2 questions: heater and can you lock the care while it's warming up?

:welcome: to our club!

1. The environment is governed by the temperature you set. The only things you really need to manually activate is front and rear defrost.

2. The older posters have a way to do it, but the Prius warms so quickly while driving, many of us just start the car and begin driving.

 

The heater is controlled on the "Climate" page in the MFD. On the left side of the MFD (Multi-Function Display) is a button labelled "Climate". Check there to adjust the heat. You can also control the temperature with a button on the steering wheel.

It's my understanding that you can't lock the doors while the car is running. From a Fuel Economy perspective, it's inadvisable to let the car heat up, as you're just sitting in place burning gas.

 

Hi Kathy,

Regarding number 1, yes the A/C is for both cooling and heating the cabin. The computer will adjust the cabin temperature to whatever temp you have it set for (using heat or cooling as appropriate).

The "Auto" feature works best for most rapid cooling/heating to the desired cabin temp.

I can't help you with your question # 2. I'm sure someone else will though.

Brian

 

I find it hard to believe that people are telling the truth about where they live on this forum. I live in Cincinnati, Ohio. Here, "ice" builds up all over the body. This includes both the front and rear windshield. When this happens, (the "ice" build up) for safety and legal reasons it is inadvisable to operate the automobile and a "defrost" period is needed before a person could just, "drive it while it warms up." I find it hard to believe that Ohio is the only state in the WORLD where this happens.

It's not that I or my fellow Ohioens hate the environment and like wasting gas. We would just prefer to get to work without dieing or getting sited for stupidity.

As a post script to those who live where snow falls and believe in the, "get in and go" theory: Are you the same jerks who don't wipe the snow off of the car before driving? Watching you look through the half inch cleared spot on the windshield while you sideswipe my old ford is funny. The bill was even better!

 

I think it is just that some like me have a garage or covered parking. :usa2:

 

Not all of us are lucky enough to own a garage. My home does not have one. Maybe someday. In the mean time, all that I ask is that people watch the generalizations.

 

Jeordie,

I did use the qualifier "many." Quite a few do as I do, so it is hardly a careless generalization. Some people even have special "winter items" such as heated wipers or washer fluid heaters to clear the windshield. I don't live in the very cold climates, but I do read and pay attention to what others say they are doing. I now have your experience noted and will include it in my thoughts. :usa2:

 

Before you go off half-cocked, you might consider that many if not most of us who live in cold climates have a garage. When not in the garage, I have an ice scraper and brush that works just fine. You also should realize that in these colder climates, we get more snow and less ice. It's much easier to deal with dry snow than the nasty ice you get in southern Ohio.

Tom

 

I have a garage, but I still park outside because my wife is a garage sale lover and Goodwill Industries supporter.

It is not as cold here, but one thing I realy like to do is put a small electric heater in the car and have it on a time so it comes on 15 minutes before I go jump in the car. There are small heaters available that will not get hot on the enclosure, so they are safe to use. I place it right on the center armrest.

 

Is it irony or hypocrisy that I smell?

Frankly, I prefer to just start driving, myself. I have an ice scraper that works fine for the small amounts of the stuff I get on occasion.

 

I think the short answer to Kathy's original question is that Toyota seems to think that "air conditioner" is a general term that is equivalent to climate control. Of course, most Americans think "air conditioning" means cooling by means of a compressor. My Honda Odyssey has a button to turn off air conditioning regardless of the temperature chosen during the operating climate control system. On the Prius, turning off air conditioning means turning off the whole climate control system.

That last option is not all bad -- when you turn off the system, the ICE goes on much less frequently when the car is cold.

I am an expert because I have now had my Prius for over 24 hours.

Now back to garage owners versus those with garage envy versus ice scraper owners. Hey that's a good nickname for the Prius (ICE Scraper).

 

Yesterday was the first day all year that I had ice covering my car. Like everyone else said, the ice scraper works fine.

 

It could have been a Freudian slip. :crazy:

Tom

 

I sense a lot of anger about the garage thing. what's up with that?

Isn't assuming we might be the jerks that drive while looking through a small peephole a generalization also?

I'm no scientist but it does seem that the ice scraper option would have to be more efficient than letting the Prius warm up.

 

Heater and locking the car question...

Don't know how or why this question got turned into a 'garage or no garage' post.

In my case, we have several drivers/cars and a 2 car garage. I also agree there are days when it's nice to be able to start it up and let it properly defrost before driving away.

Ice scrapers are great, yes, although, trust me when I say there are days when a simple ice scraper and snow brush don't cut it all on their own.

I'm all for saving the environment just the same as many others here, although, driving away without a FULLY clear windshield, side and rear windows will net you a NICE fine from the local Police! A whole 5 - 10 minutes of warming up and defrosting the windows also isn't worth getting into an accident due to fogged up windows or impaired vision.

I too was actually wondering about a way to lock the car when it was running.

 

Parked car with heater running, especially inside a garage = ???? :noidea:

And the answer is: carbon monoxide :attention:

Wonder what that will do to winter driving skills? :rip: