Do you turn on the heat...

Can you tell me about your remote starter?

 

No problem. That's pretty amazing. Most women I've known are just the opposite. I am comfortable with 62 night temps, but my wife isn't cozy unless it's 70. My problem actually isn't with sleeping, it's working inside at a desk or computer when it's below 68. Just kind of sets into my bones and gives me a chill that I have a hard time shaking. Must be getting old.

 

Well I found out today I can put my temp on 72 and turn the air and the fan off with the recirc on and Thats plenty of heat.

I wonder if the thermostat works in that mode?....

Is the vents still working to control the temp?

 

Why punish or deprive yourself?

I live in San Diego, anything below 68 is too cold and above 72 is too warm.

Seriously, it's in the 40s when I leave for work in the morning. I crank the heat up and when it finally kicks in I have it around 74-76. It's not like I'm heating the whole house.

And while I might not use the AC in the house, I'll certainly use it in the car. And set it on Max cold too.

 

well im a bit active when online. im usually doing a few other things at the same time. i have an electric foot warmer that i use on occasion in the morning when i first get up and dont go work out first. (usually happens if i have something to do or am sick or something).

i was in the habit of taking a 45 minute walk every morning but the weather has become ridiculous this year... saw the news the other day that stevens pass in the cascades had 287 inches of snow in the month of January alone. 2nd snowiest month in history. that translates into a lot of raining down here. got a few nice pix of the nisqually flooding the landscape.

 

You just need a couple of nice warm puppies to snuggle with?

 

Shure, but let me tell you that it's not an easy DIY project, involves cutting wires, soldering, snaking thins all over and it get a little complex.
I'm using a Remote Start from a company called DEI, manufacturer or Viper equipment, it is a 2 way communication alarm and remote starter device in one package model 791, handheld or "remote" is in constant communication with the brain unit located inside of the car by means of RF transceiver. Today day is the most reliable piece of equipment for under $300 retail. I'm using a modified (customized software) Immobilizer bypass device in order to allow the "RS" to start the process without a FOB inside the slot.
Soon I will do a light write-up with the basics on the installation of such a device for our cars. Up to this moment, last 2 weeks, I have everything in test mode, but shortly I will start taken pictures to post along with the instructions also.
Hope that this helps a little, but let me assure you it works, regardless of Toyota Svc Dept comments of a NO NO, can't do.

 

ok sorry it took so long to respond but had to wait for bill to show up since i shred everything that has personal info on it.

electricity=6.7807 cents
plus
energy conservation program charge = .1154 cents
power cost adjustment = .3531 cents

minus
energy exchange credit =1.74 cents
wind power production credit = .0675 cents

overall cost = 5.4417 cents/ kwh

ok underestimated power cost...

BUT

that low price is effectively derailed by the 9% city ultility tax

 

I havn't noticed a big drain in my MPG with either the heat or the AC on. The biggest drain are short trips 5-10 min. Get on the open road for 30 min. or more and the mileage builds right up again regardless of temperture control setting.

 

Thanks for the info, It might be a good future project. Let me know if you decide to do the write-up.

 

Heat, the Final Frontier.

I've always used heat and air conditioning and I'm not about to stop now.

It's usually set to 72 in the winter unless we're feeling really chilly and 75-78 in the summer. When my mother from florida (though she nows lives in Santa Cruz) is in the car, it is set for 78. Gotta keep her thin blood happy.

I run the defrost/defog when I can't see out of windows until I can see out of them. Visibility is important!

The gas hit for heat doesn't bother me nearly as much as the general hit for cold weather does.

I figure if I ever see one of those High Mileage Tanks it will be in the middle of a mild summer week - no a/c, quick warm ups, and no school. I'm not holding my breath.

Mom's Taxi aka
Lisa

 

I've found that using the heater sparingly helps the FE quiet a bit in slow stop-and-go traffic. If I turn of the heat when coasting towards a red-light I find that the car shuts down the ICE (long) before I even stop or in the worst case as soon as I stop. If I keep the heater on Auto it keeps the ICE running all the time (I could also see that in the Prius I was tagging today. My ICE was off att every red-light and his where running all the time!). This makes quiet a substantial difference for me. When barley running the heater I can 'easily' keep the FE just over 50MPG going to work on backroads at ~32F. Using the heater I'm looking at 43MPG in warmer weather (~35-37F) when going to work.

So the heater makes a difference when you drive in slow traffic as it prevents the ICE from shutting off. To me it seems to make almost no difference when you are up at speeds where the ICE would be spinning anyway (say 35mph+). So I use the "auto" switch on the wheel and turn the system "off" as I coast to a red light or stop and back "on" when I accelerate or places where I know the engine will run anyway (a couple of hilly areas). On a couple of flat or down hill areas I also turn the heat "off" as these are areas where I can coast or use EV mode for an extended time.

I've also found that the cabin stays warm and warms-up a lot quicker then I thought. Maybe I use the heater/fan for 3-4 minutes on a 30 minutes ride and the cabin is warm enough as I dont' use gloves and have to open up my jacket after a short time. It's def warm enough so that I don't see my breath! I tend to run the heater for a couple of minutes after the car has warmed up to get a little heat into the cabin and then "pulse" in heat when I have a chance. I find that a lot of times I forget to pulse in the heat and leave it "off" by mistake because the cabin stays so warm. So turning the heat off is not as painful as it sounds.

So, if you like me drive in slow traffic where coasting with EV off and staying at red-lights makes a difference then you might want to consider pulsing the heat. If you drive on slightly faster roads then just keep it on auto. I think there is a reason we can turn off the heat/AC from the steering wheel. They the toyota engineers must have known that this makes a difference!

Love this car!

 

well i must say my resistance to cold comes back to haunt me in the summer. we have pretty mild summers here, but i usually have my air set to 72º and to be honest with ya, i creep it down FREQUENTLY... 72 only works if it aint sunny out. if im in direct sun, i usually set it at 68º...

so to make a long story short, the money i save on gas in the winter, gets spent every summer.

 

OK.. I have a question.....

I can turn the Auto on or leave it off and only run the A/C, ot leave both off and I still get heat as long as the recirc is on?

What is:
1. Auto on?...."auto cannot be on without A/C being on too"... I assume that turns hot and or cold on to maintain a certain temp? and if thats true what is the range it will let the temp fluctuate?
2. A/C on without the auto on? whats happening here?
3. Both off with recirc on..... whats happening here?

 

WS, I'm glad to see I am not the only one confused by this. I think it goes like so:

Parameters of climate control:
Cabin Temp
Cabin Humidity
Cabin mixture of outside/recirculated air
Fan rate

You always set the Cabin Temp
'Auto' takes care of the rest
'AC' allows you to set the fan rate, but retains control of recirc/humidity

In my high desert very low humidity climate, I use fan only to clear the windshields and auto to heat up in the winter; and AC in the summer with fan set to max.

I use heating exactly as somervillePrius: After the ICE has warmed up, when it has to run anyway (not at stops or gliding). I think that the heater hit on FE seen if left on all the time in city driving, in addition to forcing the ICE to run at stops, is due (perhaps even more?) to it's cooling off as the ICE loses ambient heat while idle.

A chilled ICE is an inefficient ICE.

 

Well it would make sense that no A/C or Auto would be very economical... but with the A/C on and the auto off... is that also economical?

 

The A/C pump only runs when needed to remove heat and/or lower humidity (condition the air). The Prius "knows" what blend of air you need and sends dehumidified air to the windshield if needed.

This car is smart enough I normally just leave it on unless I am coming into a parking lot and I want more stealth (Even in EV mode the fan makes enough noise to make it sound like the ICE is running).

I don't know if A/C on and the "Auto" off forces the A/C pump to always be on but I suspect it would be more Economical to leave "Auto" on.

 

Yeah, I've not noticed any real hit using the rear defrost. I use it a lot on the way back from hockey. The gear tends to totally fog the window if I don't use the defrost. The front defrost, on the other hand, seems to use a lot more energy.

 

Yea.. pretty cool that the car is so stinkin quiet that the normal noise of the fan is noticable!..

I had someone stick thier head in my window when I was stopped the other day and comment on how quiet the car was!........... then the motor turned off!....

I thought the motor was off even when it was on! :lol:

 

Looks like you are doing a pretty impressive job of keeping the mpg's up in summer in spite of the cool streak. We're a bit the opposite and probably use A/C more in winter for defogging than in summer, but I like it warm and dry.