We live in AZ. Fairly hot. I've been experimenting with leaving on maintain climate vs cooling the car down about 10-15 minutes before getting in. I have climate set to 78 and I leave it anywhere from an hour to three hours. It uses about 1% an hour. I also have a very good sun screen on the windshield. It seem to come out about the same either way. Driving after using climate control uses less energy than cooling it down rapidly. Not sure why.I initially turned COP off after reading some people blaming vampire drain on it. I since decided I don't really buy that (unless 40C/105F is exceeded). Wait a sec. 40C is 104F. Hmm, the manual does say 40C and 105F, I wonder which it is. 105F is 40.55C.
Anyways, with COP w/AC I was usually seeing 37-38C when I randomly checked. I decided to try COP w/o AC and when I saw it get to 50C/122F (only ~25C/77F outside, but parked in sun) I said, "forget this" and just turned AC option back on.
If I forget to pre-cool my car before returning to it, I'd rather lose a few km and arrive to a 38C car instead of a smoking hot melting car
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How much power drains while parked
- Thread starter FSP381
- Start date
Seeing some pretty great drain rates here, as in not draining too much.
I've left my car at the airport twice (five days each time) and noted an average of 0.6 miles per hour drain, with Sentry Mode on. I would assume it would be much better with Sentry Mode off. But If I'm leaving it in a public parking area I'll take the half mile drain per hour in order to have the Sentry Mode.
I've left my car at the airport twice (five days each time) and noted an average of 0.6 miles per hour drain, with Sentry Mode on. I would assume it would be much better with Sentry Mode off. But If I'm leaving it in a public parking area I'll take the half mile drain per hour in order to have the Sentry Mode.
I initially turned COP off after reading some people blaming vampire drain on it. I since decided I don't really buy that (unless 40C/105F is exceeded). Wait a sec. 40C is 104F. Hmm, the manual does say 40C and 105F, I wonder which it is. 105F is 40.55C.
Anyways, with COP w/AC I was usually seeing 37-38C when I randomly checked. I decided to try COP w/o AC and when I saw it get to 50C/122F (only ~25C/77F outside, but parked in sun) I said, "forget this" and just turned AC option back on.
If I forget to pre-cool my car before returning to it, I'd rather lose a few km and arrive to a 38C car instead of a smoking hot melting car
@Rottenapplr So today I will be testing the non-AC COP option while parked under a tree that birds, their poo, and sap don't seem to favor...LOL...so as of right now (I parked about 15 min ago) it's 82 degrees inside the vehicle...I put up my windshield sunshade and we'll see how the day fares!
darth_vad3r
Well-Known Sith
So it’s about the same until you drive and then “Climate Keeper” wins because the driving is more efficient?
My guess is the battery temp is better maintained while you are gone for 1-3 hours. 10-15 minutes is quick enough to cool the cabin but not get the battery to optimal temp so there’s still battery cooling going on for your first bit of driving.
Either way, there’s nothing quite like coming back to a cool car. I love it. I should try a higher temp maybe like you. If I’ve occasionally left Climate Keeper on for an anticipated longer stretch (1hr+) I usually do raise the temp a tad, but maybe only from 20-20.5C (68F) up to to 21.5-22C (71-72F). I guess I will consider longer parking stretches at a higher temp now. Thanks.
I haven’t wanted to try too much higher though because if clouds come by or shade shifts I don’t want the set temp to be higher than the outdoor temp and have any chance to trigger heat coming on
. This will change now with summer approaching.ps. Is 78F “higher”, or is that what you set it to while driving as well? I mean if it’s 95F (35C) out I can see 78F being “cool” ... haven’t got anywhere near that here yet with a car with AC that has a set temperature (Tesla being my first) so I don’t know what I’ll be setting it to if it gets that hot
darth_vad3r
Well-Known Sith
AlanSubie4Life
Efficiency Obsessed Member
I would think this is primarily due to the car interior already being cool when you get in, so the AC compressor is working less hard/lower duty cycle, and the fan speed will generally be lower. It simply has to maintain equilibrium in that case. So that will use less energy and lead to a better efficiency number than the initial start up power requirements of the AC - remember it has to cool down the evaporator, refrigerant, etc., and cool down all those ducts...if that's done already, there's a lot less work to do.
It's possible there is some battery cooling component too, but I think that's more likely to be running anyway, if it needs to.
In the end, the overall most energy efficient method probably is to just cool it down when you get to the car (since you don't lose as much cooling power to the environment). You also presumably benefit a little efficiency-wise when driving, due to having airflow over the condenser that does not need to be forced (when stationary the fans would have to run faster).
But there are obvious reasons to pre-cool the car, even if it's not a net energy savings. It's nice to come back to a cool car!
All good points. I have yet to note the usage when cooling down from 135F or some such number. That is my next project. Thanks.
78F is a couple of degrees higher than I ordinarily ride with. If I have passengers that's another story.So it’s about the same until you drive and then “Climate Keeper” wins because the driving is more efficient?
My guess is the battery temp is better maintained while you are gone for 1-3 hours. 10-15 minutes is quick enough to cool the cabin but not get the battery to optimal temp so there’s still battery cooling going on for your first bit of driving.
Either way, there’s nothing quite like coming back to a cool car. I love it. I should try a higher temp maybe like you. If I’ve occasionally left Climate Keeper on for an anticipated longer stretch (1hr+) I usually do raise the temp a tad, but maybe only from 20-20.5C (68F) up to to 21.5-22C (71-72F). I guess I will consider longer parking stretches at a higher temp now. Thanks.
I haven’t wanted to try too much higher though because if clouds come by or shade shifts I don’t want the set temp to be higher than the outdoor temp and have any chance to trigger heat coming on
ps. Is 78F “higher”, or is that what you set it to while driving as well? I mean if it’s 95F (35C) out I can see 78F being “cool” ... haven’t got anywhere near that here yet with a car with AC that has a set temperature (Tesla being my first) so I don’t know what I’ll be setting it to if it gets that hot
I too am mindful of the heater issue.
darth_vad3r
Well-Known Sith
Did you miss that he was comparing "Climate Keeper" to "rapid [pre]cooling" (10-15 minutes beforehand he said).
[is how I read it]
I think by that time (10-15 min), at least for me, the cabin is cool ... so any effects after that on driving would seem to have nothing to do with HVAC.
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darth_vad3r
Well-Known Sith
A nice way to measure cooling power is to have your car plugged in, charging, then turn the AC on and watch your charge rate in mi/hr drop in the app
darth_vad3r
Well-Known Sith
AlanSubie4Life
Efficiency Obsessed Member
Yeah I missed that. Hard to say what might be happening one way or the other. Heat soak could take a while to get rid of. And the cabin overheat protection only cools down a limited amount.
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darth_vad3r
Well-Known Sith
I read it as he was using “Keep Climate on” what the app shows as “Climate Keeper” to set it to 78F the entire time it was parked. So that’s way cooler than COP and (I think) would allow the car to cool the battery. At least they say pre-heating the cabin is how to heat the battery, so... probably it works the same way to cool if necessary? Parked on hot pavement in hot sun probably qualifies? Maybe? LOL
darth_vad3r
Well-Known Sith
I’m guessing it’s a safety thing. They promise to keep it lower than 40C/105F so your forgotten passengers don’t die ... so 37-38C seems safer than 40 and worrying that another part of the car may be a tad hotter? 99-100F is what I usually see (37-38). If it’s cooler outside than inside it may not even need to use any/much AC.
Follow up post. Just returned from two week trip.
Left unplugged and returned only losing 10 miles!
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