General Climate control/air con

[moto748]

Very pleased with my 500C so far, but a question about air con. I have the Sport climate control package, but having the soft-top, I'm not finding *that* many occasions to use it, especially now the summer is coming to an end.

It used to be said, back the day, the air-con should be left on all the time, and continually switching it on and off weren't good for it. I'm barely used mine, except to check if it worked OK (it did fine), and it has been mostly turned off. What is the current thinking about this. Is it OK to leave it turned off? I guess as the winter draws on, I'll be using it 'as a heater', but right now it's off. Is that OK?

Thanks.

 

[Baglady1990]

Very pleased with my 500C so far, but a question about air con. I have the Sport climate control package, but having the soft-top, I'm not finding *that* many occasions to use it, especially now the summer is coming to an end.



It used to be said, back the day, the air-con should be left on all the time, and continually switching it on and off weren't good for it. I'm barely used mine, except to check if it worked OK (it did fine), and it has been mostly turned off. What is the current thinking about this. Is it OK to leave it turned off? I guess as the winter draws on, I'll be using it 'as a heater', but right now it's off. Is that OK?



Thanks.

Hi!
I don’t think it matters ... your putting less strain on your battery but as far as I’m aware that’s all

I’ve actually hammered mine this summer! But I only have the panoramic sunroof... that can be quite noisy when doing some speed!

 

[John202020]

Almost 40 years of driving a car with AC (very lucky, Honda Accords had AC from the early 80's) I ALWAYS leave the AC on, especially in winter, if you really want to(not) use the AC, use at least once a month or it will bust after a few years, and after 4 years old have the ac recharged every 3 years , after 6/7 it will increase to every two years.
The climate control, it is assumed that the AC will always be activated in order to operate correctly.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

I drive a full cabriolet (not Fiat) and the aircon is generally left on with some exceptions.

Even with the roof down the air creates a little bubble in the car of air and having the aircon on, on a very hot day can make it noticeably cooler than with it off.

There is a sweet spot at about 24’C that I turn the whole heater panel off because I don’t need cooling or heating and the airflow from having the roof down it just right but anything much above that the aircon goes back on and beyond 32’C the roof goes up and the aircon on full blast.

Last year in France we saw 40’C temperatures so the roof stayed up

 

[varesecrazy]

The fill of refridgerant contains a lubricant

Running periodically helps keeps seals in good shape.. once they are struggling.. its a perpetual battle to keep pressure in the system

Agreed its as useful in the winter as the summer.. clearing misted windows
Not an issue weve ever encounered with a bike

 

[chris3234]

I had to turn temp up the other night as due to the warm weather and it being 12am at /night my windscreen was steaming up on the outside from the cold temp in the car

 

[TrevC]

Any a/c specialist I've asked about this has said to leave the a/c switched on all the time and use the temperature controls to get comfortable. As said above, without the gas containing the lubricant circulating the seals will dry out and the system will leak.

A few years ago I, then my daughter, ran a Clio for 9 years between us, with the a/c always on, and it was still blowing cold when she sold it having had no refills.

 

[jrkitching]

Any a/c specialist I've asked about this has said to leave the a/c switched on all the time and use the temperature controls to get comfortable. As said above, without the gas containing the lubricant circulating the seals will dry out and the system will leak.

A few years ago I, then my daughter, ran a Clio for 9 years between us, with the a/c always on, and it was still blowing cold when she sold it having had no refills.

Interestingly we've had the Panda for 10 years now, and use the A/C only when it's needed (which isn't often). It too is still blowing cold (and effectively, too), and likewise has never been regassed. Conversely, the Ka we had before it leaked away enough through the seals (they never could find a definite leak) to need regassing every two years, despite being used almost continuously.

On the Panda, the extra fuel used when the A/C is on is considerable; I reckon we've saved about £1000 in fuel over the ten years compared to what we'd have spent if it'd been on continuously. But against that, saving £100 a year on fuel would look like false economy if you needed to replace a compressor due to ruined seals.

It's down to personal choice; there's no right answer.

What you might also consider is that there's a known weakness with the blend door actuating rod on models with climate; if it fails, a proper repair is £2000+. Some say you can improve your chances of staying problem free if you avoid running it at the extreme of its travel.

 

[TrevC]

Yes, various people have said how fuel consumption is affected by the aircon, but I've not found it to be the case with several cars I've tested. The last one I experimented with was my 500 TA, which used to return 50mpg on my work commute whether the ac was on or not. My wife had a Mk1 Ka with ac some years ago, which suffered noticeable performance loss when you switched the ac on, so I can well believe the consumption increased too.

Of course the compressor must absorb some power, but maybe many modern systems are just very efficient?

Re the climate control flaps, when we bought my wife's 500C a couple of years ago, we chose a face-lift Lounge because the aircon was downgraded from auto to manual in the face-lift! Never had issues with climate control in any other cars we've owned though.

 

[moto748]

Thanks for the responses, guys! I think I will compromise by leaving it on *most* of the time. But in fact at this time of year, it'll soon be cold enough to warrant the heater on anyway.

 

[John202020]

Thanks for the responses, guys! I think I will compromise by leaving it on *most* of the time. But in fact at this time of year, it'll soon be cold enough to warrant the heater on anyway.

Even in winter you might not realise just how often the compressor comes on.

 

[varesecrazy]

Thanks for the responses, guys! I think I will compromise by leaving it on *most* of the time. But in fact at this time of year, it'll soon be cold enough to warrant the heater on anyway.

If its a Cabrio..
You might need its Drying power even more

I notice it in Grande's

 

[isthisagoodidea]

The 1.4 ,16 valve Fiat Idea that I bought last year is the first car I have owned that has climate control, I got it working this summer and I use it now and again, in town in traffic it's great ,but it does make the car feel a bit sluggish on the twisty hilly roads around here ...on the national highway you don't notice the power loss ...but then I have all the windows open if I am on my own ....