Air conditioning more economical to run manual or set temperature at 77 on front vent recycling air?

[flyerjaz]

I would like peoples opinion on what more economical to run the ac in manual on 1 or temp set at 77 on front vent recycling air? Thanks.

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[Random881]

I keep mine set at 75 and on level 2 auto. I don't think the A/C matters too much on the hybrid in terms of MPG unless you're constantly blasting it on max for hours at a time.

 

[HeyBales]

Because the hybrid AC system is variable - there is a difference with it's amp draw from the HVB depending on the temp differential your settings are calling for.

Now to how much having your HVB going lower faster will affect your mileage is another matter.
How you drive and opportunities for being in EV may change.
You could have a bunch of areas where you get this long stretch of EV mode, and they are now all cut short because EV mode is shorter due to HVB being used faster on AC.
Then again, you could be on the highway and it matters not.

Auto-mode (you said manual) 1 will still try to get it to set point as fast as possible, just with lower fan speeds - which is actually good for being colder anyway. But you could set that to 77 also.

What will change the response of the AC as to the load applied - is being in Eco mode. Calms that response down a bit, so it's not max amps for ASAP reaching set point.

Since there is no cabin air temp display - your ability to say attempt a 10 F spread between set temp and current temp for some sort of minimal load request can't happen.
Not worth it anyway.

 

[Dad]

I keep mine set at 75 and on level 2 auto. I don't think the A/C matters too much on the hybrid in terms of MPG unless you're constantly blasting it on max for hours at a time.

I don't know how you do that in Florida's humidity, but kudos. I'm in relatively moderate weather SoCal and I usually have mine set at 65º during the hottest part of the day. I'll go to 70º if it gets too cold in the cab. The funny thing is the lowest setting I keep in my house is 75-77º and that's plenty good. I wonder if that's because my house is better insulated.

 

[HeyBales]

I don't know how you do that in Florida's humidity, but kudos. I'm in relatively moderate weather SoCal and I usually have mine set at 65º during the hottest part of the day. I'll go to 70º if it gets too cold in the cab. The funny thing is the lowest setting I keep in my house is 75-77º and that's plenty good. I wonder if that's because my house is better insulated.

And better air sealed likely.

Be interesting to see the humidity difference between the 2 since that can make the same temp feel very different.

Of course, usually the cabin when it gets to 120 F and I can actually take that for awhile since the humidity is 10% or less. I'm not moving and doing much.
But when I forget to make sure the back windows are down a tad, it's 120 F and more humid - I feel it instantly as a difference.

 

[Hunters Edge]

And better air sealed likely.

Years ago I heard government mandate to have fresh air into the cab, don't know how true or false that is. I know on recycle or max a/c it doesn't allow as much dust in compared to just a/c going down a dry dirt road with oncoming traffic. With pros comes cons on recycle or max a/c can and often makes one drowsy.

On the subject of homes vs cars the car has a much smaller unit and a inadequate circulation system. On top of that not much insulation in glass and it can only reflect small amounts of radiation from the sun. Every window in a house is loss of energy even those with double and triple pane. It may reduce the loss but won't eliminate it. All in all cars do rather well considering everything, as long as everything is working and enough freon.

 

[KO Stradivarius]

I don’t use Auto settings at all anymore. My Mustang had a couple of the plenum door motors fail. These are the small motors that open/close the doors in the HVAC system to blend air to achieve the Auto temp setting. And they are not cheap to replace since they’re buried under the IP. I set my AC manually so the motors hardly ever actuate, based on advice from my Ford AC engineer friend.

 

[Glen Baker LLC]

And better air sealed likely.

Be interesting to see the humidity difference between the 2 since that can make the same temp feel very different.

Of course, usually the cabin when it gets to 120 F and I can actually take that for awhile since the humidity is 10% or less. I'm not moving and doing much.
But when I forget to make sure the back windows are down a tad, it's 120 F and more humid - I feel it instantly as a difference.

Dry heat vs humid heat
I think of it as a tolerated temperature range.
A dry sauna temperature ranges from 140° to 175°
A steam bath is usually tolerated around 110° to 115°
Yes humidity makes a difference.

 

[Dad]

And better air sealed likely.

Be interesting to see the humidity difference between the 2 since that can make the same temp feel very different.

Of course, usually the cabin when it gets to 120 F and I can actually take that for awhile since the humidity is 10% or less. I'm not moving and doing much.
But when I forget to make sure the back windows are down a tad, it's 120 F and more humid - I feel it instantly as a difference.

I'm sure a major influence is the truck's cab is basically a greenhouse with so much window exposure in a small area.

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