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Any way to just run climate system as 'vent'?

Discussion in 'Prime Main Forum (2017-2022)' started by fneil, Oct 5, 2017.

  1. fneil

    fneil Member

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    There are times when I just want to run the climate system in 'vent' mode (cabin fan bringing outside air in, with no conditioning of the air), without worrying about whether the system will start to apply heat if the temp outside drops below the climate temp setting. I find myself having to constantly fiddle with the climate temp to keep it a few degrees below the outside temp. If my setting gets too high, the heat appears to come on, if it gets too low, it starts cranking up the fan speed, if I recall correctly. This is in Auto Mode with the A/C off, and recirculate off.

    I can't see any way to tell the system to always NOT apply heat in this situation.

    It occurs to me that I could try turning off Auto Mode and setting the fan speed manually. Then I could just set the temp to 60F (the lowest setting possible, IIRC), and avoid the heat coming on without constant fiddling, at least as long as the outside temp is above 60F. I'll have to try that. Still a bit if a pain to move back and forth between this and normal heat mode (lots of button presses).

    On a related note, is it safe to assume that if you turn the cabin fan off completely, then the car will not attempt to heat the interior, regardless of how cold it is outside? Not ideal though, as I would think the car interior would be prone to 'steaming up' with no fan airflow.

    I guess what I'm really asking is, is there any way to tell the car to NEVER apply heat, while retaining use of the cabin fan/ventilation? We can turn off the A/C and retain ventilation - why can't we turn off the heat and do the same?

    Hopefully I'm just missing something obvious here. Any suggestions?





    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
    #1 fneil, Oct 5, 2017
  2. priuscatprimeguy

    priuscatprimeguy Senior Member

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    yup, if you turn Climate from Auto to off. the windows will in fact steam up if it's humid enough out side
     
    #2 priuscatprimeguy, Oct 5, 2017
  3. Janice N

    Janice N Member

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    I struggle with this too. So far all I've found is climate off and two diagonal windows cracked.
    The low frequency resonance in most open window scenarios really bugs me too. Meaning that wubba-wubba sound.
     
    #3 Janice N, Oct 6, 2017
  4. FuelMiser

    FuelMiser Senior Member

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    Yup, that's the way to do it--set Temp to lowest possible, turn OFF the AC compressor, control fan and vents manually. When you want this to end, just press Auto again.
     
    #4 FuelMiser, Oct 6, 2017
    RonMc5 likes this.
  5. Pdog808

    Pdog808 Active Member

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    I can tell you that even with the fan off (climate control is OFF), if the interior temp setting isn't "near" to the external temp or lower, the heat will come on. I've that happen multiple times when I'm in EV mode and sometimes don't notice it until I take a look at my battery charge and notice that it's dropping like a rock (i.e. heat uses way more energy than cooling does). Drives me crazy. Off should be OFF.

    On another note, is there a voice command that will set Cooling settings to "Max" to avoid having to hold down the temperature setting button while driving?
     
    #5 Pdog808, Oct 31, 2017
  6. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    This may be to warm the battery. Though just using it should have warmed it up.
     
    #6 Trollbait, Nov 1, 2017
  7. Lee Jay

    Lee Jay Senior Member

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    To put it on vent, I just push the A/C button.

    upload_2017-11-1_7-53-14.png
     
    #7 Lee Jay, Nov 1, 2017
  8. Trollbait

    Trollbait It's a D&D thing

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    Won't that also tell the system it can use the compressor?
     
    #8 Trollbait, Nov 1, 2017
  9. walterm

    walterm Active Member

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    I'd have thought (and this is how I do it in my Gen3 and my wife's Prime) that you set the temp to ''LO" and turn the AC off, so it's not trying to either heat or cool the incoming air. Actually in my Gen3 I usually just open the sunroof for fresh air, the Prime doesn't have that option...
     
    #9 walterm, Nov 1, 2017
  10. pilotgrrl

    pilotgrrl Senior Member

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    What if you set the temperature to what the car says it is outside and turn the AC off?

    Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.
     
    #10 pilotgrrl, Nov 1, 2017
  11. Pdog808

    Pdog808 Active Member

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    I usually set it lower whenever I can then set Recirculate to OFF and Climate control to OFF.

    I don't think you want to just turn the A/C off and leave it in AUTO though. As a previous poster mentioned, that will probably tell the heat pump that it is OK to start whenever needed.
     
    #11 Pdog808, Nov 3, 2017
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