Why do vents default to outside air?

Hmmm, if you say so. Certainly my '94 Civic does. ;-)

 

Hmmm, if you say so. Certainly my '94 Civic does. ;-)

 

I don't see why there should be a "camp". Get out your thermometer and a
stop watch and try it both ways.

I would be willing to bet that number one will win, and is, in fact, the
recommended procedure in every owner's manual I have seen in the past 15
years or more.

 

I don't see why there should be a "camp". Get out your thermometer and a
stop watch and try it both ways.

I would be willing to bet that number one will win, and is, in fact, the
recommended procedure in every owner's manual I have seen in the past 15
years or more.

 

(E. Meyer)
wrote:

I agree and feel the reasoning is you get much more air flow in recirc
than you do in fresh air mode. It's like turning your amp to 11 instead
of 10.

 

I don't see why there should be a "camp". Get out your thermometer and a
stop watch and try it both ways.

I would be willing to bet that number one will win, and is, in fact, the
recommended procedure in every owner's manual I have seen in the past 15
years or more.[/QUOTE]

It is not the recommended procedure in any owner's manual I've seen in
the last 15 years, and I will take your bet.

 

I don't see why there should be a "camp". Get out your thermometer and a
stop watch and try it both ways.

I would be willing to bet that number one will win, and is, in fact, the
recommended procedure in every owner's manual I have seen in the past 15
years or more.[/QUOTE]

It is not the recommended procedure in any owner's manual I've seen in
the last 15 years, and I will take your bet.

 

That's how our '93 Accord EX does it automatically. Starts in
recirculate, then switches to fresh. Obviously the Honda engineers
believe that is the fastest way to cool the car down. Of course it
depends upon the actual temperature as to how the automatic system
operates.

 

I don't believe that it is suppose to work that way. It does NOT work that
way on my 1999 Honda Accord. You either have something wrong with your
system or you are not setting the controls correctly. It's my guess that
you don't bother turning on the air conditioner after starting your
vehicle. Try this experiment for a week:
After you start your Accord, turn the heat control to the max. setting.
Push the Recir button. It does not matter which vent button you press. I
almost forgot to tell you to press the AC button.
After you do this experiment for a week, repost and let us know the results.

I usually leave my air conditioner set this way all of the time during the
summer months.

 

I don't believe that it is suppose to work that way. It does NOT work that
way on my 1999 Honda Accord. You either have something wrong with your
system or you are not setting the controls correctly. It's my guess that
you don't bother turning on the air conditioner after starting your
vehicle. Try this experiment for a week:
After you start your Accord, turn the heat control to the max. setting.
Push the Recir button. It does not matter which vent button you press. I
almost forgot to tell you to press the AC button.
After you do this experiment for a week, repost and let us know the results.

I usually leave my air conditioner set this way all of the time during the
summer months.

 

Disregarding for a the moment the fact that the specific heat capacity
of air depends on humidity, I would say common sense tells us that for
most efficient cooling, you want the coolest possible air entering the
evaporator. So, if your car has been sitting in the sun, start with
"fresh" until the inside air is at the same temperature as the outside
air. Then switch to "recirc" until it gets comfortably cool inside. From
this point on, keeping it in "recirc" will give you the best fuel
economy, but unless it is hot enough that the A/C can't keep up, putting
it in "fresh" is an option after a large refried bean lunch.

 

Disregarding for a the moment the fact that the specific heat capacity
of air depends on humidity, I would say common sense tells us that for
most efficient cooling, you want the coolest possible air entering the
evaporator. So, if your car has been sitting in the sun, start with
"fresh" until the inside air is at the same temperature as the outside
air. Then switch to "recirc" until it gets comfortably cool inside. From
this point on, keeping it in "recirc" will give you the best fuel
economy, but unless it is hot enough that the A/C can't keep up, putting
it in "fresh" is an option after a large refried bean lunch.

 

It tells in my 2000 Accord Owners manual how to program it to work either
way.

Randy

 

It tells in my 2000 Accord Owners manual how to program it to work either
way.

Randy

 

It is not the recommended procedure in any owner's manual I've seen in
the last 15 years, and I will take your bet.[/QUOTE]

You don't read much, apparently. Or you have misread what was said
above. Look again.


RFT!!!
Dave Kelsen

 

It is not the recommended procedure in any owner's manual I've seen in
the last 15 years, and I will take your bet.[/QUOTE]

You don't read much, apparently. Or you have misread what was said
above. Look again.


RFT!!!
Dave Kelsen

 

.... and it takes about 15 seconds to completely replace the hot air near the
recirc inlet (which by convection is already the coolest air in the car)
with chilled air from the AC outlets being sucked down to it.

Say what? It takes less gas to have the AC in recirc mode vs. fresh air
mode? I'd like to see the data that supports this assertion.

 

.... and it takes about 15 seconds to completely replace the hot air near the
recirc inlet (which by convection is already the coolest air in the car)
with chilled air from the AC outlets being sucked down to it.

Say what? It takes less gas to have the AC in recirc mode vs. fresh air
mode? I'd like to see the data that supports this assertion.

 

Is that you, Nigel?

 

What does "RFT!!!" mean?

Well, I double checked the manuals for the 15 years of cars my immediate
family currently uses. The '91 240SX, '96 I30, '96 Odyssey, '97 I30t, '98
Maxima, and '02 Pathfinder all say what I said they say.

The '00 TL manual doesn't address it. That book says "The system
automatically selects the proper mix of conditioned and/or heated air that
will, as quickly as possible, raise or lower the interior temperature from
its current level to the set temperature." In practice, that car always
turns on recirc mode when it first engages on a hot day.

So, pal - which books are you reading? I don't doubt that there will be
differences from one car's manual to another, but I didn't misread anything.

Another interesting side-light - the mid-'90s Nissans with automatic systems
(the two I30s) ignore the recirc button when they are in automatic mode and
you select a temperature at least 10-15 degrees below ambient (which is most
of the time here in Texas). They go into recirc and you can't switch it
off. The light goes on and off when you push the button, but nothing
changes.