MAJOR breakthrough in HVAC control (heating with single occupant)

[ratsbew]

Okay, so I'm an eco nerd and hate the impact that driving in the winter has. I've had my Model 3 through 4 winters now and just today (with the help of the Scan My Tesla app) did I discover that you can go manual temperature control, split the HVAC for left/right controls, set the passenger side to "LO" and it will fully disable the passenger half of the PTC heater and thereby halve the max draw of the heater. This way you can have warm air blowing on only the driver and recirculated air blowing on the empty passenger seat.

To recap:

• Split HVAC into left/right control
• Disable auto climate
• Set passenger side to "LO"
• Set driver side to desired temperature

This halves the Watts that the heater draws while still blowing warm air on the driver. Maybe for longer drives it won't matter as much since one half of the PTC heater will try to warm the whole car, but for shorter commutes it should cut down on heating consumption. More testing is in order.

The only catch is that if you need to enable the AC for defogging then the passenger side will try to cool toward the "LO" temperature setting.

I really wish that there was a "driver only" mode for the HVAC.

This is for a 2018 non-heat pump car, BTW.

 

[kayrish]

Definitely gonna try this on my commute tomorrow. 2018 LR RWD 3 here. I’ve noticed with the new energy graph update it always recommends me to run my temps at 22°C (71°F) to reduce climate control activity.

My settings are:
19°C (66°F), recirc off, blower set to 1 or 2, directed only at my feet and occasionally both face and feet. What’s funny is it’ll give the recommendation above but my climate control usage will be -0.8% from its own calculation in the energy panel. Buggy I guess.

My question is does setting LO on passenger side cause that side to fog up at all? I live in Toronto.