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how to turn on the heat???

Discussion in 'Newbie Forum' started by BrennanShilohRescue, Jan 19, 2009.

  1. BrennanShilohRescue

    BrennanShilohRescue New Member

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    hello :)
    i'm new here. i just bought an 05 Prius. i live in Florida, and normally we don't ever need heat in our cars, just air conditioning. well, we're having a cold snap, 35 degrees at night, and i want to be sure i'm not messing anything up. (before posting, i did look it up in the manual - there is no listing for heat or heater! and there is no heat option on the display!).
    do i go thru the AC function to get heat? i know i can raise the temp, but then it still says AC AUTO in the display window above the dash......
    i'm confused. how can that be right??
    thanks for your help and patience,
    laura brennan
     
  2. pjb_aus

    pjb_aus New Member

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    It will always say AC Auto unless you turn it off. It is really mis-named as it really means Temperature Auto. If you turn the temperature up, the heater will kick in automatically once the car warms up. This does not take long.
     
  3. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    A/C means Air Conditioning. Air conditioning includes heating as well as cooling. In the U.S. we typically use the term just for cooling, but this is technically incorrect.

    Your options for climate control are adjusting the temperature setpoint, enabling the cooling compressor (also confusingly labeled A/C), and selecting auto or manual control. All you have to do for heat is raise the temperature setpoint, either via the MFD or the Temp buttons on the steering wheel.

    Tom
     
  4. BrennanShilohRescue

    BrennanShilohRescue New Member

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    thanks for writing.
    okay, so....do i turn off the AC first and use the fan speed buttons (low to high) and temp? or do i leave it in AC mode and just raise the temp? in which case, do i use the fan speed buttons?
    this is why i thanked you for your patience in advance :)
    i'm having a lot of trouble wrapping my mind around this "heat thru the ac"
    thing....it "does not compute" to me.
    sorry. i never was very mechanically inclined...
    laura :(
     
  5. qbee42

    qbee42 My other car is a boat

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    Just leave the A/C on, select Auto, and adjust the temperature to your liking.

    You only need to turn off the A/C compressor if you open the windows, unless you want to cool the great outdoors.

    Without the A/C compressor, the temperature setting acts like a fan speed control. The lower you set the temperature, the faster the vent fan.

    Tom
     
  6. BrennanShilohRescue

    BrennanShilohRescue New Member

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    thanks, guys!!!
    laura :)
     
  7. V8Cobrakid

    V8Cobrakid Green Handyman

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    i tend to leave my Automatic Climate Control (a/c) between 70 and 72. if it's really cold out.. 74 to 76...

    that's literally it.. set the temp you wish.. and forget about it. the car takes care of everything (except defrosters.. you have to turn the rear on manually.. and the front one (till you can see through the window... hit defrost again and it will go back to automatic climate control)
     
  8. spitinuri

    spitinuri Member

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    The perspective on what is cold.... a week ago it was -3 degress F overnight. I wouldn't mind some cold weather.
     
  9. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    Pay attention to the dash and to the climate display screen to see what the thing is doing. The simplest is to just turn on A/C Auto and set the temperature you want, but you can manually override any or all of it.
     
  10. jaw444

    jaw444 Member

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    I got a 2007 Prius about 2 1/2 weeks ago, in the middle of a cold spell here in Los Angeles. It was in the high 40s and 50s all day. Like you, i looked in the manual under 'heater' and didn't find anything. Then, i looked under 'climate.' After all, it's called Climate on the control thing. but there was no 'climate' in the index. I tried looking under air conditioning and voila, there it was.

    It probably was my imagination, but it seemed to me that if i left the A/C on, i mean, if the green light was lit next to the touch screen button that says A/C, i could not get the car to warm up. I think this might've been because it was also on Auto instead of Manual. So, if i'm cold and want to get warm, i make sure the green light is not lit where it says A/C.

    I also stopped having it on the Auto setting and keep it on Manual because when it was on Auto, it would turn the outside air vent on, whereas I need to have it on Recirc all the time. Where i live, there's smog that you can smell (and worse smog that you can't smell) so i don't want the outside air vent on. If i want outside air, i'll put the windows down. At least that way, it flows in and out of the car. Using the vent in a car, the air from outside ends up stationary inside the cabin.

    So, right or wrong, the way i use the Climate system is to have it on manual all the time, and if i'm hot, i put the A/C on, green light lit up, and i turn the temperature to 70 or so, and put the fan on whatever intensity i want. If i'm cold, i turn the A/C off and turn the temperature up to 76 or whatever and turn the fan to the intensity i need. This has been working satisfactorily.

    I didn't know that the temperature had anything to do with the fan speed. That's interesting. I'm going to experiment with that.

    good luck, and enjoy!
     
  11. BrennanShilohRescue

    BrennanShilohRescue New Member

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    hi Jaw444,
    Ditto to everything you said :)
    here in Florida, i want Recirc on all the time too, because the outside air is oppressively humid all the time. i had to keep changing it back manually and couldn't figure out why. so thanks for writing.
    laura
     
  12. patsparks

    patsparks An Aussie perspective

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    Home air conditioning in Australia is normally a reversible heat pump which can be used to heat and cool a home.
    Unfortunately Prius doesn't use heat pump technology to heat the interior, only to cool it. Even when heating the climate control is still looking after other things while on AUTO, like humidity.
     
  13. snead_c

    snead_c Jam Ma's Car

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    Be alert to the possibility that with recirculate on all the time the duct work used by the AC could accumulate moisture that if not vented and dried could breed mold and bad smells. That was my experience on a vehicle several years ago. I had a hard time ridding the car of the bad smell.
    Since then I make sure the air intake is open and allowed to dry out by disabling the compressor towards the end of long uses as well as upon parking for extended time.
     
  14. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    Always-recirc should be fine if the temp is set low enough to run the compressor and thus keep the air dry. It depends on where the bigger source of humidity is.
     
  15. tom1l21

    tom1l21 Member

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    What is the benefit/difference between air recirculation and the regular air coming from outside? Should you use one over the other?

    and what does it mean when the air condition or "AC" button is not turned on but the fan and temperature are set?
     
  16. patsparks

    patsparks An Aussie perspective

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    Recirc will heat up or cool quicker.
    Recirc does not introduce stinking diesel smoke into the cab.
    Recirc will not demist the windows as well.
    Outside air will enter the car and stale air will be pushed out in fresh air mode which is handy if you fart.

    If you have fan on manually and AC off the heater responds to the preset temperature if it's cold but the car wont be cooled by the AC if it's hot.
     
  17. emeticmedic

    emeticmedic New Member

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    I've read mixed things from posts about the AC/Auto mode not affecting gas mileage when it's cold because the compressor is not working to keep the air cool like in the summer. I have been using manual to avoid running the AC, but then after reading that I tried the Auto mode, which of course is more convenient. It seemed to immediately affect my mileage. This of course was just one short trip, but what are other people's experience with this?
     
  18. richard schumacher

    richard schumacher shortbus driver

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    AUTO AC runs the compressor only when cooling is called for, not all the time. In winter the system will start and run the engine to supply more heat if called for, whether AUTO AC is on or off (that is, in auto or manual). That additional running of the engine also reduces MPGs. Is it really worth worrying about either of these?
     
  19. stevendwatson

    stevendwatson New Member

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    You can use the Recirculate along with the A/C Auto. Simply press the A/C auto button followed by the Recirculate button. Then use the arrows to set your temperature. I frequently keep it at 70 degrees with A/C auto Recirculate.