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Originally Posted by macafee2
Am I wasting my time by having the heating and air con on as the engine coolant temperature is below the air temperature?
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Hello Ian,
My first reaction upon reading your question was: "Are you sure about that?". Did you measure both ambient air and coolant temperature using the instrument pack's facilities? In my experience, the coolant is always above the air temperature.
But the answer to your question is yes, you are wasting your time having the air conditioning on ('Auto' mode) because you don't want to cool the incoming air. Simply select 'Econ' for heating.
Heat is available all the time. The amount is controlled by the temperature setting. If you want to "turn it off", select a lower temperature or even 'LO'.
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Am I right, you cant get the air con on without the heating on?
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The heating is "on" all the time. Coolant is always flowing through the matrix. It cannot be stopped. To reduce the heat output, lower the temperature setting. That will give you cooler fresh air without any refrigeration.
This is how it works. The incoming air passes over the air conditioning evaporator first. If you've pressed 'Auto' or the windscreen demist button, the evaporator will cool the air to about 4 degrees C.
This refrigerated air then can take two routes. It can either be directed immediately to the vents or it can pass over the heater matrix, which is always hot (or warm in the case of your diesel!
). Usually you get a bit of both. This is how the automatic "climate control" achieves a stable and comfortable temperature inside the car, by blending cold and hot air in variable proportions.
When you want hot air as quickly as possible after starting the engine from cold, use the 'Econ' mode not 'Auto'.
Sorry this is a bit long-winded! I hope that I've covered all the questions that may be coming to mind but if not, please get back to me.
Simon