AC or Windows down?

Yes, I really hate all the buttons. I'd rather go back to the rotary knobs on my Corolla. I really dislike not having the ability to change the temperature while the HVAC is off. I dislike having to jab the temperature repeatedly to switch from cold to hot and vice versa. I know I'm supposed to set my desired temperature and let AUTO handle climate control but the system sadistically enjoys blowing piercing cold air in my face on full blast on hot days. My 20 year old Corolla was so much simpler.

 

Ford trucks turn the fan off when you hit off... it also shuts off the vents and there isn't an option to open them...

 

I can see where it would be useful to keep your preferred fan speed, but my previous cars all had the fan on a dial, with Off and High being the two extremes. Intuitively I just keep expecting it to turn off when I press down.

I don't mind the heat when it's dry, but when the humidity is up there and it isn't cool outside, that's when I use the AC. That hurt my tank quite a bit the other week since it was mostly 70-80s and super humid, only got 56.8 mpg (per Fuelly, not the car) from that tank, but the next week when it was simply hot and dry I stuck with the open window method and got 61.5 mpg (also per Fuelly) out of that tank. It wasn't just the AC that brought my mpg down, it was raining some of those days, and driving in the rain seems to drop me 5-10 mpg on it's own.