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Question about the floor only defogging mode. My 2014 SL allows me to have both window vent and floor vents open, and it does not indicate the AC is on (like it does with the defogging button).

Is AC actually on when I use this mode???
 
pyromancy5 said:
Question about the floor only defogging mode. My 2014 SL allows me to have both window vent and floor vents open, and it does not indicate the AC is on (like it does with the defogging button).

Is AC actually on when I use this mode???

If I understand you correctly, you have to switch the A/C on and off as desired. It doesn't come on automatically as with Defrost.
 
LeftieBiker said:
pyromancy5 said:
Question about the floor only defogging mode. My 2014 SL allows me to have both window vent and floor vents open, and it does not indicate the AC is on (like it does with the defogging button).

Is AC actually on when I use this mode???

If I understand you correctly, you have to switch the A/C on and off as desired. It doesn't come on automatically as with Defrost.


Gotcha, thanks!
 
I find that having the mode in Floor only with recirculate and the A/C on is surprisingly effective in keeping the windshield clear in damp weather. You can also add heat if it's chilly, but then energy consumption shoots up.
 
LeftieBiker said:
* Partial Recirculate Mode. The Leaf has a barely-documented feature that is actually very helpful in Winter, especially when combined with the next Trick after this. With the ventilation set to one of the modes that allows Recirculation (any of the non-defrost modes), and with Recirculate mode on, press and hold the Recirculate button until the light above it starts to flash, then quickly release it. The light will flash twice, then go out, making it look like the car is in Fresh Air mode. In fact, if done correctly (and it may take a little practice, to avoid re-engaging full Recirculate) the ventilation system is now taking in roughly 1/3 fresh air, and recirculating the other 2/3. This mode does two things: it reduces the amount of external smog getting sucked into the car, and it increases the efficiency of the heater in cold weather, because most of the air doesn't have to be heated from outside ambient. It is also called "Auto Recirculate" (not to be confused with Auto Climate Control).


The closest I see to this in the manual (2013 version) is this:

Automatic air intake control:
To set the automatic control mode, push and hold the (intake air control) button. The indicator light will blink twice and the inside/outside circu- lation will then be controlled automatically. When in automatic mode, the indictor light will come on when inside air recirculation is active.

This seems to imply that the recirculation light will sometimes come on again (when? why?) but I have tried this several times recently and after the blinking, I never see the recirculation light come back on. Do you ever see it cycle on and off?

Second question: is this "mode" persistent after you cycle the car on and off, or does it have to be reset every time the car boots up?

I honestly can't tell if this trick is working for me at all...How do you tell?
 
If the light flashes twice and then stays off, you're in the right mode. It doesn't, AFAIK, persist after the car shuts off, but I'm not certain. If you hold the button too long you get normal Recirculate, with the light on. I think the other reference is to what happens when you press the Recirculate button again.
 
That is what I'm seeing on the control button. I just can't tell yet if it makes any difference vs. the normal fresh air setting. Either the effect is subtle or I don't know how to measure it.
 
I find that it makes the most difference in Frigid weather - teens Fahrenheit or lower. When the outside air isn't vastly colder than the cabin air, the difference is mainly in the reduction of exhaust fumes sucked in while in traffic.
 
I've concluded that for Seattle conditions (low 40s and steady rain) the magic setting is: full recirc., face and feet vents, heat and AC lights on, temp at mid-60s. Fogging was driving me crazy over the last rainy week using various combinations of fresh air and windshield, heat only (AC light off) or feet/windshield vents, or the mystery mode and feet only. Finally tried full recirc. with AC on yesterday and cleared the windows well without too much power consumption shown on the displays.
 
Yes, Recirculate with heat and A/C is best for defogging. I try to avoid it because it uses the most power, with both the heatpump and resistance heater running, but it's very effective, and lets you leave the car "closed" to most exhaust fumes. The car won't let you use Recirc with the defrost modes, but floor only, with fan on 2 or higher, works fine.
 
In winter 0F to 20F I regularly drive around in the partial re-circ and often I have to switch to outside air to keep the side windows from fogging/frosting up. As soon as I start to see it condensing and moving a bit forward I switch to no recirc and it clears back up, then after a bit I switch it back into partial recirc to reduce heat load. In the spring and fall (25F to 50F) it is similar except I use full recirc and then switch to partial recirc if it starts to fog up for a bit.
 
BrockWI said:
In winter 0F to 20F I regularly drive around in the partial re-circ and often I have to switch to outside air to keep the side windows from fogging/frosting up. As soon as I start to see it condensing and moving a bit forward I switch to no recirc and it clears back up, then after a bit I switch it back into partial recirc to reduce heat load. In the spring and fall (25F to 50F) it is similar except I use full recirc and then switch to partial recirc if it starts to fog up for a bit.

What fan speed(s) are you using? The higher the speed, the less fogging, but the more power used.
 
I rarely run above 1 or the slowest speed and heat set to 72F. I should say for the first two winters I rarely ran the heat unless I had passengers, now I just leave it like this to take the edge off and keep the windows clear. It is amazing how much even a little heat can make you feel more comfortable. My wife however just sets the heat to 80 with all outside air and makes it worm :) In winter when it's 0F outside and I have 4 kids on the way home from swim practice with wet hair and swim bags I am forced to run defrost in 3 or 4 to keep the windshield from freezing over with all the humidity inside, the back windows still frost over but the kids like to draw on the ice :)
 
Others have found that with the fan on 1 you can set the temp as high as you like - it doesn't matter. I use speeds 2 and 3 usually, with partial recirc and floor only vent. I usually, have the temp set to 75-78.
 
Yes, when it's below 30F outside it doesn't matter what temp you set it to, if it is set to 70 or 80 it draws about 1000w once it's "warm" and it will never hit 70F inside on fan speed one anyway :)
 
I either encountered a glitch just now, or discovered a new feature. After turning the car off and plugging in, I remembered I wanted to ice park the wipers before the storm expected later. So I turned it back on while plugged in, shut it off again after parking the wipers, and...noticed that the steering wheel heater was still on, with everything else in the car apparently off! I didn't unplug the car to investigate further, but the wheel heater would turn on and off with the car Off. Would someone please check this out, and see if:

A: The wheel heater can be turned on with the car off and unplugged. (This would be both nice and worrisome.)

B: The wheel heater can be turned on with the car off, but only when plugged in and charging.

C: Same as B, but will also come on if the car is plugged in but not charging.

D: The wheel heater can't normally be turned on at all with the car Off.
 
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