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Trying to us the auto climate control, but it really has its own preference

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by jerrydelrey, Feb 23, 2012.

  1. jerrydelrey

    jerrydelrey Member

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    I want to start using auto climate control, because the fan and temp are tiny buttons.

    So I've been trying to adapt.

    5:20 am, It's 69 outside according to the car. I want it to blow air out the vent facing your face. I set it at 75 and auto. It keeps pointing it at my feet.
     
    #1 jerrydelrey, Feb 23, 2012
  2. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

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    That's because 75 is warmer than 69 so it's trying to warm things up a bit via the heater floor vents. Lower the temp down a few degrees (72ish) and watch the panel. You should see it move the arrows to the face vents. If not, lower it some more till that happens.
     
    #2 fotomoto, Feb 23, 2012
  3. jerrydelrey

    jerrydelrey Member

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    Okay, now i get the logic. But, I prefer it to blow to my face.

    All I did was push the mode to blow to my face, this turns off the Auto light. In this mode, Is the temperature and speed of the air coming out the vent still controlled by the climate control even though the Auto light is off? I find my self not being able to keep my hands off the temp, and fan adjustment.
     
    #3 jerrydelrey, Feb 23, 2012
  4. fulltank

    fulltank New Member

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    No matter what mode I try and use I need to make sure front window defrost is one of them. Front window always gets fogged up...
     
    #4 fulltank, Feb 23, 2012
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  5. Slugdoc

    Slugdoc New Member

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    Yes, the temp and fan should remain auto, even if you pushed mode.
    Auto light not lit, because it is no longer full Auto (you put the mode to manual).
    If you then played with the fan speed, the temp control would still be active, but fan and mode would not be.
     
    #5 Slugdoc, Feb 23, 2012
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  6. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

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    Also, if you are running the car in ECO mode (the green eco light close to the speedometer is on), the A/C operation is more "subdued".
     
    #6 fotomoto, Feb 23, 2012
  7. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    for "Face" you need to be in "cool" mode. if you want "Face" and get warm air, you must do so manually.

    automatic tries to predict what you want and face is air conditioning. warmth or heat takes into account that heat rises and the car is trying to be efficient and to efficient heat any entity, the heat must come from the lowest vent of the area it is trying to heat.

    the fact of the matter; the AI of the car cannot read your mind. you still have to "click" on what you want. the days of computers who read your mind and navigate for you have not arrived yet
     
    #7 DaveinOlyWA, Feb 23, 2012
  8. jerrydelrey

    jerrydelrey Member

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    Haha Yeah, Sometimes I think the AI is trying to make up my mind for me. Like it's waving it's hand, telling me "no you don't want it on your face".

    Sooner or later it will win, and i'll say f* it, I don't feel like messing with these little buttons, let it blow on my feet.

    @DaveinOLYWA, I just read your signature. I wish electricity was as cheap here in Hawaii, as it is in WA. I was considering the Leaf, but the numbers don't yet work out here.
     
    #8 jerrydelrey, Feb 23, 2012
  9. TonyPSchaefer

    TonyPSchaefer Your Friendly Moderator
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    The AUTO A/C was a fun point of discussion when the Gen2 was released back in '04. A couple (few?) of us work in the building automation industry in which we work with air temp/flow control all day long. I hate to admit it but we totally geeked out.

    First things first: when you have a huge temperature difference to make up, you turn the heaters up as high as they go and you spin up the fans. As you close in on the desired temp, you throttle back on the heating and slow down the fans.

    One of the things Prius does is prevent a total all-out blast of air in your face. As I indicated above, when you first turn on the heat, it wants to start cranking out a high volume of heated air. To avoid blasting you in the face with it, the front vent is closed and the feet/windshield vents are opened. As you approach the desired setpoint, the volume of air decreases accordingly. Prius starts opening the dash vents and closing the feet/windshield vents. This is pretty much what fomoto indicated when he said you could alter the setpoint temperature.

    And, as indicated previously, once you make any changes to AUTO, you are no longer in AUTO.

    Once you accept that the technology works, you can literally set the desired setpoint and let the car do its thing.
     
    #9 TonyPSchaefer, Feb 23, 2012
  10. DaveinOlyWA

    DaveinOlyWA 3rd Time was Solariffic!!

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    oh ya, about that... my electricity is cheap, but not that cheap. i average 10.1 to 10.4 cents per KW, but i also have about 100 free charging stations in the area. that goes a LONG way towards lowering my charging bill!! ;)

    Now Hawaii was prime for Better Place and you might want to wait for that. granted probably 3-4 years away, but with gas prices, i would be tempted to get a Leaf. dont know what your rates are but you are highest gas prices in the country (Alaska would be higher but they have no state gas tax)
     
    #10 DaveinOlyWA, Feb 23, 2012
  11. seasalsa

    seasalsa Active Member

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    Your windshield will not fog up in AUTO. It will use enough A/C to keep the windshield fog free.
     
    #11 seasalsa, Feb 23, 2012
  12. fotomoto

    fotomoto Senior Member

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    Down south this isn't necessarily true; especially this time of year. Mornings are cool to warmish (60's) but very humid and heavy fog is common. Since the auto temp setting is so close to ambient, the system barely runs (1-2 bars of fan). You need the windshield defrost button to clear the windows in a timely manor.
     
    #12 fotomoto, Feb 23, 2012
  13. austingreen

    austingreen Senior Member

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    Yes, and I fog up at night. Auto doesn't figure out a lot well for me. There are those other buttons to fix it though.
     
    #13 austingreen, Feb 23, 2012
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