How to get heat from the vents??

Stupid question, but there isn't a select heat option. It was cold the other day, and I'd wished I could have gotten some heat to come out of the vents, to heat the inside of the car. What do I have to have selected or pressed to get this to happen? Does AC need to be pressed on? I've always assumed this to be cold air.

Raise the temperature setting.

Outside temp 16 C. Raised temp in car tp 22 C. Had Auto and AC on. Cool air coming out after 1 mile.

Not enough. 30 c next time. I think you needed a much bigger change from outside to inside temp.

That's at step backwards IMO if that's the case. With my previous car, if I wanted heat, I'd just select heat and get heat. My decision whether to get it or not. Not somebody else' idea of whether I should get heat. So ... you're saying pump up the temp until it puts out heat? Fool it, in other words. Bad design.

Every car I've had with auto climate control was the same way. Even in a manual, you have to slide the control from the blue side to the red side.

Every house I've ever lived in you had to set the thermostat to the desired temperature too. Couldn't be easier in the Prius, imho.

My last car was a 1990 Camry. It had a slider to go from cold to hot. That was obvious and easy. With this car I can't get heat to come into the car. I looked in the manual, and all it talked about was heating the seat. So Auto climate just means cranking the temp up until heat starts to come out?? Does the Auto button and/or AC have to be turned on? If they're off, can I just crank up the temp and turn on the fan, to get heat?

I leave mine in auto all the time. But you can turn auto and a/c off and be able to raise the temp and adjust the fan and get heat.

If i want heat i leave it on auto and ac off and just raise the temp to where i want it.

I just leave it in auto and adjust the temp. The a/c light on doesn't mean it's running, but it's available if the systems sensors decide it's needed.

Great. I'll play with that. So ... will heat start coming out pretty much right away, when the temp is high enough for it to think I want heat? How long after getting in the car for the first time in the day, before heat is available? How long does the car need to warm up?

Good questions. I haven't had the car long enough or needed heat to have real world answers yet.

Didn't realize Auto was just controlling the fan. When in Auto, I find the fan is running way to high. If I lower the fan speed, Auto turns off. Is there a way to adjust Auto so that the fan doesn't blow so hard? Good to know about AC being on only if needed. Thanks.

When you select auto and a temp setting, the system will control the fan and vent settings to get the car to that temp as quickly as possible, then keep it there. If you change a setting, it kicks over to manual mode. In manual mode you have to set fan speed, temp, and vent settings.

Auto controls everything: heat, cooling, fan, which vents to use, and defrost. You can override with manual control, but the easiest thing to do is leave it on auto and change the temp setting as needed.

As for the question about how long it takes to get heat, it depends on how badly you want it. If you crank up the heat to max the Prius uses two electrical heating elements to make heat right now. Obviously you pay for this in mileage. Otherwise heating starts as the ICE warms up. It's a small engine, so you get heat fairly quickly. The Gen III has an exhaust heat exchanger that helps speed up the process.

Tom

Very handy explanation. Thanks. It's clearer now as to what is going on, and how to maybe control it to my liking. I'll play with the temp up and down to override what the car thinks I want. The fan blows considerably more than what I would choose. It would be nice to override the fan maximum / minimum speeds.

The fan speed should change as the inside temp reaches the temp that you set.

I'm a control freak so I generally don't like things with automatic settings that make decisions for me, but I find the auto a/c system works fine. It just took a little time to get used to.

Yes, you can have full control over the system. Just adjust the fan control (right side) to the level you want (takes it out of Auto) and set the temp control (left side). Also set the mode depending on conditions. I mainly use defrost and legs setting now as temps are falling in the morning. My temp is set at 65 (outside about 54). I get heat coming out within two to three minutes after startup. A/C is not on. No problem.

One reason that you are trying to 'force' the car to a higher temp setting is that it uses a senson to determine the interior temperature. If this sensor (as I am not sure where it is located yet) is in full sun, it will assume that the car is warmer, and need to have a higher temp setting in order to start heating.

Otherwise, I have noticed that when I leave it on the Auto setting, it will automatically adjust the settings to maintain something close to the set temperature. I have found it to be more accurate and effective than the Auto setting in my Honda Odyssey van.

Really? If the temp is raised high enough to activate "heat" mode, then it will switch to use floor vents also?
I didn't know that...haven't had to use heat yet.