Air Conditioning in Arizona Heat

[ebeighe]

As far as i could tell it was on "max" the whole time..

Can you specify the setting ?

Not sure of how exactly to express all the settings... it seemed like it was set to 60 degrees, and the blower fan was going pretty loudly. Near the end of the test drive i slowed down the fan because it was pretty loud and it (being fast) didn't seem to be doing much if any extra cooling.
[edit: ECO mode was definitely off ]

[jjeff]

Your not in ECO mode are you?
In ECO the AC among other things are dialed down to less than 100% output.

[ebeighe]

Your not in ECO mode are you?
In ECO the AC among other things are dialed down to less than 100% output.

ah, yes, did know about that...should have said: ECO mode was definitely off.

So just ran into a new leaf owner; more common this month due to the AZ / SRP rebate deal and he's perfectly happy with level of air conditioning... so maybe i'm just being over-sensitive.

[SageBrush]

As far as i could tell it was on "max" the whole time..

Can you specify the setting ?

Not sure of how exactly to express all the settings... it seemed like it was set to 60 degrees,

I cannot remember -- is that even possible ?

[DaveinOlyWA]

60 is the lowest. the key thing is face only air flow and recirculate. I find the front gets plenty cool, the back only so-so so aiming the vents becomes critical for that.

FYI; even with thermostat set to 80, it still max'es out until it reaches its set point. If it was that uncomfortable, guessing you were well beyond that.

[GerryAZ]

if the test car was an SL with black leather interior, they really absorb heat when parked in the sun. The trick is to crack rear windows and switch to outside air intake for a few minutes (A/C fan at fairly high speed and temperature setting reasonable, say 76 F) to exhaust hot air rather than trying to cool it. After exhausting hot air, switch to Auto (which will return it to recirculate) and close rear windows. The light colored interior of the 2011 did not get as hot when parked.

[SageBrush]

if the test car was an SL with black leather interior, they really absorb heat when parked in the sun. The trick is to crack rear windows and switch to outside air intake for a few minutes (A/C fan at fairly high speed and temperature setting reasonable, say 76 F) to exhaust hot air rather than trying to cool it. After exhausting hot air, switch to Auto (which will return it to recirculate) and close rear windows. The light colored interior of the 2011 did not get as hot when parked.

Flushing the hot air out of the car but relying on the A/C to expel all the heat taken up by the interior that has baked in a greenhouse is a fool's errand. That could easily be 15 kWh of heat on top of ambient.

1. Crack windows when parked
2. Park in the shade, or park facing the sun with a good solar shield on the front windshield

It is not difficult to keep the interior at ~ ambient

[cwerdna]

60 is the lowest. the key thing is face only air flow and recirculate. I find the front gets plenty cool, the back only so-so so aiming the vents becomes critical for that.

FYI; even with thermostat set to 80, it still max'es out until it reaches its set point. If it was that uncomfortable, guessing you were well beyond that.

You live in an area that gets nowhere near as hot as Phoenix. Some crazy temps I've posted earlier: http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.p ... 96#p307296. You probably know the guy I'm talking about. He's well-known on Priuschat.

[GerryAZ]

if the test car was an SL with black leather interior, they really absorb heat when parked in the sun. The trick is to crack rear windows and switch to outside air intake for a few minutes (A/C fan at fairly high speed and temperature setting reasonable, say 76 F) to exhaust hot air rather than trying to cool it. After exhausting hot air, switch to Auto (which will return it to recirculate) and close rear windows. The light colored interior of the 2011 did not get as hot when parked.

Flushing the hot air out of the car but relying on the A/C to expel all the heat taken up by the interior that has baked in a greenhouse is a fool's errand. That could easily be 15 kWh of heat on top of ambient.

1. Crack windows when parked
2. Park in the shade, or park facing the sun with a good solar shield on the front windshield

It is not difficult to keep the interior at ~ ambient

I usually do, but am guessing the test car was sitting in the sun all day and completely closed up. Even cracking the windows does nothing for the black interior absorbing heat--with windows wide open the interior will still be hotter than outside.

[SageBrush]

if the test car was an SL with black leather interior, they really absorb heat when parked in the sun. The trick is to crack rear windows and switch to outside air intake for a few minutes (A/C fan at fairly high speed and temperature setting reasonable, say 76 F) to exhaust hot air rather than trying to cool it. After exhausting hot air, switch to Auto (which will return it to recirculate) and close rear windows. The light colored interior of the 2011 did not get as hot when parked.

Flushing the hot air out of the car but relying on the A/C to expel all the heat taken up by the interior that has baked in a greenhouse is a fool's errand. That could easily be 15 kWh of heat on top of ambient.

1. Crack windows when parked
2. Park in the shade, or park facing the sun with a good solar shield on the front windshield

It is not difficult to keep the interior at ~ ambient

I usually do, but am guessing the test car was sitting in the sun all day and completely closed up. Even cracking the windows does nothing for the black interior absorbing heat--with windows wide open the interior will still be hotter than outside.

That is why you want to use a sun shield!