Auto Temperature Control

Just drive that Amphicar over here!

Merry Christmas guys.

 

Most people not familiar with auto climate control play with it vs letting it do it's thing. I have a constant problem with my employees playing with the system -- all our cars are purchased with ACC. They try and get heat too fast in the winter and play with the fan .. turn down the fan in the summer on startup when the system is trying to rapid cool the car because they think it's turned up too high. Or they turn it off. Live it be.

Modern systems are very efficient -- sit with the car in the heat with the AC ... you will be surprised how long you will sit without the engine having to recharge the battery.

I hardly ever touch mine -- they work great if you leave them alone. Once you change anything -- it's no longer in "auto"

 

On Gen 4 you can change the temperature and the rear/mirror defogger while staying in Auto. Anything else takes it off Auto.

 

Well, temperature is always arbitrary. And regarding Auto: it's "Auto", and stays Auto, except anything you override, ie:

1. mode
2. fan speed
3. AC

( The latter for 2nd and 4th gen, not applicable on 3rd gen, where AC stays on or off, whatever you have set..., in Canada at least. Except on full moon, lol.)

 

I remember installing one in a frost plug in my 1969 Corolla when I lived in Toronto.
Here I will just take the mileage hit. I think the issue for me is more psychological seeing the mpg loss. The loss was just hidden on my other vehicles.

 

I took a look at a block heater the other day thinking maybe I'd tackle it, maybe not. It doesn't really get that cold in Denver for any extended length of time so a block heater hasn't been anything I've bothered with since moving here. But I had found a video on youtube of someone installing one on a prius c that felt like it was a very complete step by step. THere was no draining of coolant or anything. Looked like you just pushed the element into a preexisting hole with a bit of thermal paste then route the cable. I'm assuming that the block heater is not in direct contact with the the coolant which makes life easier. Seems like that'd be less effective, but simple install is nice. Totally looked like a one beer job.

 

Cool, except I do not drink beer or any alcohol

 

Folk on PriusChat seem to me often to get confused by terminology about Climate Control.

What the Prius calls AC is really Climate Control which includes heating and cooling as needed.

So folk worry about whether AC is on thinking it means cooling, when it actually means Climate Control.

For example they turn off Auto AC mistakenly thinking they are turning off an unwanted cooling function.

Lots of the earlier posts in this thread seem to me to be based on this misunderstanding.

Or am I missing something?

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

I thought AC stood for "Air Cooling." Are you telling me it stands for "Air Conditioning?" Madness

 

I know in Canada we called it Air Conditioning.

 

LIES!!! we all know you really call it "Air Conditioning, eh"

 

In North America Air Conditioning (AC) is unanimously understood to mean the freon-like system, with compressor, that actively cools the air, and can dehumidify in the process.

All in favour? Opposed? I suspect the ayes have it, lol. The only parties out of step are the editors at Toyota.

 

Those in the US do not understand. Did you mean favor?

 

Yeah, it's nice that there's no coolant drain. OTOH, the consensus seems to be that it's no walk in the park getting at the damn location, and you're still installing by feel only. I took the "greyhound" route on ours, just let 'em do it. Cost though .