Safe to leave sleeping kid in car in garage with A/C running?

[monkeydad]

anyone have any insight on whether it's safe to have the car's A/C running while parked inside a garage while car is plugged into the wall?

My daughter fell asleep in the car the other day and I was debating whether to wake her up and move her inside or just let her continue to sleep comfortably in the air conditioned car while in the garage. This feels very unnatural knowing that we could never even dream of doing this with an ICE. On the other hand, what is the difference between using the car's A/C and a conventional A/C in this circumstance?

 

[Todd Burch]

My thoughts as a parent of two young ones: Yes, it's safe. I'd be fine leaving my three year old. Don't leave an infant though. I wouldn't leave an infant, simply because...well...anything could happen and an adult should always be nearby. That has nothing to do with the car.

Be careful though. A toddler probably ought to be unbuckled so they can get out if they need to, and they might be frightened to wake up in possibly unfamiliar territory (in a dark garage).

 

[strider]

So I'm a father of two kids, a 3yo and a 10mo. It's absolutely safe to leave the car "running" in the garage plugged in or not with the garage closed.

You didn't state the age of your daughter. If she's young (ie in a car seat, can't get out of the car by herself, etc) my concern is could you hear them if they woke up and needed you for some reason - tangled in straps, have a nightmare and wake up scared, or heaven-forbid choking or something. I have left sleeping kids in the Model S for short periods when I was putting away groceries or otherwise doing stuff before moving them but have always left a window down and the door into the house open so I could hear them if they yelled. But the A/C fans can be quite loud so not sure if I could hear them if needed. I don't have experience w/ older kids so can't guess at the age boundary but would think for older kids it would be fine as they could wake up, get out of the car, and come into the house by themselves. Just make sure to leave the fob in the car or otherwise disable autolock so the alarm doesn't go off when they climb out.

 

[markb1]

You may have an issue with keeping the A/C on. I believe it turns off automatically if the doors are shut and no one is in the driver seat. This can be overridden with the mobile app, but I'm not sure how long that lasts.

The other thing to think about is that the A/C just pumps heat from the inside of the car to the inside of your garage. This will raise the temperature of the garage, and at some point the A/C may not be able to cope, if the heat has nowhere to escape to.

 

[yobigd20]

car automatically shuts off after 15 minutes or so. despite a few unofficial workarounds, i would never do this anyway because what guarantee do we have that the car won't still shut off for X reason and then essentially your leaving your kid baking in a hot car. dangerous IMO.

 

[steve841]

Just don't let some overzealous do gooder feel like you are the negligent parent of the block ....

 

[monkeydad]

My daughter is 6, so she can buckle/unbuckle herself and walk into the house upon awakening. I suspect a viable work-around to the car shutting itself off is leaving a door partially open. Also, leaving the garage door open to allow adequate venting of the heat from the car would prevent heating up the garage too much.

Thanks for all the replies.

 

[green1]

One poster suggested leaving the key in the car, I'd say avoid that, risk of the kid imitating patents and putting the car in drive and touching pedals. ..

 

[ken830]

One of us (my wife or I) sit with my daughter in the car (in the closed garage) while she sleeps with the A/C or heater on almost daily. Doesn't feel unnatural at all. Having something like a gasoline engine that emits toxic gases inside the house feel unnatural.

 

[Todd Burch]

At 6, no problem.

I think the A/C shuts off after 30 mins. Just turn it on with the smartphone app, then repeat as necessary. For those slightly younger than 6, I agree that leaving the window open a crack and the door to the garage slightly open so you can hear them is wise.

I don't suspect the fans would be running very hard once the car reaches a steady state, since it's not baking in the sun (no greenhouse effect) so it's easier to maintain a temperature. I'm not sure you'll notice a significant increase in the temp of the garage, but it couldn't hurt to leave it open a crack.

 

[NigelM]

Impossible to say whether it's "safe". The OP doesn't give his location and geography makes a huge difference. Children die in Florida on a regular basis after being left in cars; just two days ago a two-year-old died here after being left in the car when her father fell asleep inside the house. Outside temps were in the 90's but the child's body temperature was 106F when the body arrived at the hospital.

The case may be different in cooler geography but it's never going to be completely safe to leave a child unattended in a car, only you can decide whether that's worth the risk.

 

[tdiggity]

The day I left my son in the car - Salon.com

Unlikely that it will be an issue since it's in your garage, but it's an interesting topic nonetheless.

 

[strider]

The day I left my son in the car - Salon.com

Unlikely that it will be an issue since it's in your garage, but it's an interesting topic nonetheless.

Thanks for posting. IANAL but the only mistake that was made in that story is that the grandmother talked to the police. Doesn't anyone know their rights any more? Here's what should have happened when the grandmother came back to find the cop in her driveway.
Police: We have an eyewitness and video of you leaving a young child alone in your car.
Grandmother: I don't have any young children in my care.
Police: Then who was it?
Grandmother: I don't know.
End of story.

 

[pilotSteve]

No key in the car please! This is not my Tesla but myprior car with my 3 year old granddaughter..... she observed me pushing the "start" button on the BMW and when playing with me in the car immediately pushed that button and grabbed the wheel

One poster suggested leaving the key in the car, I'd say avoid that, risk of the kid imitating patents and putting the car in drive and touching pedals. ..

 

[gavine]

While I don't condone leaving the kid in the car for any reason, if you decide to do so, be sure the AC is NOT on recirc. I'm sure it would take a long time for one child to use up all of the oxygen in the car, but fresh air (albeit from the garage) would still be the prudent thing to do.

 

[AmpedRealtor]

anyone have any insight on whether it's safe to have the car's A/C running while parked inside a garage while car is plugged into the wall?

My daughter fell asleep in the car the other day and I was debating whether to wake her up and move her inside or just let her continue to sleep comfortably in the air conditioned car while in the garage. This feels very unnatural knowing that we could never even dream of doing this with an ICE. On the other hand, what is the difference between using the car's A/C and a conventional A/C in this circumstance?

My general opinion is to always err on the side of caution and safety when it comes to our children. If a fault occurs with the car or the AC shuts off unexpectedly, you could have a very bad situation on your hands. Never rely on hardware or technology that can fail when it comes to child safety. You just never know. While it may be a small percentage chance that something could go wrong, why risk it?

Then there is this, call me paranoid... a child predator could have been tracking your movements and seen you pull into your garage. Said predator gains entry to your garage and sees your child sitting in the car, with only a thin glass pane separating this criminal from your loved one(s). I may be more paranoid than most, but I wouldn't take any chances.

 

[deonb]

car automatically shuts off after 15 minutes or so. despite a few unofficial workarounds, i would never do this anyway because what guarantee do we have that the car won't still shut off for X reason and then essentially your leaving your kid baking in a hot car. dangerous IMO.

Tesla Service once told me that they were working on a "Keeping the doggies alive" mode, where you can override and leave the A/C running until you reach a specified battery level.

Of course, this was about a year ago...

 

[Kalud]

You can keep the car on forever, I tested myself.

1- Put the car in neutral with the Park-Drive-Neutral-Reverse stalk (pressing brake pedal)
2- On the screen, tap the "Engage parking brake"
3- Leave car, it will stay on forever.

Can't do this while plugged.

Only issue with this, in Canada at least, the DRL stays on, even on OFF position. So camping and exterior movie theater its not an option with this trick.

 

[J-Philipp]

The same was used by Bjørn during its trips thru Norwegian winter nights when he stopped for a sleep... Worked perfectly.

See Media>Video section.

 

[rkinley]

She only did it because George was Curious what would happen...