New to me 08 prius....why such a bias towards ac?

welcome to priuschat! i don't use auto, so that eliminates the a/c problem. there is no dash indicator for oil temp. i miss the ol' knobs too. i just keeping hitting the up arrow until it's warmer than outside by 5 or 6 degrees, then adjust again after a few minutes. i only recycle when i'm behind a diesel, or need quick warm up/cool down. all the best!

 

Yes, you can have the cabin temp set warmer inside the car, this is necessary in the winter. I suggest you turn off the A/C compressor unless you need the dehumidification function.

No

Yes. Set the cabin temperature control, which ranges from 65 to 85 degrees F at least with US market Prius.

Certainly here in southern AZ I use the recycle function almost exclusively. In the summer I don't need 110 degrees F heated outside air to be coming into the cabin. And if you are concerned about CO, you would get more of that with the vent open, from the exhaust of cars in front of you than you will from your own Prius with the vent closed.

 

Seems this must be your first car with automatic temperature control, you just find a temperature you are comfortable with, set it and forget it.

 

You can change the temperature setting with the temp up and down steering wheel buttons (lower-left, at least in the US). Easy and beep-free!

Yes, the "auto" setting on the climate control seems to always have the A/C activated--that seems wasteful to me. I only use the climate control manually or leave it off. "Auto" also uses too high of fan speeds for my liking.

The recirculated air setting isn't an asphyxiation concern at all (the car is far from air-tight, and very low-emission), and it does warm or cool the car more effectively, especially when first starting out.

 

I think you are used to air conditioned meaning cooled, Toyota means it to mean altered in any way.

There is only vent (unaltered) and conditioned in some way (heated, cools dehumidified, etc)

 

This got me thinking about CO carbon monoxide safety in cars, since I try to maintain a safety focus.

Here's what the US CDC (Center for Disease Control) mentions in their CO FAQ:

Note the third bullet refers to having vents open if the liftback is ajar. But it seems like much of the auto CO safety comments go back to the days when we had 8% CO (= 80,000 ppm CO) in the exhaust (downright deadly) whereas a warmed up Prius probably will not even set my CO detector off (low ppm levels). I guess its rare but possible the catalytic converter could be dead.

I need to look into this more. Also in a car with vents closed, CO2 could build up and O2 could be depleted. But presumably there is enough leakage of air in.

 

Just because the A/C is always selected on when using "Auto", does not mean the cooling function of the A/C is being used. The "auto" part of the system ensures that the cooling is only used as required, as it does with heating.

Using the recirc function does not mean that the car is completely sealed and no air comes in from the outside at all. The climate control system always ensures that a measured quantity of clean fresh air is introduced from the outside to avoid unsafe levels of CO2, for safety's sake.

As for fuel consumption overhead, the climate control works very efficiently and in all but extremes of hot or cold conditions, there is hardly a measurable impact.

 

I set the temp and airflow I wanted when I bought this Prius, my second.

I have not changed either in two years. I do push the cabin filter button when I see dust or crop dusters.

 

loved the buttons and dials of the past, hate the touch screens.

 

I've tried to use the Auto, but find it's too erratic. At times the fan is on too much and for too long, other times it's too low. Could be because of the hatchback design and volume in the car. I usually only use the recirculate if it's very hot outside, and fresh air control can't keep up. We recently took a long trip, and tested Auto again. Regardless of the temp setting, it just wasn't a comfortable setup.

I went back to setting it at 73 (it was usually 82-86 outside), set the fan at 2 bars, and it was fine for all. When I set toe Auto at 73, the fan went crazy on recirc for a longer period than necessary, and it felt like it was 65 inside the car.

 

Try the AUTO mode by setting the temperature to achieve comfort. For example, perhaps you need to set the temp to 77 or higher, to result in a comfortable cabin environment.

 

Tried various temp settings Patrick, to no avail. It sort of reminds me of the age-old problems many office buildings have. Cold, hot, or just stale

 

1. AUTO
2. Set temp
3 (optional): change fan setting

If the fan is left to AUTO's judgement, the fan starts out high and drops down as the cabin approaches the set temperature. If all else fails, direct some or all of the outlets away from your face.

 

the engine hardly ever runs, so it's not really necessary. but if you want that kind of info, you can hook up an obi scanner like scan gauge or a phone app.

 

It is not customary for most passenger cars to have an oil temp gauge. If you are lucky there might be an engine coolant temp gauge.

I don't believe that the Prius has a sensor to track engine oil temperature. Engine coolant temp is tracked as well as temp of other assemblies like the transaxle, inverter, and traction battery.

 

+1

IMO, it is imperative to "Auto" working well for all adjustable vents to NOT be pointed at any people directly and for all vents to be fully open. The goal is to get all the ambient air inside the car at the same temperature. If you have any vents aimed directly at yourself or your passenger(s) you will get too cold (if cooling) or too hot (if heating) the cabin. I have found the ideal position is to direct the vents down the middle and sides facing upward, approximately aimed at the ceiling above the rear seat backs. YMMV.

As far at temperature setting, I just use that as a starting point usually 22-22.5°C (72-73°F) and adjust from there for comfort. My temp setting can be anywhere from 20-24.4°C (68-76°F) on average depending on the outside weather.

If anyone thinks that the car will set the inside temp to exactly the temp set "on the dial", "tell them they're dreaming".

Sorry, couldn't resist that, "Tell them they're dreaming" is a line from a favourite movie "The Castle", but I suspect will be an inside joke with us "down-unders" "Sorry about that, chief!"