Questions about the climate controls

[PianoAl]

It took me while to realize that the thermostat is consistent but inaccurate. In our car, I have to set the desired temperature to 73 when I want it to be 69. Otherwise, cold air will come out.

I've learned that the inaccuracy is actually not consistent. For example, when the car has been sitting in hazy sunlight with the outdoor temperature being 55 degrees F, I'll get in and it feels like about 67 degrees inside. However, from the app, I see that the car thinks it is 81 degrees! To get the heat to come on (which is what I want), I need to set the thermostat to 82 degrees. My guess is that the internal thermometer (between the seats) is in the sun.

An improvement would be to display what the car thinks the interior temp is, and show red or blue (the way the app does):

BTW, I've found that the car can indeed have AC coming out one side and heat, the other.

 

[Transformer]

Am I correct in stating that if I turn off A/C in car touch panel, and turn my manual temperature setting down to "LO", then the car should only be circulating (or recirculating, depending on setting) cabin/outside air WITHOUT cooling OR heating? Similarly, if I maintain the same settings but increase manual temperature setting to "HI", the car should kick on the heater?

I ask because I ran a quick experiment that confused me. Climate control is in manual mode, A/C is off, temperature set to "LO", but my phone app is showing blue (cooling?) arrows in climate control section. If my statements above are accurate, shouldn't these arrows be white?

I expected the same, but experiments don't match those expectations.
(1) The arrows turn blue if the goal temp is below the temp sensor even when A/C is off (which does seem to keep it from cooling the air).
(2) The app's arrows turn white only when the goal temp is very close to the sensor temp, within a fraction of 1ºF.

It'd be nice to be able to turn off heating & cooling, and to set a goal temp range.

 

[chuckecheeseli]

I expected the same, but experiments don't match those expectations.
(1) The arrows turn blue if the goal temp is below the temp sensor even when A/C is off (which does seem to keep it from cooling the air).
(2) The app's arrows turn white only when the goal temp is very close to the sensor temp, within a fraction of 1ºF.

It'd be nice to be able to turn off heating & cooling, and to set a goal temp range.

That makes sense, and I could repeat these findings. Thank you!

 

[Gasaraki]

Not exactly. You can turn off the A/C, but not the heat. When I leave in the morning my car turns on the heat, then the A/C after a short bit. Heat the car then use A/C to cool it 10 mins later? I just leave climate off until I need the A/C. I wish there was a way to turn the heat off. It's a waste in the summer.

Stop. The A/C button is not tied to just cooling. A/C stands for air conditioner, NOT air cooler. You can set your temperature to 80 and turn on the A/C. In this case the car will throw out heat to heat your car to 80 but the A/C compressor will be on to condition the air. The car automatically does this also. If you use the front defroster, the A/C will be on no matter what the temperature you have it set.

 

[Gasaraki]

I tested it: Non-Auto mode heats or (optionally) cools the car to the target temp within 1º (per its own sensor, however accurate that is).

If you want just airflow within a larger temp range, you have to keep counteracting it.
Auto mode takes control of the fan speed, A/C on/off, and vents, which takes away your best tool (A/C off) to get just airflow.

What's the point of Auto mode setting fan speed and vents? On what basis does it decide?

Have you not own any other cars with climate control? That's how they all work. In ICE cars, when you first start the car and it's cold outside and you have the temperature set to 74 for example, the car will keep the fan speeds at 1 or 2 and have the floor vents open (you don't want cold air blowing at you when you first start a cold car). When the car get warmer, the fan speeds will ramp up to near max (depending on how cold it is in the car) and the vents will move to floor and front vents. As the temperature gets to the set temperature, the fans ramp down to a moderate level and the vents go back to floor vents because hot air rises, no need to blow hot air in your face.

In the summer the auto climate control operates differently. When it is really hot in the car and you have the temperature set to 68 for example, the car will initially just go full blast on the front vents with the A/C on. It will drop the fan speeds as the interior cools down. After the set temperature is reached, the climate control system will keep the fan at a speed it thinks it needs to keep the car at your set temperature and the vents might go to mixed front and floor.

In both of those scenarios the auto climate control will turn on A/C or not based on humidity and temperature. The A/C can be turned on in the winter to keep the windows from fogging up. When you turn on the front window defrosters, the window vents will open, the A/C will turn on and the air coming out will be what you set the temperature to be.

If you at anytime take control of the vents or fan speeds or A/C, it goes in to semi auto where it still will control what you haven't manually changed but it might or might not reach your set temperature (however it will still try).

Now in my Tesla, I'm still trying to figure out it's algorithm for the climate control (every manufacture does thing slightly different).

This is why the auto climate control systems control everything, vents included.

Also the temperature you set it NOT the temperature of the air coming out. It is what you want the temperature you want the inside to be. On a hot day, when you first get in to a hot car, setting the temperature to 65 will not cool your car faster than if you have the temperature to 72.

 

[GtiMart]

Said in a simpler way, AUTO mode is when you don't want to care, you leave the complicated job to the car. Set the temp you want and everything's taken care of. It's especially useful in a car that has no dedicated controls, just a touch screen. Same for wipers. Just let it do its job.

 

[Transformer]

Have you not own any other cars with climate control? That's how they all work.

My previous car had auto climate control but your post is the first documentation I've seen anywhere that explains what it does. In a moderate climate with the car in a garage, it's no trouble to set fan speed and vents, and no motivation to reverse engineer the feature.

(Similarly, the Leaf owner's manual says the "Eco mode" button turns on "Eco mode," and the "Eco mode" indicator light tells you that "Eco mode" is on. No kidding. So why turn it off? What's the tradeoff? An article on the web suggests that the tradeoff is more gradual acceleration and regeneration.)

So our "moderate" climate is now contributing to record wildfires. I used to leave a car window open in the garage to air out the new car smell, but that let in wildfire smoke. How to recirc the air through the car's air filter without sitting in the car? It seems the climate control won't do that without heating/cooling to a goal temp. It requires the A/C to be enabled.

 

[Gasaraki]

My previous car had auto climate control but your post is the first documentation I've seen anywhere that explains what it does. In a moderate climate with the car in a garage, it's no trouble to set fan speed and vents, and no motivation to reverse engineer the feature.

(Similarly, the Leaf owner's manual says the "Eco mode" button turns on "Eco mode," and the "Eco mode" indicator light tells you that "Eco mode" is on. No kidding. So why turn it off? What's the tradeoff? An article on the web suggests that the tradeoff is more gradual acceleration and regeneration.)

So our "moderate" climate is now contributing to record wildfires. I used to leave a car window open in the garage to air out the new car smell, but that let in wildfire smoke. How to recirc the air through the car's air filter without sitting in the car? It seems the climate control won't do that without heating/cooling to a goal temp. It requires the A/C to be enabled.

Yes, you'll have to use the app and turn on the climate and adjust the temp to something reasonable. HOWEVER, this is already better than your ICE car! You can't turn on the car in your garage and have HVAC running.

I guess better is still not good enough....

Eco mode in the LEAF, BMW i3, Porsche, etc, etc lowers the power going in to the HVAC, the accelerator, top speed, etc. On a really hot day, EVs in ECO mode might not be able to to cool the interior sufficiently even if you have it set to a certain temperature.

 

[Transformer]

Eco mode in the LEAF, BMW i3, Porsche, etc, etc lowers the power going in to the HVAC, the accelerator, top speed, etc.

So it affects more than the accelerator!

Where do you discover all this? Can't be from owner's manuals. The Leaf's manual is so bad that it describes an ignition switch with OFF, ACC, ON, and LOCKED (?) positions rather than the car's (1/0) pushbutton, and the UI has design flaws so it's subtle to discern whether you turned off the car.

 

[Gasaraki]

So it affects more than the accelerator!

Where do you discover all this? Can't be from owner's manuals. The Leaf's manual is so bad that it describes an ignition switch with OFF, ACC, ON, and LOCKED (?) positions rather than the car's (1/0) pushbutton, and the UI has design flaws so it's subtle to discern whether you turned off the car.

"
Use ECO in order to help extend the driving range.
In comparison to the D (Drive) position, ECO
consumes less power for the traction motor and
heater and air conditioner operations and
enables the range of the vehicle to be extended.
ECO can only be selected from the D (Drive) position."

Leaf Eco Mode description.

 

[CWFLY]

A better solution was invented 50 years ago.

HVAC Control - for those over 50

 

[yhc21]

1) Recirc function will only work when climate control is on.
2) No range only specific temperature. Just set it to AUTO with the temp you want the cabin to be. It will adjust as needed when ambient temp changes.
3) Not available at this time. Air flow direction only shows in white on the screen.
4) Not sure. Try out some different voice commands and see what happens.

Thanks, re 1) I really wonder what's Tesla's logic to disable air recirculation (and cannot be enabled) unless a/c is on? Road fume is really annoying..