed or anything specific about being able to remove pollen.

Sure, I could stealthily put the system into fresh mode to see if she notices, but this seems a particularly unethical scientific approach!

 

bmgoodman — As I recall, only the outside air (not the recirculated air) passes through the cabin air filter. I don't know the specifications of this filter, though. The attached file BE-041.pdf (from the New Car Features Guide) shows the system's layout, but doesn't seem to show where the filter is!

Stan

 

I'm in Northern Virginia, too. I take Nasonex, Clarinex, and a weekly injection, and the tree pollen this year seems especially bad. But not so bad that I don't run the system on auto without recirc most of the time. The filter tray is behind the glovebox, and the OEM Toyota filter is a HEPA filter. That and the plasmacluster air cleaner work in conjunction, and the interior of the Camry is the cleanest of any car I've owned in the last decade, measured by the amount of stuff that collects on the dash - virtually none.

 

I get quite a bit on the dash but I think most of it is from my carpeting!

 

bmgoodman — The Camry's filter is specifically mentioned to be effective against pollen. See page BE-49 in the attached file BE-043to056.pdf that I found in the New Car Features Guide. I still haven't been able to verify exactly where it is in the air path, but it certainly must filter outside air. Perhaps you can figure out where it is. I don't think it's a HEPA filter, though.

Stan