Air Con On or off?

Bigwheels1111

If I’m hot the air conditioning goes on.
Simple.

photome

Bigwheels1111 said:

If I’m hot the air conditioning goes on.
Simple.

And if you are cold the air con could/should be on

Bigphil1474

I'm with Bigwheels, I only have it on for cooling if I'm hot. Other than that I put it on for half an hour a month to give it a run. Never had any issues with my current car (Peugeot 2008) or previous car (Ford Fiesta) over the last 10 years. Didn't have air-con before that. Both cars have, however, suffered from noticeably reduced acceleration when the air con is on, particularly from a standing start.

Ebe_Scrooge

Bigphil1474 said:

I'm with Bigwheels, I only have it on for cooling if I'm hot.

A fact that not everyone is aware of - it can be super-useful in wet weather as well.  As well as cooling the air, it dries it (you may sometimes notice a small puddle of water under your car if you've parked it having had the aircon on during humid weather).  So even if the weather is fairly cold, if your windows are steamed up a quick blast of aircon will have them cleared in just a few seconds.

Alanp

My air con is automatic, I just leave it on that all year, adjusting the temperature as required. It does cut off slightly when the stop/start engages and the engine isn’t running, it’s a mild hybrid and I’m sure my previous car didn’t do that, my mpg, is normally 50mpg in summer, about 47mpg in winter, on a longer run I’m seeing 55/56mpg , never tried it with the air con off though, but I doubt it would make a lot of difference.

shiraz99

Same here, my climate control is on all the time. It's called air "conditioning" for a reason, it doesn't just cool the air. In modern cars, the difference or benefit of switching it off is negligible.

diystarter7

You do use more fuel but it clears up windows a lot quicker and better all around in the car when damp and cold.

My children drive around with their climate control all of the time as you are supposed to, I have air con and rarely turn it on as it does improve mpg but not turning on.

Bigwheels1111

I use the air con for 10 minutes a week even in the winter.
As suspended in the gas is oil to lubricate the rubber joints and seals in the system.
I change my pollen filters every year as well.
In 2 months my car will be 6 and not had to re gas the system yet.

mobileron

its climate control so do i presume it uses fuel while heating the car,if you cant afford the 2%  loss on fuel get out and walk.

oldagetraveller1

Climate control "Auto" on and "Aircon" on. Temperature set to 20deg Centipede. All year. If it's a bit too hot reduce to, say, 18 deg for a while.

Wouldn't know what diference in fuel consumption it makes to switching it all off but I prefer comfort.

Nor do I like the windswept look from open windows!