I picked up my "new" 2007 Prius today, and after reading the owner's manual I am confused about how to operate the heater. I can see a touch panel control labeled AC, and another labeled AUTO. It looks like both of these will operate the air conditioner (in different modes, I guess), at a specified cabin temperature. However, I just want to turn on the heater - no air conditioner. Can anyone explain how to do that? Thanks! /Don
Welcome aboard! Turn the temperature up. Turn the AC off I don't use auto. If you use auto, the car will try to maintain the temperature you have set. I don't like that as it might demand heat (causing the ICE [internal combustion engine to run], run the AC compressor when I don't want it, etc. BTW, it'd help if you upgraded your user info to reflect your "new" car.
Press the A/C button so that it is off. That will keep the air conditioning compressor from running. Set the temperature control sufficiently high so that the cabin heater core is heating the air, and you are done. The AUTO switch, when activated, will adjust fan speed in an effort to maintain whatever temperature has been set.
in times of high humidity or when fogging is an issue you're going to want to run the a/c to dry the air. it should have been called Auto HVAC, not Auto A/C, but it is what it is.
It sounds like there is no dedicated control for the heater, it just turns on automatically if the AC and AUTO are off and the actual cabin temperature is lower than the temperature setting. Thanks for all of your responses.
The heater will turn on as needed if: 1) the fan speed is set to some position besides OFF 2) the temperature setting is above the actual cabin temperature As previously mentioned, you may want to turn on the AC compressor as needed, if you find excessive humidity fogging up your windows.
Don, The A/C button and "A/C Auto" indicator are mislabeled. They should read "Climate Control". When A/C is lit up on the MFD, it means the air conditioner is enabled; the car will turn it on if conditions and its settings require it. All that said, I think the climate controls are about the worst feature of the Gen II's generally poorly designed virtual control panel. I haven't looked at it, but I understand the Gen III Prius has more conventional and thus (hopefully) friendlier controls.
yes gen III is a little more conventional with its 'hard' buttons instead of our gen II MFD "soft' buttons. But have you seen the gen III center stack? its got a hundred buttons meaning you have to take your eyes off the road to control climate since gen III is missing some key HVAC steering wheel buttons. gen II, on the other hand, I can go months or even years w/o having to control HVAC on the MFD, that's how intuitive and perfect the HVAC steering wheel buttons are. Toyota did this on gen III to save money, instead of giving a MFD to everybody like gen II they only give it to those who pay for navigation. I had a gen III for a little while and let me tell you the interior drove me insane and I had to sell it despite the gorgeous exterior, but it was cool to be able to have the nav map while still having the power display up on the speedometer at the same time.
I disagree - Toyota probably looked at owner survey's and modified the car to be MORE NORMAL . They found that they lost sales when people felt the car was TOO WEIRD. Probably the same reason you don't get head's up display in the US. I have both a Gen II and a Gen III and prefer the real buttons on my 2010.
Do you really believe a car that requires you to take your eyes off the road to change HVAC settings is better or safer than a car that does not?
Except that the HUD is available on the 2012 Prius. Also, I do agree, I like the temperature controls on the Gen 2. The Gen 3 only gives you temp and recirc. The Gen 2 adds front defroster, rear defroster and Auto A/C toggle so that I can toggle the climate control on and off from the steering wheel. It was very convenient.
I prefer the steering wheel buttons on the Gen II. I can run everything I need to run by feel, without taking my eyes from the road or removing a hand from the steering wheel. It's a nice system. I was disappointed that Toyota backed away from the "glass cockpit" of the Gen II to a more conventional cockpit for the Gen III. I discussed this topic in some detail with the head of Toyota for the U.S. at the Gen III launch party that some of us attended. He confirmed your observation that Toyota was trying to reach the broader market of conventional car buyers, who were less likely to willingly adopt new control layouts. Tom
As it happens, shortly after posting yesterday I went out to lunch and parked next to a Gen III, so I spent a couple of minutes looking at its center stack through the window. It's definitely pretty busy. I'd have to drive one to get a sense of what it feels like, but even a busy set of buttons can be a lot easier to use than a touchscreen. I noticed they've moved some of the climate-control buttons from the wheel to the center, and I wondered whether that was a mistake. Still, the climate-control system on the Gen II is hard to manage. Unlike an older car, there's no dead-easy way to open the air vent, turn on the blower, and direct the air to your feet -- all common tasks I can do on my '01 Subaru Forester without taking my eyes off the road. The Gen II's climate controls are too fiddly, IMO.
Other than the w/o taking eyes of the road part, I disagree. It's very easy to do the bolded part. Just make sure auto is off. Assuming all the settings are not set to the ones you listed, it takes a press of each of these: Climate button, desired fan speed, outside air button, directing air to feet button.
maybe I'm missing something here? what on the touch screen is not on the steering wheel and is needed? In the winter I toggle b/t auto AC and Front defrost, and turn the rear defrost as needed, in the spring and fall I open the windows, in the summer I use auto AC to run the air conditioner. 5 years of owning 2 diff prius I've never gone into the touch screen HVAC screen. traffic and humidity conditions cause me to toggle the recirc as well. everything is on the steering wheel on gen II, no need to ever take your eyes off or go into some silly touch screen. Unless you guys actually buy a gen III for awhile like I did you cannot begin to appreciate how lucky you are to have the superior steering wheel buttons of the gen II.
It all goes back to one thing, people don't like change. In the 80's GM experimented with digital speedometers. They were a big flop. Most people wanted an analog gauge so, they switched back and to this day, most gauges are analog (with digital inputs (how crazy is that)). I also worked with several electronic techs who hated digital multi meters. They refused to use them and stuck to their tried and true Simpson 260 analog meters with half the functions.
Ah, the Simpson 260, I remember it well! It wasn't pretty but it was one of the most durable electrical devices ever made. You could drop it on a concrete floor and it came up smiling. Unless you wanted to measure resistance (which required an occasional battery change) it needed no maintenance at all.
