Have noticed during this hot spell that a lot of cars are driving with one or more windows open,I have told my wife never to open windows while the air/con is on as this will overload the unit as it tries to keep the temperture down,am I right in this my thoughts are based on an air/conned bungalow we rented once in Florida where the instructions were to not leave any doors to the outside oped as this would overload the system.Could these drivers be storing up trouble if as I suspect their air/con is on?.
ndbw
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I guess it's possible, but surely only with thermostatic controlled a/c ie. climate control. Standard air con just blows cold air in - it doesn't work to make the cabin a certain temp.
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Most of the people driving with windows open are the ones without A/C.Even with thermostatically-controlled ones,it should do no harm-it will switch to MAX and stay there.
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I used to work in a computer room environment with very sophisticate air-con.
In the nice weather people used to open the fire doors for 'fresh air', so we put a notice on them saying "please leave these doors closed exept in emergency, as the airconditioning plant does not have the capacity to cool the entire world !"
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When I first bought a car with air-con some time ago, I was instructed by the salesman to open the windows slightly initially to allow the built up hot air to escape as the AC cooled the cabin. I do this now and the interior cools down quicker than trying to cool the 50 deg C interior after the car has been stood in the sun.
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my way is turn everything on full and lock up before you get in,but this does sound very sensible............
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Well, I follow the VW manual and open all the windows (using the key clockwise) to let the hot air out . Start up then shut windows. Noise alone means I never drive with windows open at any speed above walking pace.
Use recirculate mode to speed cooling process.
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I wasna fu but just had plenty.
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Exactly-the quickest way to cool down is "re-circ".
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I think not! After 10 years in the Middle East, arriving back at cars where the interior temperature was probably 60C +, the best way to cool down is not to recirculate and cool the 60 degree air but to cool the 45 deg outside air and then when some cooling has been achieved, go to recirculate. I appreciate that these figures do not apply in UK but if the interior of the car is hotter than the outside air, which it often is, recirculating is not the quickest wat to achieve coolness!
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Have to agree with AS. Only switch to recirc once the air inside has sufficiently cooled.
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I find best to
open sunroof
open windows
start driving
once hot air in car has escaped
swirch on aircon on coldest position
wait for warm air in system to be blown out and cool air to come through
close windows
close roof
if I am commuting to / from office, it is just 15 minutes mainly in town, so I often don't bother with the aircon at all, unless it is very hot eg in the 80's.
running the aircon and keeping the windows / roof open is a double extra use of fuel, the extra drag caused and the aircon power consumption on the engine.
once the car has cooled I also tend to turn the temperature up, say to 22 (sorry to mix metric & imperial measurements,, car's climate control is metric only) so as to reduce the fan speed and make the drive quieter.
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Blimey, what a load of faffing about.
I get in the car, whatever the temperature, turn the key, select drive, and drive off. And all that money the maufacturers have invested in the climate control systems works a treat. Ha, maybe they should link it to the windows and sunroof, and a little keypad to allow the driver to tell it how long the journey will be. That way, it could wind the windows up/down, open or close the sunroof as required, as well as working out where I'm going so it can set the temperature depending on destination. That way, if I'm going somewhere cold, it could lower the temperature so it's not such a shock when I get out. Maybe I could even tell it what clothes I'm wearing, so it can adjust the temperature accordingly.
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