Air Conditioning / Heating / Air Filtration

[lkptpete]

VW Beetles (the old air cooled ones) had hot air from the engine channeled through the sills and A pillars. Problem was, if water got in there, when you turned on the heating to clear the windscreen it would vapourish the water which would then steam up the windscreen......

Water did get in, especially if the windscreen rubbers were old; condensation from the lower windscreen corners dripped down into the A pillars....

An eco-cycle all of its own. In wet weather You needed wipers on the inside more than on the outside!

They sure did! But I'm not walking about heat via exhaust heat exchangers. I'm talking about some simple vents to channel air into the cabin.

 

[aknaten]

To each his own. We get just enough very hot weather here that I really don't want to drive without AC. Even though I rarely use it, at least I have the option if I need it. If you don't want to use yours all you have to do is leave it off. Frankly, driving with the windows open at highway speeds is very noisy and not the least bit pleasant in any weather. Z

Does one get better gas mileage with the windows down and A/C off, or windows up and A/C on? The U.S. Dept. of Energy says to do both: windows down, A/C on is most efficient. Am I reading this correctly??

"However, the U.S. Department of Energy recommends using both windows down and air conditioning when the conditions permit."

Source:
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/hybrid-technology/driving-with-windows-down.htmti

(I checked the original source and the article has it wrong. Here is the official wording from the Dept. of Energy web site:

"Think Before You Open Your Windows
. Air conditioning uses fuel. Driving with your windows rolled down while traveling at a high speed increases drag on the vehicle and may cause more fuel consumption than using the air conditioner. If you need it, roll up the windows and turn on the air conditioning when you’re driving on the highway. If you are driving at a slow speed, turn off the air conditioner and roll your windows down." (Italics added)

 

[jdkeats]

I am pretty sure the reference to using a mini van rear a/c is referring only to the evaporator . The condenser will still be in engine compartment usually in front of the radiator. Like said before it makes sense to be an engine driven compressor.

 

[tazairforce]

To each his own. We get just enough very hot weather here that I really don't want to drive without AC. Even though I rarely use it, at least I have the option if I need it. If you don't want to use yours all you have to do is leave it off. Frankly, driving with the windows open at highway speeds is very noisy and not the least bit pleasant in any weather. Z

Z/others, don't think of Wind as mere Noise, Think of the sound of the Wind as the Sound Of FREEDOM. I have music available on the bike and Sorento but rarely use it. Keep the window down and enjoy it. Yes, here in the South you may run thru a period of the 'Essents of Chicken House or Feed lot' but that will soon pass. Soon you will smell the fresh cut grass, new mowed hay and fresh tilled soil. With the windows up you'll miss the good smells.

As to AC on or off, it's your choice.

I would rather arrive at a meeting with, friends/ family or for business, cool, calm and smelling fresh, not with a smell of stale sweat and in a bad frame of mind. I'll forgo a few MPG's to get there in this condition.

This is purely my opinion.

 

[zelio]

Does one get better gas mileage with the windows down and A/C off, or windows up and A/C on? The U.S. Dept. of Energy says to do both: windows down, A/C on is most efficient. Am I reading this correctly??

"However, the U.S. Department of Energy recommends using both windows down and air conditioning when the conditions permit."

Source:
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/hybrid-technology/driving-with-windows-down.htmti

(I checked the original source and the article has it wrong. Here is the official wording from the Dept. of Energy web site:

"Think Before You Open Your Windows
. Air conditioning uses fuel. Driving with your windows rolled down while traveling at a high speed increases drag on the vehicle and may cause more fuel consumption than using the air conditioner. If you need it, roll up the windows and turn on the air conditioning when you’re driving on the highway. If you are driving at a slow speed, turn off the air conditioner and roll your windows down." (Italics added)

That is very interesting. Thank you for posting it. I had heard that it is better to use AC when driving at highway speeds but was unaware of the windows down for in town driving. Of course if it is a bad air quality day I will use the AC no matter what. Thank goodness we rarely have those where I live. :-) Z

 

[Terrence]

Good detective work future Elio owners. You spotted and identifed ac componets and then research. Excitement, curiosity for all! The Elio P5 will be one nice development package. Now I'll do a quick internet search about the Harrison v5 mentioned previously.
Thanks Elio owners to be <>
Terrence Benard

 

[carzes]

Does one get better gas mileage with the windows down and A/C off, or windows up and A/C on? The U.S. Dept. of Energy says to do both: windows down, A/C on is most efficient. Am I reading this correctly??

"However, the U.S. Department of Energy recommends using both windows down and air conditioning when the conditions permit."

Source:
http://auto.howstuffworks.com/fuel-efficiency/hybrid-technology/driving-with-windows-down.htmti

(I checked the original source and the article has it wrong. Here is the official wording from the Dept. of Energy web site:

"Think Before You Open Your Windows
. Air conditioning uses fuel. Driving with your windows rolled down while traveling at a high speed increases drag on the vehicle and may cause more fuel consumption than using the air conditioner. If you need it, roll up the windows and turn on the air conditioning when you’re driving on the highway. If you are driving at a slow speed, turn off the air conditioner and roll your windows down." (Italics added)

 

[wheaters]

Logic tells me that if I drive a car with the windows down and the a/c up, I'm paying to air condition the whole county. The only time I do this is to "purge" the very hot air from the car when I first get in on a hot day. After about a quarter of a mile the windows go back up or the a/c goes off.

Edit: having said that, my present "fun car" only has a front screen, nothing at the back or sides. So Aircon is completely free...

 

[Lil4X]

In town I'd rather have my AC - particularly (!?) if I can find a good pleated filter and install it in the intake air plenum to catch the pollen and other allergens. Most are good for 30K - 50K miles, YMMV. Now, as to fresh air; on a nice day in the country I'd love to keep the windows down. Even the feed lots and barnyards don't bother me. I lived in Amarillo near the world's largest feed lot, and when the wind was right (or more accurately, wrong), you barricaded yourself indoors. I finally moved out of that swank apartment to a refurbed military housing unit out at the old air base just to get away from it.

When I moved, leaving the Texas Panhandle before dawn on a chilly spring Sunday morning, when the sunrise caught up with me I was down around Bowie and I rolled down the windows. There was actual humidity out there, something totally lacking on the high plains, and things smelled. There was newly-cut hay, the earthy smell of fresh-turned soil, and the scents of trees and wildflowers - it was like breathing in an exotic stew of scents absent on the dry high plains. Staying on the 2-lane, I didn't bother to turn on the AC until I was back in Houston.

If you've been cooped (couped?) up too long in that four-wheel cage, driving in nice weather with the windows down and the wind in your face is hard to beat. Crawling on a baking freeway in the evening commute? Give me A/C . . . on HIGH and RECIRCULATE, please.

 

[imageon]

I live in the South, heat and humidity land. My windows are going to be up and the air on all summer long.

MK