View Full Version : Air con question.
This might be a dumb question but I was wondering does air conditioning help heat up your car?
I know it helps when your putting the temp cold but when you are heating it up and change the temp the AC always automatically comes back on when you change it.
I am sure it acts as an air dryer too, therefore it reduces the condensation whilst switched on.
NetworkMan
10-02-2012, 22:14
No it won't help. The air from outside is cooled in the A/C evaporator and then it passes through the heater matrix. Therefore the heater has more work to do when the A/C is on. The A/C does dry the air of course but has to cool it to do this.
The engine will warm up a bit faster is the A/C is on since the engine has to do extra woek driving the compressor but that's about it.
I find it soo annoying when pressing windscreen demist and auto that A/C comes on...there is no need. Probs just a money scam so u have to have it regased more often.
Cupra~Matt
11-02-2012, 11:42
Yes if you want to warm your car up quicker press your a.c button. the way air con systems are designed they can heat air up just as well as the can cool it down. The added benefit to heating your car up using air con is that it does remove all the moisture in he air (if left on for long enough)
And when it is beneficial for the air-con to be activated when you want to clear your screen. why? because it is moisture that you are trying to clear of your screen. the dry air that is being passed over this is warm and dry pulling the moisture of your screen. Try it leave start the car when the windscreen needs to be de-misted with the air con of and then again with it on and it will clear a hell of a lot faster.
NetworkMan
11-02-2012, 11:46
the way air con systems are designed they can heat air up just as well as the can cool it down
That is quite untrue. All the air conditioner can do is cool the air down. The heater then has to heat the air up again. What is more the engine has to drive the compressor which uses energy, increasing fuel consumption.
I find it soo annoying when pressing windscreen demist and auto that A/C comes on...there is no need. Probs just a money scam so u have to have it regased more often.
A/C will demist your windows faster that is why it comes on.
I have heard it does the a/c more harm than good if you dont use it. Makes a hell of a difference with demisting.
Hmm I suppose I'll just leave it to its own business then! xD
I just leave mine on all year round and let the climate control system do its job. Have had problems in the past when not using AC for long periods of the time the system becomes blocked, that's when re-gassing etc can be needed.
Cupra~Matt
11-02-2012, 18:05
So... if you turn up your temperature surly if my a.c cannot heat the air up it would turn it off saving me fuel blah blah, sorry my friend your are wrong on this occasion,
are conditioning systems are used to both heat the air up as well as cool it down. The Heat exchange unit used the a.c gas as well as your engine coolant to cool down your air. air con gas boils at something like -20 deg, the fact that is it pressurized stops this refrigerator boiling and keeps it as a high pressure liquid on one side of the system and a low pressure gas on the other.
yes agreed it used more fuel but thats is not what is being asked. the question is will my air conditioning warm the air up. simple answer yes.
and just for everybody's information, using your a.c all the time or never will not have a effect on how often you need to recharge your system. they say 1 year because of all of the microbes and bacteria that call the system home. The other part of this is because your air-con system leaks gas all the time. this is more of the reason they say get it regicide every year. Yes there is legislation about gas leakage but it even this recognizes that every air con system will leak gas and need recharging.
they say 1 year because of all of the microbes and bacteria that call the system home. The other part of this is because your air-con system leaks gas all the time. this is more of the reason they say get it regicide every year. Yes there is legislation about gas leakage but it even this recognizes that every air con system will leak gas and need recharging.
I suggest you get FGAS qualified before making statements like that. Refrigerant circuits are in principal totally sealed and need to be for correct pressure to operate.
A system that allways leaks gas is a faulty system and needs fixing. That's why a static pressure hold test is performed BEFORE filling the system with refrigerant.
The microbes and bacteria are in the airflow side of the system - NOT in the refrigerant side of the system.
So... if you turn up your temperature surly if my a.c cannot heat the air up it would turn it off saving me fuel blah blah, sorry my friend your are wrong on this occasion,
are conditioning systems are used to both heat the air up as well as cool it down. The Heat exchange unit used the a.c gas as well as your engine coolant to cool down your air. air con gas boils at something like -20 deg, the fact that is it pressurized stops this refrigerator boiling and keeps it as a high pressure liquid on one side of the system and a low pressure gas on the other.
yes agreed it used more fuel but thats is not what is being asked. the question is will my air conditioning warm the air up. simple answer yes.
and just for everybody's information, using your a.c all the time or never will not have a effect on how often you need to recharge your system. they say 1 year because of all of the microbes and bacteria that call the system home. The other part of this is because your air-con system leaks gas all the time. this is more of the reason they say get it regicide every year. Yes there is legislation about gas leakage but it even this recognizes that every air con system will leak gas and need recharging.
No the air conditioning cools the air down, Don't be an Idiot, it then goes through a heater matrix and warms up Simple as.
The HVAC System as a whole will sort itself out for the temperature asked. If AC is on it will run through the system and cool but also dehumidify then it will run through the heater matrix which will heat the air to what is needed. normally it is a balancing act to maintain the temperature in the car.
But no YOU are wrong here as the air condition has no heating control at all only cooling.
In fact simple test, If it is hot outside and you dont use ac it wont get cold so therefore AC cools. If it is cold and you try to warm the car up without AC it makes no difference therefore AC doesn't warm.
The AC pump does not even kick in below (I think) +4 deg C. This is because ice would form on the matrix at these low temperatures.
So at the current temps outside, pressing the button will do nothing anyway.
IbizaTDI08
11-02-2012, 22:05
The AC pump does not even kick in below (I think) +4 deg C. This is because ice would form on the matrix at these low temperatures.
So at the current temps outside, pressing the button will do nothing anyway.
That's correct. Any thing below 4c the pump will not switch on to stop the system from icing up.
Jimmy.D90
12-02-2012, 09:32
I suggest you get FGAS qualified before making statements like that. Refrigerant circuits are in principal totally sealed and need to be for correct pressure to operate.
A system that allways leaks gas is a faulty system and needs fixing. That's why a static pressure hold test is performed BEFORE filling the system with refrigerant.
The microbes and bacteria are in the airflow side of the system - NOT in the refrigerant side of the system.
I've fitted a few airconditioning system before I'm a gas safe engineer and qualified in airconditioning systems and this is exactly what happens the only reason they need recharge is to re pressurise the coolent and obviously clean the filters. If you think of a combi boiler heating the rads in your house up all the time it isn't the rad that gets hot it's the water inside the rad, but with it being continuelly heated up and cooled dwn, expansion will take place and pressure will drop slowly this is what happens in an airconditioning unit but the oposite way than a heating system obviously, recharging means topping up the pressure you have lost through expansion and continual use. I hope that makes sense lol
Jimmy.D90
12-02-2012, 09:35
Oh and forgot mention airconditioning only cools, if warmer air systems are needed they will be fitted with a heat exchanger with an electric heat element
NetworkMan
12-02-2012, 10:31
I agree with Jimmy on this.
About the worst place for leaks is in the compressor because there have to be seals to stop the refregeriant leaking out around the rotating parts. This gets worse if the compressor isn't run regularly since the seals don't get lubricated and that's why they tell you to run it regularly once every few weeks. I did this with my old Honda and it went for years without needing any attention at all. I eventually had it regassed after nine years though I'd guess it did get less effective after about seven.
Newer designs of compressor (the Ibiza is one of these) don't stop the compressor with a clutch they just reduce the compressor stroke to near zero and run it all the time. This may make the system less likely to develop leaks due to the compressor not being run.
By the way, all this stuff applies to both the climate control version and the manual version. They are virtually the same; it's just that all the flaps etc are electrically driven with the climate control version.