Why is there no button to turn off the heat like there is to turn off the AC?

[3sr+buyer]

Why is there no button to turn off the heat like there is to turn off the AC?

Use case: in the summer, I might set the AC to the high end of the temperature range that I feel comfortable at. But, in the evening, that may cause it to turn on the heat, even though I would rather have it not use either AC or heat at all, since the evening temperatures are within the comfortable range. This requires manually turning off the AC and setting the temperature to near the low end of the possible range. If there were a button to turn off the heat, then this would not be necessary to prevent the heater from turning on in the evening.

 

[RTPEV]

Yes. Huge missing gap in functionality. What they really need is the idea of a dead zone in the temperature setting where it just blows the fan. But that of course means that their whole concept of "automatic" would break down. In other words, if the system is calling for neither heat nor A/C, why should the fan run at all? This definitely is one of the things that the old analog controls had on the new digital way of doing things.

Anyway, we've been complaining about it for years. I would not hold your breath waiting for a solution.

 

[RTPEV]

The thermostat in our house is set up with a high setting for AC and a low setting for heat. The fan runs constantly, at varying speeds, and for air filtration and mixing (hot air rises) when neither heat nor AC is required. Seems simple enough. Maybe Tesla could tear apart one of our thermostats?

Yes, home thermostats (at least newer ones) do have this functionality (i.e. the dead zone). There is also a fan setting ON or AUTO, which either has the fan running continually (seems like this is what you have set) or only when calling for heat/cool. So the car could conceivably have the same kind of toggle. However, in the car, the fan also has a speed setting, and normally this is automatically controlled (high fan setting when the temperature difference between set and actual temperature is great, lower when it's in steady state). So when in the dead zone, what speed should it use? Or should you leave that the user to just manually set it? Before you know it, you're back to twiddling with the controls anyway. Which I don't have a problem with, except it's all kind of buried in touch screen menus and so on.

I feel like I'm probably one of the few people who have actually grown to love the automatic temperature setting and prefer to just leave it in auto, but like the OP, at certain times of the year (spring and fall) I so long for a very simple manual control.

 

[Candleflame]

because its an air conditioner not a cooler.

 

[dusty22]

If I just want outside air, I turn off auto and also turn off AC. The fan just runs. I do this before I get home to dry out the system to avoid smelly mold growth when running the AC. So far so good.

The temperature setting does not seem to matter, at least during summer. I just get ambient temperature outside air.

I always have the temperature set at 70 degrees. If dressed warmly, I don't need the heat on 50 degree days but may want the fans pumping in outside air. I will see if the heat turns on when the cooler temperatures set in.

 

[3sr+buyer]

If I just want outside air, I turn off auto and also turn off AC. The fan just runs. I do this before I get home to dry out the system to avoid smelly mold growth when running the AC. So far so good.

I do that, and also turn the temperature lower to prevent the heater from turning on.

But it would be nice to be able to just leave the AC on at 75F or so and not worry about the heater turning on when the temperature dips below that setting.

 

[Bouba]

The other problem is if you turn the air conditioner fan down low...when you leave the car this setting remains, so if you use your app to cool down the car it can take forever because of the low fan...the fan speed should be on the app

 

[stopcrazypp]

I do that, and also turn the temperature lower to prevent the heater from turning on.

But it would be nice to be able to just leave the AC on at 75F or so and not worry about the heater turning on when the temperature dips below that setting.

Yep, I would love to have a toggle like that, similar to what home thermostats have. The roads I drive can have huge temperature variations, like literally going from 100F to 70-80F on the same relatively short drive. So it can easily start to go into the heater region. I end up having to manually turn off AC and then switch to LO and fan only when I get to areas with lower temps, otherwise the heater might turn on.

Tesla's current design is just a carry over from ICE Heat/AC design, but there is no reason why that has to be strictly stuck with for an EV.

 

[Sam T]

Can anyone who wants a heater toggle and low power mode please reply to this thread:

Feature Request - Eco-Mode Air Conditioning

All Models: Eco-Mode - Reduce consumption of the Air conditioner by about half. Heater Toggle - Turn off the heater for the air conditioner to draw fresh air instead. Recirculation timer - turn off recirculation after 15mins to avoid high condensation. After using the Polestar 2 for three...

teslamotorsclub.com

 

[RTPEV]

Can anyone who wants a heater toggle and low power mode please reply to this thread:

Feature Request - Eco-Mode Air Conditioning

All Models: Eco-Mode - Reduce consumption of the Air conditioner by about half. Heater Toggle - Turn off the heater for the air conditioner to draw fresh air instead. Recirculation timer - turn off recirculation after 15mins to avoid high condensation. After using the Polestar 2 for three...

teslamotorsclub.com

I went and read the thread...I'm not sure what you want me to reply to, other than to agree with everyone else who was correcting you about how a heat pump operates and how most of what you were asking for is already more or less optimally achieved by the current system.

The one thing I will agree with would be the ability to have a dead zone in the thermostat so that the HVAC system is completely off when the outside air temperature is comfortable without the need for any heat/cool, without having to resort to doing things like setting the temp to LO and turning off the A/C. But that topic is essentially what this thread covers, so not sure why we need to move the discussion to a different thread.