Fan Only uses as much energy as A/C?

I noticed that when turning on the fan with no A/C, the climate control energy usage is about hte same as with A/C turned on. Is there something wrong? I would think turning on just the fans will be much lower. Anyone else noticed this?

Hello,
Yes I did, I'm tying to get to the bottom of it. I've been looking for a way to have just a little forced air circulation without either the A/C or the heater coming on. Have not found the secret. I set the heat to 60* but the heater still comes on. On a warmer day I turned on the CC and the A/C came on but I pressed the A/C button and it turned off. Wasn't a very long trip so not sure how much power it was drawing. I know carwings only looks at whether the CC is on or off so just the fan reduces range calc the same as turning on the heater or A/C.

When the fan alone is on the range drops but after driving a while it seems to go to say 1 mile penalty on the freeway vs the 12 when I turned it on. I need to test that more.

I've noticed the same thing. In the next firmware release, I think Nissan should cease classifying fan-only operation as "climate control." Or lower the "range penalty" as soon as the AC is turned off. Still, this is a very minor issue for us, as we tend to rely more on the SOC bars than the range estimate. (The latest range estimation algorithm does seem pretty decent, but it knows nothing about upcoming altitude changes which mean everything in the mountains.)

My observations so far:
Note that I have A/C button constantly off.

Scenario 1.
I am not in the Energy monitor screen (e.g. I am in XM or Map mode)
I turn on the fan (by using the fan + button).
I switch to the Energy screen.
I observe that power is used by the climate control system (around 750wt even though again A/C is off)
I turn off the climate control using the climate control On/Off switch
I observe that power used by the climate control system gradually goes to 0 (within 10 seconds)
I turn on the fan again (by using the fan + button).
I observe that power is NOT used by the climate control anymore while fan works fine.

Scenario 2.
I am in the Energy monitor screen.
I turn on the fan (by using the fan + button).
I observe that power is NOT used by the climate control.

So far I only had these two scenarios sequentially but it was consistent.
I have not tried the reverse order.

What I find surprising is that other than opening the windows (noisy and perhaps wet), there does not seem to be a mode to get fresh air when the fan is OFF. Does the LEAF need to be so aerodynamic that air intake has to be done using a static port (parallel surface), as opposed to having a little air scoop?

clbpdx said:

What I find surprising is that other than opening the windows (noisy and perhaps wet), there does not seem to be a mode to get fresh air when the fan is OFF. Does the LEAF need to be so aerodynamic that air intake has to be done using a static port (parallel surface), as opposed to having a little air scoop?

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There is fresh air by default. But what may be unexpected is that it is not directed out of the face-level vents when the car is first started, and you must press the "Mode" button to direct it that way, even if the last setting you used was face level! It's a very weird setup...almost like whatever it is (?) that directs the air is closed off when the car is first started!

I agree that the use of as much energy just to run the fan as for the entire climate control system is rather annoying.

If you FIRST go to the Energy (usage) screen, and THEN turn on the fan (no A/C, no heater), you will see that the fan-only usage does not even show.

A/C shows a little, Heater often shows a LOT of energy usage.

The LEAF can run the heater if the "target" temperature is not low enough.

On mine, I seem to need to set the temperature lower than I think should be necessary. But, maybe I have not found the correct way to keep the heater OFF on a cool morning?

The fan itself does not use enough power to even register on the Climate Control Energy graph. But what CAN happen is that, if the temperature is set too high with AC off, the heater will come on low. To try and insure this does not happen, I usually turn the temperature down to something like 65 or lower when I have the Ac off and want just ventilation. Try that and I think you will see your CC energy use drop to basically nothing...

trentr said:

I noticed that when turning on the fan with no A/C, the climate control energy usage is about hte same as with A/C turned on. Is there something wrong? I would think turning on just the fans will be much lower. Anyone else noticed this?

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mogur said:

The fan itself does not use enough power to even register on the Climate Control Energy graph. But what CAN happen is that, if the temperature is set to high with AC off, the heater will come on low. To try and insure this does not happen, I usually turn the temperature down to something like 65 or lower when I have the Ac off and want just ventilation. Try that and I think you will see your CC energy use drop to basically nothing...

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Ah, so that's what Gary was getting at last Saturday. I comprehend now!

Is there any way to detect whether the heater is on, other than looking at the climate control power usage on the energy screen?

Unfortunately, not that I am aware of... There really should have been an "Economy" button like may other cars have that only runs the fan... You'd particularly think they would have though of this on an electric car!

SparkyEV said:

Is there any way to detect whether the heater is on, other than looking at the climate control power usage on the energy screen?

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mogur said:

The fan itself does not use enough power to even register on the Climate Control Energy graph. But what CAN happen is that, if the temperature is set to high with AC off, the heater will come on low. To try and insure this does not happen, I usually turn the temperature down to something like 65 or lower when I have the Ac off and want just ventilation. Try that and I think you will see your CC energy use drop to basically nothing...

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I have been doing the same thing. I have set the thermostat to 60! :mrgreen:

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I was having this exact problem my first few days with the car as most of the time I'm able to use fan only on the Prius very effectively. On the Prius, you go to the Climate screen, click low fan, click A/C (to disable A/C if you were using auto last), then set the temperature all the way down to "LOW". On the LEAF I tried doing a similar routine and setting it down to 60 but it still was showing the same range hit as with A/C. Then after awhile it did normalize - so I guess it's just the car assuming the climate control is going to run as intensely for the duration of your drive as it does when you turn it on - a trend I've noticed with A/C as well as it tends to say 10-12 mile impact but go down to 6-7 once it's been running for a little bit.

It's odd to me that they don't make it more clear that using fan only instead of A/C will actually help your range - that's sort of how the Volt works with it's ECO A/C mode (it actually turns the A/C on but prioritizes it much lower than airflow if I remember correctly). Now that I've figured it out I'll be fine, but a lot of other people will get hung up on that. If my dad were driving the Leaf he wouldn't bother with waiting the 10-15 minutes it would take to show the reduced impact of fan only. The first thing he always does when he gets in my car and the fan isn't on is complain about the "stuffiness" and turning fan-only on (in the Prius) usually solves his problem. In the Leaf he'd turn the A/C on and if it's a 10 mile hit for A/C and a 10 mile hit for fan only he'll go with A/C because it's more comfort bang for the electricity buck. That would result in lower range and in his case increased range anxiety as he is prone to such things.

rawhog said:

Mine ALWAYS starts with face breeze only. I prefer to have it split between feet and face, and I have to select that mode each time. Wasn't there a post somewhere that talked about an auto setting for this?

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Don't know. But it sort of makes sense. And maybe mine is set conversely?

Does it do the same as mine, but in the otherwise manner? IE: You press the mode button, and it shows that you're already set to split flow. But then all of a sudden it starts working that way instead of shooting air at your face?

SparkyEV said:

Is there any way to detect whether the heater is on, other than looking at the climate control power usage on the energy screen?

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So, you all left it to me to have to answer this...If the air coming out the center vents changes to warm air, then the heater came on Sorry to say, that's the best I've found. The so-called gauge is another one of those computer-driven "here we made up an answer for you" displays. It's delayed, and maybe averaged somewhat.

gbarry42 said:

SparkyEV said:

Is there any way to detect whether the heater is on, other than looking at the climate control power usage on the energy screen?

Click to expand...

So, you all left it to me to have to answer this...If the air coming out the center vents changes to warm air, then the heater came on

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LOL, that won't work here. When it is over 100 degrees, your 'fresh' air is going to be warm...doubt if you could tell the difference.

EVDRIVER said:

When the fan alone is on the range drops but after driving a while it seems to go to say 1 mile penalty on the freeway vs the 12 when I turned it on. I need to test that more.

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When we first turn on the A/C, it usually shows a minus 10-12 miles, but after five minutes or less, that drops to -2.

mogur said:

But what CAN happen is that, if the temperature is set too high with AC off, the heater will come on low. To try and insure this does not happen, I usually turn the temperature down to something like 65 or lower when I have the Ac off and want just ventilation. Try that and I think you will see your CC energy use drop to basically nothing...

Click to expand...

Interesting...because I have my A/C set at 88 all the time, whether the A/C is on or off and the heater has never come on yet. I always watch the energy screen. I think you may have meant when you turn on the fan only to get fresh air, the heater comes on with a high set temp.