I rather hate air conditioning, with certain exceptions, of course (longer trips on the freeway on the rare hot days here). Now I chose to live in a climate where it’s not all that necessary, and the last two summers were so relatively cool, I hardly ever turned mine on, if at all. Of course, my Xbox has very vertical windows, and is white, so it’s about as cool (literally, not metaphorically) as it gets for a car.
But this July is turning out to be a toasty one, with highs pushing into the nineties. Of course, that’s with very low humidity (30%). And around town, I just hate closing the windows. So yesterday afternoon in the hottest time of the day (94) , I had to run an errand and found myself hitting the A/C button but keeping the windows open. What a nice cool breeze to mingle with the fresh warm air.
I’ve done this in the convertible a few times now – both with the heat and with cool. Doing so extends the temperature range for top-down motoring. I might have done it once or twice in my “fixed-head” cars over the years, too.
I would never do this intentionally. If I’m going to do something that burns extra fuel needlessly, it would be to press harder on the accelerator pedal.
I do drive with the window down and the heater on. Heat is basically free. In the convertible, I also drive with the top down and the heater cranked, because if you’re driving a convertible with the top up, you’re doing it wrong.
“If I’m going to do something that burns extra fuel needlessly”
You mean like roll down the windows? Of course you are probably talking about your old Chryslers with their monster AC compressor so it is probably a wash, but on modern cars at speed the AC typically will cause a lower drop in MPG than driving with the windows down.
It depends on what speed you’re going. At about 55mph or below, the windows down are more efficient. This is especially true if you’re stopping and going a lot. Above 55, the drag caused by the windows down is much greater, and it’s more fuel efficient to use the A/C.
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/hybrid-technology/driving-with-windows-down.htm
Efficiency be damned. I like to set my climate control below 60, and my passenger to above 90. Creates an offshore breeze effect I find quite soothing.
The speed the transition take place at can’t be pinned down to one universal speed. The aerodynamics of the vehicle and the type of AC system (clutch cycling or thermostatic expansion valve) affects the numbers dramatically. If you read the rest of the article you’ll find that the Car & Driver study showed 40 MPH was the cut off point, though they don’t give the vehicle used in that study.
So basically, windows open in city traffic or residential neighborhoods, AC on the Interstate-level open road, everything else it’s a wash.
I wouldn’t say everything else is a wash, just highly dependent on the exact vehicle in question.
Just for the record, none of our Chryslers have A/C. My convertible had a dealer-installed under-dash A/C unit installed when it was fairly new. It was non-functional when I bought the car because a hose had rotted out. I removed the system entirely.
My Cummins and my wife’s CR-V do have A/C though.
An air-conditioned convertible is downright silly. It’s distressing to see how many Miatas have A/C.
As Eric points out below, in some climates you need it to defog the windows. In that case, it’s not “downright silly.”
There are moments when it makes sense. We’re probably taking the Solstice to my 45th class reunion next month, a 250 mile drive each way. Running with the top down the whole trip would be tiring, so we’ll probably run the A/C at least on the trip up.
Other than that kind of circumstances, or a hard downpour, I agree completely. Roadsters are made to be run with their tops down.
Put the top and all the windows down, put your cap on tight, and drive fast.
Since in my case that might be going from 32 mpg to 30, it’s a non issue.
Well the Xbox does have the aerodynamics of a brick and Toyota typically uses the thermostatic expansion valve so it is probably a wash either way for you on the beltway and windows down is more efficient on the surface streets. On the other hand in the PNW you really do need AC it’s just that you need it in the winter to keep the windshield clear. So you really should run it at least once a month for 15 min or so to keep the compressor’s front seal lubricated and sealing, so it does work when you need it come fall.
During the time we owned our 2007 MX5, yes we did. On hot, muggy or not, sunny days like we had last summer just before we sold it, we did each and every time, as there was no circulation in the footwells and your feet & legs roasted.
On the highway the few times I took it to work, yes. Windows up, A/C on. Ours was a 5-speed sport model, and was still murder on the highway on my long commute. Main reason why we sold it.
I do this on days not warm enough to go A/C-only, but warm enough that the car is uncomfortably warm. I’ll run the A/C long enough to cool the air ducts so that when I switch over to outside air it comes in at the outside air temp instead of heated by the ductwork.
Me too.
I used to this when I used to like the wind blowing. But I probably haven’t driven with the windows down in 2 yrs now, its AC all the time. Partially because i live in Florida and its either too dang hot outside or its raining, partially because my GTI has terrible wind management with the windows down or even the sunroof open (its really annoying), and partially because in traffic I get bombarded with smoke and ash from the smokers around me. I do sometimes drive our MR2 Spyder with the top down and the AC on when its hot because in the summer in Florida it really gets too hot to enjoy a convertible, but in the winter months there is no need for the AC.
When I was a kid after we got an air conditioned car, my mother would go into full-freakout mode if someone cracked a window. After all, you just DONT run the air conditioner unless all windows are closed tight. As I have gotten older, I have wondered “why the hell not?”
Since modern cars have eliminated the ability to shut off hot water to the heater core, it is almost always necessary to run the a/c long enough to cool the radiant heat out of the ducts. But I have no religious objection to turning on the a/c with the windows down. Extra fuel? Yup. Same with upshifting at 4K rpm instead of 2k. I say whatever makes you comfy.
So maybe I should put a little shut-off valve on the heater hose? Would that affect anything else? Seem like not.
I have thought about doing that. Unfortunately, I have never actually done it. I have wondered if you need just a simple shutoff, or if you need a bypass loop (2 valves?) so that the water keeps circulating through everything but the heater core.
I’ve suspected a bypass was necessary; other comments here back me up. I guess in the end it depends on the design of the engine.
My 1979 Datsun PL620 used a watercock, not blending doors, to control heat…and no, there was no bypass. No external, anyway. Compare that to my 1973 Pinto with air, which DID have an elaborate system of closure and a bypass in a casted H fitting.
Believing in simplicity, I think the cheap and easy way is to just re-plumb it twice a year: Take one heater hose and run it from the heater input to the heater return on the block; and the other onto both heater nipples. A bit messy, but no Smokey Stover. With summer temperatures, there’s not likely to be much need for heat – pretend you’re in a Beetle! If the windows steam up, just use the air conditioning.
A disclaimer: I haven’t done that – yet. The no-cutout-of-the-heater-core-with-air-conditioning is new to me…frankly, air conditioning is new to me. But I’m seeing, when I put VENT on…that air is warm. And I know the blender doors have holes cut in, to prevent absolute sealing.
When the warranty runs out on my Toy Yoda…I’ll try this.
It does all depend on the design of the system. As you mention the Pinto with AC had that H style shut off valve because the heater loop did dual duty as the bypass circuit.
From looking up the Toyota Yaris on line it has the bottom blocking by-pass thermostat with the internal bypass system. That is becoming much more common as that allow the use of a smaller radiator and AC system. You can close off the heater circuit and thus put less heat in the HVAC system for better performance on a blend door system. It also allows the smaller radiator since it can force all the coolant to go through the radiator so it needs less of a temp drop to keep the engine cool.
With the dedicated bypass hose like used on the SBF, Olds engines and some others a certain amount coolant is always recirculated w/o having any heat removed.
My ’77 Chevelle just has the shutoff valve on one side of the heater core.
My ’95 Explorer shuts off both sides.
Both cars shut the heater core off for maximum A/C cooling on the recirc mode, and then freeze you out.
On normal mode, you do want the heater core to be active to help temper the air.
Shortly after I got the 77, I had to take it on a road trip, and I had not gotten around to replacing the heater core, so it was still bypassed by the previous owner, but the A/C worked flawlessly. Outside temp of around 100 degrees, and I turn the a/c on normal – full cold, stick the thermometer in the vent, crank up the AM radio and go. After an hour the back seat area was down in the low 50s, I had the front window cranked down a bit, and took to cycling the system on or off to keep myself from freezing.
By the time I got to my destination, despite the 100 degree day, I had condensation on the OUTSIDE of the glass in that car, and you could see the vapor condense out when the doors were open.
I replaced the heater core shortly after getting it home, made for a less-frigid driving conditions.
The Explorer uses a blend door system and the H style valve since the 4.0 needs the heater loop as a bypass.
Yes it can affect other things, in many cases the heater core doubles as the bypass hose to allow the coolant to circulate when the thermostat is closed. It can actually cause boil over in some cases where localized spots can become extremely hot but the coolant near the thermostat stays too cool to allow it to open. It was a head scratcher the first time I encountered such a thing. The heater core was leaking on the car and rather than connect the hoses together the person had plugged them. Put a flush “T” in it to allow the coolant to circulate and the problem went away. So before you do that you need to make sure that there is a by-pass hose or their is an internal bypass. From looking up the T-stat for a first gen Xbox it appears that it uses a “bottom blocking” bypass style thermostat, like pictured below, which is fairly common today. Back in the day only IH did that and people often put a regular T-stat in them that would cause overheating since the majority of the coolant continued to circulate through the engine rather than go to the radiator.
So does that mean I could block it, or would need to put in a bypass circuit?
That means that you can block it, note the common shut off valves do not block the flow 100% they usually have a little slit that allows a tiny amount of coolant to flow but will still make a huge difference. Or you could get a universal manual style like Balkamp (NAPA) 6601404 Four Seasons 84705 which is for 1/2″ hose, which is the most common size. In theory you can put it in either hose but typically it should go in the supply side. To figure out which is the supply put the heater on hot, fan on high and let the engine warm up, you should be able to feel a difference in the temp of the hoses. I’d still monitor the first warm up cycle after you install it and shut it off just to be on the safe side.
Eric; thanks; I may just do that, as the air blowing in through the vents is definitely warmer than what comes in through the windows. Lots of times on the highway I would be comfortable with the windows closed if the vent air were just a few degrees cooler.
“Since modern cars have eliminated the ability to shut off hot water to the heater core”
That’s not particular to “modern” cars. 60’s Mopars are the same way, unless you had A/C. Cars with factory A/C got a heater core shutoff valve.
I thought all older cars had a heater control valve that actually shut off water flow. I know that they were almost made of unobtainium on my 61 T Bird and even club judging permitted a later F-150 valve that substituted at least functionally. I thought that it was just the newer cars that kept the heater core hot all the time and used a blend-door to allow or stop air flow through the heater plenum. All of the old cars I remember (not just Mopars) got pure ambient temp air through the fresh air vents. My 66 Fury and 71 Scamp were this way, and neither had air.
It all depends on the car as 62 Skylark mentioned below Ford used a blend door system as early as the Pinto. On the other hand Mazda used a heater valve at least through the mid 80’s as the one on our 87 626 started leaking and it was positioned right above the accelerator pedal giving you a hot foot.
Since it didn’t have A/C, I can guarantee that your 66 Fury had coolant flowing through the heater core at all times (unless you installed a manual shutoff valve).
I will take your word for it, as you have undoubtedly been deeper into C body HVAC systems than I have. Maybe the difference was the way they ducted the air to the fresh air vents in a way that completely bypassed the plenum that contained the heater core. Those fresh air vents that blew fresh, outside air were what made cars with no a/c liveable for most of the warmer months of the year. Once the “vent” started coming out of the regular hvac vents on the dash, they were worthless. I too may look into a shutoff valve, maybe just for the Honda.
Many of the older heater only systems had their vents as a totally separate system.
There was a separate system, “cowl vents”, which just pulled in fresh air from outside. There were knobs under the dash that you pull to open the cowl vent doors located behind the front kick panels.
Yup many older cars that had a blend door temp adjustment, AC, and a by-pass hose got a shut off valve, usually vacuum operated. Heck even some vehicles with a valve operated temp adjustment still got a positive shut off valve if they have AC, my Travelall is that way.
My 1972 Pinto with A/C had the system you describe. An air blend door temperature adjustment, vacuum operated hot water to heater core shut off valve, and bypass tubing. It was a good system that reduced the heat load on the A/C in the Max Cooling position.
Yes though typically it will just be when just starting out to clear out the built up heat inside and then once I get on roads with higher speeds the windows go up.
It’s too hot where I live to do that most of the time (Texas), and not just because of air temp, but the baking of the left arm in the irrepressible, scorching sun. I did do this the other night, though. The sun was finally down (nearly 10:00 pm), but it was still in the mid-90s and a bit humid. It made for a nice drive under the big Texas star-lit sky.
I try not to use the air conditioner unless it’s oppressively hot (around 85 or higher) or if I’m on the highway. I usually get enough cool airflow with the front windows down and moonroof open or tilted.
I never drive with the windows down AND air conditioning on.
I run the AC with the windows open until I feel the AC coming from the vents, because if my car’s been closed up on a hot day it’s a roaster oven in there. Venting the heat through the open windows prevents buckets of sweat.
That said, I avoid the AC as much as I can, because I’m not crazy about it either. I run it primarily when it’s off-the-charts hot, or when my driving will take me to speeds where the whipping wind will mess up my hair and/or make it hard to hear the radio/talk to my passengers.
As a hard core motorcyclist of many years, er, decades I very rarely use the air conditioning in any of my cars – and would be happier if I could buy a car without A/C. I live outside of Richmond, VA. Air condition just doesn’t feel right to me.
About the only time I ever use the A/C is during a good summer’s downpour when I have no choice but to roll up the car’s windows.
Here in Miami there is only about two weeks a year when you can drive a convertible with the top down during the day. When I had my 1989 Dodge Dakota convertible and my 91 Miata (my vert phase) i would have the ac blowing on me for stop lights, when driving at night on highways I could get by with out ac.
My best friend did a ride-a-long with the police in college (and no, not in handcuffs). He said they drove with the windows down and the air conditioning on and he said it was so cool. So luxurious.
I had one of those moms that you didn’t dare crack the window.
I paid the big bucks to get the auto climate control since I’m a lazy bastard. I like being able to set the system at 74F and not having to touch it again, winter, summer, spring or fall. The other day I got into the car and the thermo read 113F. No way I want the windows open at that temp. As for fuel mileage, it gets what it gets.
Living in Puerto Rico the average temperature year round here is between the 70s and the 90s with some towns in the central parts going down in the 60s and high humidity. I live and work near the coastal area so for me the temp is in the 80s and 90s almost daily. That means windows up, A/C Max, and temp in the coldest setting most of the time unless it is a nice summer day and you are driving around enjoing the sites or the A/C is not working in your car, which is my case right now! :o( Need to get the A/C recharged and checked for leaks.
When I lived in San Juan, rarely did we use the AC in my dad’s ’63 Biscayne. My mom’s ’64 Falcon didn’t have AC nor heater/defroster. Never missed it, even in the summer. But then again, my dad’s Chevy was the first car we had ever had with AC. Back then we didn’t know we needed it.
I drive windows open, AC on, as often as I can!
I like to drive with the windows down, but I don’t enjoy sweating my ass off, and the windows down/AC on combo is hard to beat. You feel the warmth of the sun, but are gently cooled at the same time.
For those who haven’t tried this, I highly recommend it.
So I get a 1 mpg drop in fuel economy….. big deal. I’ll pay the extra .12 cents for my 30 mile drive in (my idea of) comfort.
For around town driving only – I often drive with an open sunroof and the air conditioning running during the summer but I like it even better open during the winter and the heat running full blast. There is something about the winter’s brisk cold mixed with the warmth of the heater that I find comforting.
Mr. Bill
Sometimes, but not often.
I have it ingrained in me from when we bought our first air conditioned car in 1981, like JPC’s Mom, ours would have us close the windows the moment the A/C came on, we would swelter for a few minutes until the cold air got to the back.
Now driving in the summer with the windows open and the heater on, I used to do quite a bit of that once I turned 16 and started riding in various old cars with marginal cooling systems.
I will do it when I need that occasional smoke. Front windows down half way, rears down a tad to prevent buffeting.
If you put the A/C on “fresh” (the only choice in my FWB) and drive for a while it will eventually blow out the residual smoke. It’s a surprisingly nice way to cruise around.
Living in Houston, frequently. Also when the top is down in the Saab unless its winter.
The livable hours in Houston during the summer are until 9 am and after 8 pm. Otherwise we’re all miserable….
The payoff of course is January and February, where the top down with the heat on is a frequent journey.
Yes, all the time. Well not all the time. I rarely use AC in the winter in Mich. In the winter I drive with the window down and the heater on full blast. Hate driving with the window up.
Here in Tucson the hot weather shows up in April and leaves in late October. We had nearly 40 successive days of temperature over 100 degrees. Then the summer storm season rolled in, with its humidity. I’d say we have about two months of the year that are good for windows-down driving. I don’t much care for traffic noise, either, so I appreciate the quiet of having the windows up. Air conditioning it is, then, and windows rolled up. If it’s comfortable enough to roll the windows down, I will, and I’ll turn off the A/C. If the sun isn’t bothersome, I’ll even open the sunroof.
Big news in Salt Lake City-today was the 13th day in a row above 100F. In itself, not a big deal, after all we do live in a desert. Love my AC cocoon!
I did this for the first time a few weeks ago. It felt weird. Heck, it feels weird having a daily driver with working A/C. I almost hope it just quits now so I can stop wondering how long it will actually last…
Feeling open air after 8-10 hours of “Fluorescent Hell” is exhiliarating and worth the sweat. I suppose a lot has to do with the environment as well as the vehicle..
To answer your question,
No, I never drive with the windows down and the AC on.
The major reason for this is that I have never owned a car with AC!
(or a car with power windows, for that matter).
(and I’ve owned a LOT of cars).
Technology, however, and those who profit from it, has a way of working itself into your life.
I swore I would go to my grave without a cell phone. Now I find that near universal adoption means I have to have one.
So I suspect that AC will invade my space before too long even though I have absolutely no need for it.
I’ll echo that.
The Puritan in my family tree (yes, there are a few of those) …rebels at the very THOUGHT. Waste not, want not. You want cold air? Well, you spendthrift, you bought a car with air conditioning. Turn it on; you have it, use it.
You don’t want it so cold? Put the ducting on DEFROST. on Toyotas, you can do this…in fact, you can’t NOT. Defrost means the compressor is on. Anyway, when the cold air is blowing on the hot windshield glass and dashboard, it cools off the plastic…and provides a pleasant coolish wave to the face, not the dry stabbing effect the in-yer-face dash ducts do.
That’s still too cool? Try AIR. Yep, it’s got some residual heat off the heater core, as noted.
THEN – and ONLY then – do the windows go down. And the roof panel starts flappin’ – and you KNOW that when I’m stopped at a light, the radio will start a k.d. lang selection, getting me funny looks from everyone within earshot.
Done it before (in Venezuela, less so down here). And sometimes, when it’s cold (circa 10ºC) I open the windows with the heater on.
There’s nothing weird or freaky about it. Enjoy your car as you see fit.
I always turn on the a/c when I’m in the Northwest. The air has to be dried before it can be consumed.
I did today!
It was about 25 degrees, just on the cusp of needing it, and with the car having been parked all day, it was pretty toasty in there. I turned it off a few clicks down the road. Then turned it on again a bit later. Didn’t feel like turning the heat dial up some to have cool air, rather than cold air. So window down, AC up. Balance. 🙂
I must admit I’m usually a windows up, a/c on kind of guy all year round. The a/c is there, so I may as well use it! In summer it keeps me at a nice 18 degrees Celsuis; in winter it keeps the windows clear. Three of my previous cars had sunroofs though, and I loved having them open wide as much as possible – a/c still on mind you.
Around town windows down is often nice, but on the open road the buffetting irritates me. Depends on the car of course – in my old R33 Nissan Skyline, I often had the the windows down and sunroof open while blasting around winding back roads so I could enjoy that delicious RB straight-six exhaust note ! 🙂
I much prefer open windows to A/C absolutely anywhere – car, house, etc. (well, maybe not in a plane!)
I’m not sure this would apply in Oregon, or to Paul’s box, but here in San Diego it is occasionally necessary even at 70 degrees, IF you have a car with a large steeply raked windshield (e.g., CR-V), because the sun is so much more directly overhead this far south.
WRT gas mileage and A/C, the A/C == open windows thing may be true at freeway speed, but it most certainly is not true around town. We had an Odyssey with the auto A/C, and when my wife drove it, it got worse mileage than our neighbor’s Yukon – maybe 13 mpg. It was the auto A/C always turning the air on whether you needed it or not. When I drove it I would force the A/C off and it got just what Honda predicted, close to 20. It’s similar with our CR-V now, though at least (since it doesn’t have auto A/C) she knows when the A/C is on. I will say that it might be in part a Honda thing though, because the A/C does not seem to affect my Subaru (H6) nearly as much.
Honda is one of the manufacturers that has traditionally used a thermostatic expansion valve so it can draw more energy when demand is low vs when it is high since it restricts, shuts off and/or redirects the flow of refrigerant to meet demand. Ford, GM and some others use a fixed orifice and cycle the compressor on and off in relation to demand, they developed that system just for the fuel economy gains that it provides. Also don’t discount the affect of potential differences in your driving styles and patterns. I know that on our cars if I drive them the indicated MPG goes up and then if the wife drives them the MPG goes back down, though no where near what you are indicating with your Honda.
The issue with me is not keeping cool so much as sealing out noise. I live in Korea, where the summer is hell. Oppressive humidity and July-August never under 30c in the daytime, and rarely at night. Combine this with predominantly
urban driving conditions, especially the never-ending aural assault of trucks and buses,
and those windows stay closed and the AC on max, thank you very much.
36° degrees and 85-90% of humidity right now…so yes, A-C at full power and 4 windows down at least for 5 minutes, trying to cool off that nasty black interior (i HATE black interiors…)
Now, to REALLY stir the excrement…I’ll put this out:
Who here drives with the window down and the HEATER ON??
‘Fess up, all you wastrels and Global Warmers!!
Umm; how would that waste anything? All the engine heat has to go somewhere, and it all ends up outside anyway, one way or another.
Maybe JPT is thinking of a Corvair with a gas fired heater? 😉
Just poking fun. Sometimes…the appearance of waste, isn’t really waste.
One obvious example in this thread, is how using air conditioning can actually increase fuel economy at speed…that is, allowing it’s a streamlined car and not a brick…
(there I go again…)
And closing the windows and not using A/C is even more efficient at higher speeds, but sometimes uncomfortable.
You guys are all thinking about conventional cars but in a Hybrid or EV doing so could be considered waste. With an EV the heater is electric so it can draw substantial power, in fact more than the AC system in most EVs. On a Hybrid that likes to shut down it’s engine when it gets to the point where it can produce low emissions the heater can actually suck all of the heat out of the engine causing it to run more frequently and thus waste electricity. I know in the winter in my wife’s Fusion hybrid using the heater can cause the MPG to drop as it will make the engine idle after a long down hill or light load EV condition even though the battery SOC hasn’t dropped that low.
Good point. EVs and Hybrids are a completely different situation. Does anybody use the A/C system in reverse as a heat pump? The switching equipment is probably too expensive and the system coefficient of performance is not good enough?
From what I’ve read you are correct that the equipment to convert from an AC system to a heat pump is considered too expensive at this point though it is supposed to be more efficient than a resistive heating element. So maybe Tesla uses it. on the Model S.
For a conventional Hybrid there is often enough waste heat so all the ones I’m aware of still use a conventional heater core.
Now the Volt and Ford Energi cars have both a resistive heater and a conventional heater core.
The cheapest answer, on an EV…might just be an installed propane heater designed for such use – maybe powered by a screw-in camp-style bottle. Cheap to install, provides plenty of heat – even if expensive to use. Perhaps a permanent tank would cut costs.
I don’t think battery technology is anywhere near far-enough along to reasonably expect power to heat a car like that – or, for that matter, cool it.
JPT the battery power works just fine for climate control on an EV. I’ve got a couple of friends with Leafs and one with a Volt. On both of them you can set the vehicle to pre condition the cabin at a specific time or manually turn it on with your phone while it is still plugged in. Using the seat heaters only results in a negligible reduction in range, running the heater in the Leaf on really cold days (at least really cold for the PNW) does take 5~7 miles off the range when the car is preheated before the trip. The AC uses considerably less. I haven’t asked the Volt owner specifically about the cost of using the climate control.
One of the things I really love about the wife’s Fusion Hybrid is the electric AC compressor. It does draw a fair amount of battery power when it is cooling down the vehicle after it has been sitting in the sun on a 80+ degree day. However since its speed is not tied to the engine speed it starts putting out ice cold air immediately. Within a minute or so the compressor slows down and the power consumption goes way down.
My favorite thing however is when I’m sitting in the car, in the sun, with a black interior, on a 80+ degree day, while my wife runs in some place for “just a minute”. If I stop with the battery at about a 50% SOC it will keep it cold for about 6~8 min until the battery gets low enough to cause the engine to start up and charge the battery. The engine will run for maybe 2 minutes, bringing up the SOC to about 60%, the engine will shut off and the cycle repeats. Since it is a traditional Hybrid the battery is very small. In the owner’s manual under the FAQ the response to “what if I run out of gas?” is that the car will have about a 1 mile range at 40 MPH to get you to a station.
Funny that it is so warm in Eugene. As I write this it is windy, overcast and 63 degrees in the Quad Cities. We went to see a favorite band of ours playing on the patio of a downtown Moline restaurant and I begged off early because I was cold!
And I used the heater and heated seat in the car on the way home–a first for me in July! Feels like October…or March.
That way in Wisconsin, a hundred miles east of Minneapolis, too. It’s been a blazing-hot summer; but a cold wave moved in – high temp today was 62. To me, it’s a welcome break.
I guess the renewed heat out West means we’re gonna get back to cooking.
Today I made a run down I-15 to Sandy while the outside temp was 78F. With my automatic HVAC system set at 74F, did I actually use a whole bunch of energy on this run? The speed limit on 15 is 65mph, but in order to keep from getting run over, I ran 78 mph just to keep pace with the traffic. Windows open at this speed can be uncomfortable.
No, but I do sometimes run the heat full blast with the windows open in Winter, on a dry day. My legs sometimes needed heat, but my upper body didn’t, so it worked well. In Las Vegas, I drove my ’77 Power Wagon like this most of the time at night, from Oct to about March.
That’s kinda why I posed the question. Before air conditioning and flapping-tin car roofs…I was of the habit of having the car windows down anytime it was warmer than freezing. If it was cold, turn on the heat! I like the cold air on my face, even if not (anymore, anyway) my footsies.
I’d be that way at work, too, running a locomotive. Drove my crew NUTS – I’d be there with the sidewall heaters cranked, but my window open, elbow out…and shooter’s muffs to deaden the horn. Most older guys didn’t like muffs or earplugs – and they didn’t think much of my dedication to ventilation.
dam i thought i was the only one that did that! do the same in the winter with heater. i was 7 years and 3 cars into ownership before i had air in a car. must be habit although i like to tell myself on a nice summer evening its the perfect blend of temp setting.
No. Here in the middle of an oppressively hot and humid mid-Atlantic summer, our air needs to be thinned out before you can actually breathe it. You need the windows up with the AC on. Sometimes though, I will lower the efficiency by putting the temperature up slightly to introduce a little heat to the ducts if it gets too cold in the cabin. That is a function of the kick-ass AC in my car.
I envy those of you in the dry west. I have spent time in the four corners region and found the I can tolerate the heat there without the humidity, at least in the higher elevations. Around here it seems like you only get maybe 8 weeks a year of nice windows-down weather split between the spring and the fall.
A lot of people feed heat into the A/C to have, not cool, but dry air. But I’ve found a seemingly better way: Set the air-conditioned air to blow through the DEFROST ducts. It attacks heat, not at your face, but at the source: the big sheet of glass that is the windshield. Cools the surface of the dashboard; and by the time the air reaches you it’s not cold but cool or not even, but drier and refreshing.
At night, though, that practice does tend to fog up the windshield – the OUTSIDE. In the sun, that never happens; but overcast or at night, you can get a patch of moisture outside the glass just above the ducts.