Today was my first day driving in the rain...and I noticed something strange. When I was driving through rain, it seemed the cabin got warmer. When I cleared the rain, the cabin seemed to get cooler. The temp setting on the AC stayed constant at 75 and the AC was on Auto with recirculating Air. Has anyone else noticed this? Thanks
I would suspect that the outside temp dropped with the rain and the auto a/c was trying to compensate for a changed delta temp between inside and outside. Since you had recirculate on (why?) overriding the default a/c settings this resulted in the increase in cabin temp. Just guessing!!
This is the first car that I've owned that controlles the humidity. I suspect that the temp feels different when the car changes its settings to control the humidity.
Since the OP had auto A/C on with air recirculating on, I would not believe that humidity was in play.
I couldn't notice it, I don't take my Prius out into the rain. It hides in the garage where it's safe and warm and .....fuzzy. No..seriously, I think Jack66 got the answer. ZC1
OK - Thanks for the info - I had recirc on because I was trying to isolate the problem...if there is a problem by reducing the high humidity air entering the cabin as I entered a rain cell. Also - I have Llumar window tinting 30% all side and back windows and a strip across the top of the windshield if that may play a part. The Prius really attempts to control the humidity level? Is there a user setting for that other than the temp setting?
The Prius also senses how much sunlight is coming through the windshield. When driving in full bright sun, the AUTO A/C will blow colder air harder in an attempt to keep up with the amount of heat being added by the sun. When driving under overcast skies, or night, the AUTO A/C will reduce the fan speed and increase the temperature of the air coming from the vents to keep from chilling the passenger compartment too much. If the vents were blowing directly on you, what you may have felt was the change in the temperature of the air exiting the vents, and not necessarily a change in the average cabin temperature. The AUTO A/C may have adjusted the temperature of the air coming from the vents because of a change in the amount of solar radiation coming through the windshield when driving through the rain.
Wow....I keep learning how much smarter this car is than I am. Adjusting air temp based on sunlight/solar radiation - Makes perfect sense for the 'problem' I found. Thanks
I find the auto ac really frustrating. I would rather have a fan switch on the steering wheel. With the fan switch I can control whats needed. The prius fan never goes to low which is where I want it. I can only get moderate low and that comes with a higher then I want temp setting. I never use the auto as it simply does not work for me.
