Should recirculate be renamed to range boost mode? (Winter Tip)

[Mattopotamus]

Better tip. Preheat the cabin and use heated seats

 

[TomT]

No, it just changes the airflow mode.

Doesn’t it turn off the AC when using recirc?

 

[Brock-WI]

I wish it had a partial recirc. In 30F-40F weather last weekend I find myself turning recirc on and off every 3 minutes. to keep with windows clear.

 

[Ofarlig]

put on cold window defogger or enable the top vents (if its otherwise comfortable in the cabin)

Yeah doesn’t really work unless you want to drive around with that constantly on perhaps. Before I learned the trick with manual AC control in the winter I had the windscreen completely fog up in 2-3 seconds a few times. Humid air in the cabin is downright dangerous during winter and when you bring in loads of snow every time you go into the car you need to run the AC more or less all the time to dehumidify.

No, it just changes the airflow mode.

I will have to test but far as I remember from before it didn’t do that.

 

[Gwgan]

Window fog is an issue in Winter here. I leave climate on auto all the time and when the windows start to fog up I touch the defrost button and turn it off once the windows are clear, usually only takes a minute. If there are several passengers it might stay on for 5-10 minutes at a time to handle all the humid exhaled air.

 

[akenham]

As a new m3 owner in the UK (first winter incoming!)

What's the strategy people use? Auto AC + Recirc? Clearly some of you are very manual which sounds tricky when not on large roads (and a lot of effort).

So far I've

• preheated the cabin with shore power.
• Always run AC on auto (habit from my old ICE car - I like to hope the car will take care of it).
• Tried recirc when I remember (not a sticky setting)

I've driven in a lot of rain and temperatures from 5 to 15 deg C and had no fogging issues - am I leaving a lot of Wh/mile gains on the table here?

** My drive is UK country lanes and small A roads - lots of stop start, fast/slow and a mile or two of city. I get about 280Wh/mile rising to 320 on colder days with no particular effort to optimize driving towards economy.

 

[Twiglett]

big problem with Model 3 AC is that any change turns of auto.
It would be so much better if you could keep auto on, but with recirc or faster fan speed.
Even nicer would be somewhere to send this as feedback

 

[coleAK]

Yeah in the wintertime Auto doesn’t really work as it isn’t running the AC to dehumidify enough. Always had to use manual during winter in my S to avoid fogged windows. They might have changed this lately but it really does need to run all the time in the winter to avoid building up humid air inside.

Here in Alaska only way I can keep my windows from fogging in the winter is to use climate AUTO. It was that way for our S and is that way with our 3.

 

[cypho]

Here in Alaska only way I can keep my windows from fogging in the winter is to use climate AUTO. It was that way for our S and is that way with our 3.

Rolling the windows down works too (although it is not exactly comfortable).

 

[coleAK]

Rolling the windows down works too (although it is not exactly comfortable).

You are correct, at -30F that gets a bit frosty, at -40F I’ll have to put on gloves since winter will have finally set in

 

[XLR82XS]

I always have recirc thurned off. I like fresh, dry air.

Ditto. Also, I never use RECIRC on my Teslas and I have NEVER had the nasty HVAC smell that a lot of people complain about. Plus, I live in a hot humid climate.

 

[Gasaraki]

I avoid recirc in the winter because of foggy windows

Turn on the A/C. A/C does not mean cooling. A/C works when the heat is on.

 

[SageBrush]

Turn on the A/C. A/C does not mean cooling. A/C works when the heat is on.

That is indeed a choice but I prefer venting moisture outside rather than using a heat pump only for dehumidification. This is very location dependent. I live in a high desert climate where ambient humidity in the winter is usually around 20 - 30% and outside air is pretty wonderful. I take advantage of it if I can (meaning it is not too cold.) And in terms of energetics it is much less energy use to heat up dry air than to dehumidify. A trade-off occurs because venting is continually introducing cold air. We need a heat exchanger !

 

[Gasaraki]

That is indeed a choice but I prefer venting moisture outside rather than using a heat pump only for dehumidification. This is very location dependent. I live in a high desert climate where ambient humidity in the winter is usually around 20 - 30% and outside air is pretty wonderful. I take advantage of it if I can (meaning it is not too cold.) And in terms of energetics it is much less energy use to heat up dry air than to dehumidify. A trade-off occurs because venting is continually introducing cold air. We need a heat exchanger !

I guess it's a general comment for everybody. Everyone is complaining about foggy windows when the recirculate in on. There is no reason for that if your A/C was on also. People don't understand that A/C stands for air conditioner NOT air cooler. The HVAC system conditions the air no matter what you have it on, heating or cooling.

 

[SageBrush]

I guess it's a general comment for everybody. Everyone is complaining about foggy windows when the recirculate in on. There is no reason for that if your A/C was on also. People don't understand that A/C stands for air conditioner NOT air cooler. The HVAC system conditions the air no matter what you have it on, heating or cooling.

I understand, but you could also have stated that recirc is fine if you heat up the cabin enough. ;-)

As usual, I am pointing out that context matters

 

[Candleflame]

Yeah doesn’t really work unless you want to drive around with that constantly on perhaps. Before I learned the trick with manual AC control in the winter I had the windscreen completely fog up in 2-3 seconds a few times. Humid air in the cabin is downright dangerous during winter and when you bring in loads of snow every time you go into the car you need to run the AC more or less all the time to dehumidify.



I will have to test but far as I remember from before it didn’t do that.

whats wrong with it constantly on? the noise?
turn it on for few minutes and then enable the top vents manually.

 

[Ofarlig]

whats wrong with it constantly on? the noise?
turn it on for few minutes and then enable the top vents manually.

The noise and the fact that you get a lot of cold air blowing in your face all the time which is quite annoying (unless you have it at a very high temperature I guess). I never been able to not get the cabin very warm due to maximum heat on the defogger or get very cold air in my face at low temperatures in any car. The AC is much better at that point because it actually removes the humidity from the air instead.

 

[CertLive]

The noise and the fact that you get a lot of cold air blowing in your face all the time which is quite annoying (unless you have it at a very high temperature I guess). I never been able to not get the cabin very warm due to maximum heat on the defogger or get very cold air in my face at low temperatures in any car. The AC is much better at that point because it actually removes the humidity from the air instead.

Just to check you have tried splitting the stream on each side by pinching outwards? This stops the air from blowing right into your face.

 

[Ofarlig]

Just to check you have tried splitting the stream on each side by pinching outwards? This stops the air from blowing right into your face.

Im talking about the air that blows on the windscreen and then gets pushed back on your face with defog mode.