Best Hybrid MPG Air Conditioning Settings

[The Real Maverick]

That's what I thought, but the person that replied earlier seems to think the regular setting still detects cabin temperature and it operates like a home thermostat, rather than the previous car air conditioners I have owned.

Auto is the thermostat in your house mode.

In manual it's all up to you. No thermostat intervention.

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[710-oil-614]

They are not equal. Auto fan lowest blows more than the manual lowest setting. Give it a try.

Fair enough I don’t find it too strong at all. I leave mine on full fan speed auto and it adjusts down to a speed I can’t notice.

 

[Markii56]

I'm surprised at the number of responses where they drive 100% of the time in recirculate mode. Granted, it might improve mpg slightly (via better aerodynamics), but I don't see where it overcomes the drawbacks. Driving all the time in recirculate makes very dry, stale air in the cabin. (For those of us that wear contacts, the air can get so dry that the contacts start to dry out, and let me tell you: THAT'S incredibly uncomfortable.) In cold weather, you must keep stale air moving out of the vehicle while keeping fresh on the move in, otherwise your windows will fog or ice up and no temperature or fan speed will get rid of it. When living in Western New York I was always amazed at the number of import cars driving around with iced-up windows in the winter months, and it was nothing more than having that damn recirculate lever in the wrong position. The only time I use recirculate is to keep dust and dirt from entering the interior.

I keep my Florida home A/C at 78 degrees, and I've found that's also a very comfortable temp in my Maverick.

 

[The Real Maverick]

I'm surprised at the number of responses where they drive 100% of the time in recirculate mode. Granted, it might improve mpg slightly (via better aerodynamics), but I don't see where it overcomes the drawbacks. Driving all the time in recirculate makes very dry, stale air in the cabin. (For those of us that wear contacts, the air can get so dry that the contacts start to dry out, and let me tell you: THAT'S incredibly uncomfortable.) In cold weather, you must keep stale air moving out of the vehicle while keeping fresh on the move in, otherwise your windows will fog or ice up and no temperature or fan speed will get rid of it. When living in Western New York I was always amazed at the number of import cars driving around with iced-up windows in the winter months, and it was nothing more than having that damn recirculate lever in the wrong position. The only time I use recirculate is to keep dust and dirt from entering the interior.

I keep my Florida home A/C at 78 degrees, and I've found that's also a very comfortable temp in my Maverick.

There is never pure recycle.
It's not s sealed system.

Just once the cabin is cooler than outside you are only "maintaining" temperature not chilling hot air.

It's not about aerodynamics.
It's about reducing electrical load by 50%.

Keeping it in fresh air mode it like running your Florida home with the windows open. Try that once and tell me what it does to your electric bill.

 

[SoonerBrink]

If I remember

There is never pure recycle.
It's not s sealed system.

Just once the cabin is cooler than outside you are only "maintaining" temperature not chilling hot air.

It's not about aerodynamics.
It's about reducing electrical load by 50%.

Keeping it in fresh air mode it like running your Florida home with the windows open. Try that once and tell me what it does to your electric bill.

I am not an expert in this, but I thought on several vehicles I had, they said if you press recycle that it would only stay on that way for so many minutes, then it would default to fresh air.

I don't see how it would affect aerodynamics. It isn't like we have a huge hood scoop forcing air into the the a/c and then shutting off the hood scoop.

If the MANUAL A/C set does monitor internal cabin temperatures and lowers compressor function based on cabin temperature relative to the manual temp setting, then I could see how recirculate could help be more fuel efficient.

 

[Ozarkbeard]

Typical of Fords, this truck has a kick-ass strong air conditioner.

I get great mileage even when using the A/C. I do not fuss over what the Temp° setting displays, nor do I use Auto mode, because I do not like the fan speed and air temp coming out of the vents constantly changing. Instead, I base the settings on how comfortable I feel.

• If it's very hot and the truck's been sitting in the sun, when I first get in the truck I hit the MAX A/C button.
• Once I'm reasonably comfortable, I turn the fan speed to something reasonable, usually between 1 and 4. If needed later, I adjust the fan control dial up or down click or two, usually without having to even look at the HVAC controls, or obsess about what setpoint temp the display is showing.
• I nearly always just leave the Temp° setting on LO, unless it's unusually mild outside. In that case, I turn the temp dial a tad warmer, which apparently mixes heated air with the cold refrigerated air, or turn off A/C compressor and recirculate buttons.

This results in the most comfortable cabin temp for me, with the least amount of worry about what the settings are on. Everyone is different, though.

 

[Ozarkbeard]

I am not an expert in this, but I thought on several vehicles I had, they said if you press recycle that it would only stay on that way for so many minutes, then it would default to fresh air.

That only happens if you're not running the A/C compressor. It's by design, so as to not fog up the inside of the windows in cold weather.

Personally, I wish they would allow forced recirculate, for when there's dust or noxious fumes outside, like when following a garbage truck, etc. In those cases, the only option is to also run the A/C compressor, or keep hitting Recirc. again when the truck, in it's infinite wisdom, decides you should not be allowed to have recirculated air.

 

[Markii56]

There is never pure recycle.
It's not s sealed system.

Just once the cabin is cooler than outside you are only "maintaining" temperature not chilling hot air.

It's not about aerodynamics.
It's about reducing electrical load by 50%.

Keeping it in fresh air mode it like running your Florida home with the windows open. Try that once and tell me what it does to your electric bill.

Well, that goes against my 40+ years of experience and training in the automotive business, but I'm willing to give the "recirculate" button a try and see what happens. As for that last sentence... really? When using A/C in my home or vehicle, I can't imagine being stupid enough to try it with all the windows open.

 

[SoonerBrink]

Typical of Fords, this truck has a kick-ass strong air conditioner.

I get great mileage even when using the A/C. I do not fuss over what the Temp° setting displays, nor do I use Auto mode, because I do not like the fan speed and air temp coming out of the vents constantly changing. Instead, I base the settings on how comfortable I feel.

• If it's very hot and the truck's been sitting in the sun, when I first get in the truck I hit the MAX A/C button.
• Once I'm reasonably comfortable, I turn the fan speed to something reasonable, usually between 1 and 4. If needed later, I adjust the fan control dial up or down click or two, usually without having to even look at the HVAC controls, or obsess about what setpoint temp the display is showing.
• I nearly always just leave the Temp° setting on LO, unless it's unusually mild outside. In that case, I turn the temp dial a tad warmer, which apparently mixes heated air with the cold refrigerated air, or turn off A/C compressor and recirculate buttons.

This results in the most comfortable cabin temp for me, with the least amount of worry about what the settings are on. Everyone is different, though.

That's pretty much what I do, leave temp on low and adjust the temp if it's too cold (Because the AC works crazy good).... but based on this, and what was mentioned in the posts above, it would get lower mpg because the compressor would always be running at max because the cabin would never get to the low temp setting.

 

[Ozarkbeard]

That's pretty much what I do, leave temp on low and adjust the temp if it's too cold (Because the AC works crazy good).... but based on this, and what was mentioned in the posts above, it would get lower mpg because the compressor would always be running at max because the cabin would never get to the low temp setting.

That's not what I was told by a mechanic where I take my truck for maintenance. If the compressor ran at full capacity on low fan speed; as powerful as the compressor is, it would freeze up the evap coil. To prevent that, the variable speed electric compressor slows down (instead of cycling off and on), so as not to freeze up the coil. This is exactly how my home mini split system A/C works, too - If the fan speed is on low, the outdoor compressor also runs on very very low speed, just loping along and using very little power.

I'm referring to the electric air conditioning with variable speed compressor in the Hybrid, not the system in the ecoboost.

 

[SoonerBrink]

That's not what I was told by a mechanic where I take my truck for maintenance. If the compressor ran at full capacity on low fan speed; as powerful as the compressor is, it would freeze up the evap coil. To prevent that, the variable speed electric compressor slows down (instead of cycling off and on), so as not to freeze up the coil. This is exactly how my home mini split system A/C works, too - If the fan speed is on low, the outdoor compressor also runs on very very low speed, just loping along and using very little power.

I'm referring to the electric air conditioning with variable speed compressor in the Hybrid, not the system in the ecoboost.

Makes sense. Regardless of what temp it's on... if I turn off A/c in a few seconds I can tell it's not as cold. Makes me think that it doesn't cycle like normal older A/cs. But if it's running normal, I can never notice a change in temp like older vehicles.

 

[Tiger Dude]

the mileage change between low auto and a low manual fan setting will be almost imperceptible. The compressor is what hurts your mileage, not the fan turning.

 

[SoonerBrink]

the mileage change between low auto and a low manual fan setting will be almost imperceptible. The compressor is what hurts your mileage, not the fan turning.

Makes sense, the main point of the lowest possible fan setting (manual) is personal preference.

 

[The Real Maverick]

Well, that goes against my 40+ years of experience and training in the automotive business, but I'm willing to give the "recirculate" button a try and see what happens. As for that last sentence... really? When using A/C in my home or vehicle, I can't imagine being stupid enough to try it with all the windows open.

What part didn't you understand?

 

[The Real Maverick]

Bottom line:

If you have the temperature dial set above "Lo" you are mixing in some amount of hot/warm air to get that "medium" temperature. At least in manual control mode.

In Auto (I never use it) it may be different. It may be more like a home thermostat where it blows full cold until it reaches setpoint then shuts off.

You're gonna make me use Auto today, aren't you.

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