Air conditioning, air too dry!

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Mon 24 May 2010 09:56
Air conditioning, air too dry! - ohsoslow

Our Nissan Note is the first car we've had with that new fangled Air con thingy. Up until now opening the windows has been good enough for us.

This weekend however with the wonderful weather we gave the air con a good testing. Very nice, but Herself complained that the air became too dry and made breathing difficult for her. We tried opening the windows a bit which seemed to ease the situation a little. Having the windows almost fully open with the air con running was about the best we could come with, but seems to make air con almost pointless.

Is there any way of reducing the drying effect of the air con or even adding some moisture somehow?

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Mon 24 May 2010 11:01
Air conditioning, air too dry! - colinh

It's not air conditioning in the strictest sense - it's comfort cooling. Namely, it just lowers the temperature of the incoming air and in doing so moisture condenses out (look under your car after using the "a/c" on a journey). Air-conditioning will adjust the final humidity before output (may be available in very expensive cars)

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Mon 24 May 2010 19:11
Air conditioning, air too dry! - OG

I always find air conditioning too dry and I know I'm not alone.

Running the air conditioning with the windows open is going to use up a lot of extra fuel, you're effectively trying to cool down the whole planet; whilst simultaneously heating it up. Best to either have either the windows open or use the air con.

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Mon 24 May 2010 20:27
Air conditioning, air too dry! - Glenn 42

Mine seems to have mostly given up. However, my car is 4.5 years old and A/C does seem to develop problems on most cars this age. Not a major problem as I've only had it on two cars and can live without it.

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Mon 24 May 2010 22:38
Air conditioning, air too dry! - oilrag

Aircon has made me ill with chest problems many times in the Tropics - but it was a while before I realized what was causing it.

Even out there I don`t use it in cars, prefering to drop all of the windows. The only exception to that being when driving through certain high crime areas where you need to hide (as a westerner) behind darkened glass.

It makes me ill. But then, so does cold air in general, recently, for some reason....

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Tue 25 May 2010 09:56
Air conditioning, air too dry! - ohsoslow

Thanks for the replies, it's obviously a fairly common problem. Next time we get any hot weather I may try just running the air con for short periods rather than continuously.

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Tue 25 May 2010 10:28
Air conditioning, air too dry! - bintang

Maybe there is a humidifier on the market? For central heating, there are ceramic pots you can fill with water and hang on radiators. Since they depend on heat, they will not work in a car which is being cooled, but it should be possible to improvise a wick to provide the necessary evaporation.

Note that HJ has often warned that aircons will pack up unless used regularly and that, to kill off contamination by bacteria lurking in condensate, they also need a weekly blast at full heat, followed by one at full cold.

Don't overlook the advantages of aircon on "Hot" in cold weather. The warmed air is filtered and the system is an excellent demister.

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Mon 7 Jun 2010 13:08
Air conditioning, air too dry! - pyruse

Mine seems to have mostly given up. However, my car is 4.5 years old and A/C does seem to develop problems on most cars this age. Not a major problem as I've only had it on two cars and can live without it.

----------

When did you last have it regassed? It usually needs to be done every 3 years or so.


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Tue 8 Jun 2010 22:18
Air conditioning, air too dry! - Roly93

Mine seems to have mostly given up. However, my car is 4.5 years old and A/C does seem to develop problems on most cars this age. Not a major problem as I've only had it on two cars and can live without it.

Our nearly 7 year old Focus still had icy cold aircon and it had never been touched or 'serviced' from new.

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Sun 6 Jun 2010 18:17
Air conditioning, air too dry! - John F

We're just all too used to the air being too wet on this northern island! Actually it's drier [lower humidity] in winter cos warmer air can hold more moisture. Cold air can't hold much - it just condenses out.

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Sun 6 Jun 2010 20:40
Air conditioning, air too dry! - sandy56

Ive been a user of aircon for years and never had this problem of air being "too dry."

It could be that the system in question has not been regularly used and needs cleaning/ servicing and a top up of refridgerant. You cant leave the a/c off all year then turn it on and expect it to work perfectly, it wont. It is designed for regular use.

I never turn my aircon off, the difference in economy it makes is minimal. If economy is that important then people need a smaller more economical, lighter car.

If the cost of aircon is too high(???) then dont use it and open the windows and pay the extra cost in turbulence.

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Sun 6 Jun 2010 21:24
Air conditioning, air too dry! - ohsoslow

The wife's car is only 9 months old, so not an old A/C system and I regularly put it on when using the car to give it some exercise. The A/C on any car (hired or borrowed while abroad} is too dry for my wife and although I notice the dryness it doesn't cause me the problems it does for her.

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Mon 7 Jun 2010 00:06
Air conditioning, air too dry! - bathtub tom

Because the A/C is driving an additional piece of equipment, it must take power from the engine and therefore effect fuel economy.

A/C will reduce the humidity of the environment. I find it makes my eyes feel dry if used for long peiods. Thankfully we live in the UK!

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Tue 19 Jul 2011 14:28
Air conditioning, air too dry! - MVincent

For useful information about how to choose the right A/C according to your space and personal needs, as well as for comprehensible installation and maintenance guidelines like this page: http://www.facebook.com/pages/AirConditioning-Biz/211020635610946#!/pages/AirConditioning-Biz/211020635610946?sk=info , belonging to AirConditioning.biz, an UK retailer offering quality A/C units at competitive prices.

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Tue 19 Jul 2011 14:42
Air conditioning, air too dry! - turbo11

Must be nearly twenty years since I had a car without air-con or climate. For me its one of the most important features of any car and I would no more have a car without it, than a house without heating. Been "lucky" as None of my cars systems have needed a regas within seven years. The 320i I had new, and then sold onto my best mates dad is now fourteen years old and has been regassed twice. At maximum cooling,Its still colder than my Mazda.

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Tue 19 Jul 2011 15:30
Air conditioning, air too dry! - unthrottled

Air con is a horrible device. The reason Homo Sapiens dominate the planet is because of their versatility. Any healthy human being should have no difficulty regulating their temperature in virtually any ambient conditions. The endless search for labour saving devices is an unedifying one. Do people now view walking as an unnecessary chore because they have a car?

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Tue 19 Jul 2011 18:20
Air conditioning, air too dry! - corax

Air con is a horrible device. The reason Homo Sapiens dominate the planet is because of their versatility. Any healthy human being should have no difficulty regulating their temperature in virtually any ambient conditions. The endless search for labour saving devices is an unedifying one. Do people now view walking as an unnecessary chore because they have a car?

You could also say that sitting in a metal box on wheels isn't really a natural thing for a human to do, so we've invented unnatural ways of dealing with it.

I'm sure lot's of people do view walking as an unnecessary chore, and looking around me on a weekend shopping trip confirms it by the number of pasty faced fatso's stumbling around.

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Tue 19 Jul 2011 20:35
Air conditioning, air too dry! - unthrottled

That's a bit of a false dichotemy-I love cars and driving, but this tireless pursuit of 'perfection' strkes me as silly. The humidity of air con will never be exactly what you want, just as it isn't with the natural atmosphere. People will moan about the shifing qualities of automatics-either too abrupt, too slurring, not kicking down, hunting for gears etc. Row your own if you don't like the computer's alogorithmns!

It's much easier to learn to deal with hot and cold days than find a convoluted device to solve a largely non existent problem.

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Tue 19 Jul 2011 23:18
Air conditioning, air too dry! - fredthefifth

In response to some of the above ...

The climate on my Peugeot 407 HDi is always on and I get 60mpg on a steady run. That'll do even if the aircon take some.

Lowering humidity is a natural by product of cooling the air as. Can't have one without the other.

High humidity (which is often the case in warm weather this country) lowers comfort levels. I find that the drying effect of aircon is beneficial and have never had problems with air being' too dry', although I have heard stories of chapped shin where the blast is directed onto skin for long periods.

FTF

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