Using car air con, good for the car, or money down the drain?

neilmcl

EdGasket wrote: »

Because for most of the year you need heating, not cooling so you can quite easily 'drive in the most comfortable situation possible' without air con turned on. The other reasons are to save money and get slightly better performance (without the compressor drag on the engine).

You seem to have fallen for the misconception that aircon is simply a mechanism for air cooling. It's an air conditioner, not an air cooler! Heated air can be conditioned too.

movilogo

Treat AC in same way as you run heating in our house. Switch it on if you need it and switch it off if you don't need it. Simple.


Yes, using it increases fuel consumption but so does when you run heating in your home. I am happy to waste some fuel for comfort.

EdGasket

neilmcl wrote: »

You seem to have fallen for the misconception that aircon is simply a mechanism for air cooling. It's an air conditioner, not an air cooler! Heated air can be conditioned too.

YAWN. How many times have we all had this conversation!?

neilmcl

EdGasket wrote: »

YAWN. How many times have we all had this conversation!?

Well if you don't want to hear it or don't understand then that's down to you.

facade

Iceweasel wrote: »

Climate Control is better of course - fewer and fewer cars are being produced with only AC.

As a Luddite, I prefer air-con

It is all about my comfort. When I'm hot & sticky having just got into the car I want lots of cold air on me now, I don't care if the car thinks it is a nice steady 18 degrees already.
Similarly, when my feet are cold I want hot air on them, whether the car is at 22 degrees or not.

So I end up fiddling with the temperature and fan overrides anyway, I might as well have had air-con when I say whether cold air comes out or not.

I just see climate as yet another way to charge me more for a feature I don't need (that costs them pennies to implement anyway)

agrinnall

I was in the 'leave it on' group until recently, when I discovered that after 60K miles the aircon compressor was in the process of seizing up and would cost £600 to replace. Instead I turned it off and sold the car, and in my new one I'm now trying 'use it when needed'.

NBLondon

On most of the time unless I particularly want the window open on a nice summer day in the country. On a hot summer day in London - I'll have the filtered air please!


I don't know if foxy has done the sums right:

foxy-stoat wrote: »

Unless your A/C unit is linked to your bank account via a direct debit, you will save more money in a week of driving smoothly then 10+ years of driving with the A/C switched off.

but me arriving comfortable and less stressed makes for safer driving and I'll pay the bit extra for that.

motorguy

facade wrote: »

As a Luddite, I prefer air-con

It is all about my comfort. When I'm hot & sticky having just got into the car I want lots of cold air on me now, I don't care if the car thinks it is a nice steady 18 degrees already.
Similarly, when my feet are cold I want hot air on them, whether the car is at 22 degrees or not.

So I end up fiddling with the temperature and fan overrides anyway, I might as well have had air-con when I say whether cold air comes out or not.

I just see climate as yet another way to charge me more for a feature I don't need (that costs them pennies to implement anyway)

We've climate in all 3 of our cars (one dates from 2002)

"Demist" button for demisting window / heat to face.

Button up if you want it a bit warmer

Buttton down if you want it a bit cooler

I let it sort out the fans, heat, etc to make that happen for me.

I didnt pay any extra for it as the cars were bought used, and climate was standard spec.

Air con is primitive by comparison.

motorguy

agrinnall wrote: »

I was in the 'leave it on' group until recently, when I discovered that after 60K miles the aircon compressor was in the process of seizing up and would cost £600 to replace. Instead I turned it off and sold the car, and in my new one I'm now trying 'use it when needed'.

Usually its lack of use that causes seizure, not regular use.

I've never had to replace any parts to do with aircon other than at the switch end in a couple of vauxhalls

motorguy

EdGasket wrote: »

Because for most of the year you need heating, not cooling so you can quite easily 'drive in the most comfortable situation possible' without air con turned on. The other reasons are to save money and get slightly better performance (without the compressor drag on the engine).

On an average day the compressor is doing very little as it will use the outside temp as a starting point. So if its 15 degrees on an autumn day, and you want 19 degrees inside then theres little effort required, given it can use engine temp to get that up.

All winter its just using engine heat to transpose cold air to warm air.

Cooling, yes, requires more effort, but the minimal amount that adds to my fuel bill is well worth it on the few days a year it really has to work

I'd a Golf 1.6TDI for 18 months, doing 25-30,000 per year. I kept the aircon on all the time and still got 65-70mpg with brim to brim calcs - all down to smooth effective driving and a boring commute. Cant see me having got much more with aircon off. Nor do i care.

My FIL never uses it. Nor does my dad actually. Both of them - every time you get in their car its steamed up and a blower on full exercise and windows down to sort it out. Why bother? Just let the aircon / climate do it in a tenth of the time.