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Prius Climate Temp Issues - Suggestions?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by prominence, Dec 12, 2011.

  1. prominence

    prominence Junior Member

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    I recently upgraded to a 2011 Toyota Prius III from a 2007 Toyota Yaris Sedan.

    Believe it or not, there are several things I miss from the Yaris (and several things I don't.)

    My biggest gripe is about the climate control. I don't know if I'm just hot-blooded, but does anyone else not like the fact that the lowest the temp can go is 65 in the Prius? "Lo" setting is TOO cold, but 65 is too hot. I would like to set it on 60 or somewhere between 60 and 65. I prefer to have a constant light breeze blowing on my face (usually 2 notches up from the bottom on the fan setting) so finding the right temp is important. In the Yaris, I could always adjust the manual knob halfway between the blue and the red, and it would be the perfect temp.

    With the Prius, I am constantly fiddling with the controls, and every 5 minutes I'll end up having to hit the "front defrost" button which is also annoying (and I'm not using the air recycle option, I'm letting it flow in from outside), as in the Yaris I rarely ever had defrosting issues.

    My question is - is it possible to get the temp somewhere between 60 and 65, or is the lowest possible simply 65?

    If so, anyone have any suggestions for what settings they maintain their climate control on for optimal cabin comfort and keeping the windows defrosted without actually having the defrost function active or hitting it every 5 minutes, especially in bad weather?

    Thank you!!
     
    #1 prominence, Dec 12, 2011
  2. jdcollins5

    jdcollins5 Senior Member

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    As for setting the temp to below 65 I do not have an answer. I am not nearly as hot natured as you :)

    As for the defrost setting, if you will press the Mode button multiple times you will cycle through vent combinations. One of the combinations will include the defrost along with either face or floor. This will keep the windows defrosted in humid weather.
     
    #2 jdcollins5, Dec 12, 2011
  3. spiderman

    spiderman wretched

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    You would do well here in Alaska. :)

    Guess 65 is the lowest controllable cabin temp. As JD pointed out, defrost is one of the modes. Also, if you want that with auto fan control, simply press auto, then select the defrost mode. During engine warm up, the computer will start the fan out on the lowest setting, increasing it as the engine warms up.
    On rare occasions when you need full defrost, press the front and or rear defrost buttons.
     
    #3 spiderman, Dec 12, 2011
  4. xs650

    xs650 Senior Member

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    I think that if you got the "room temperature" sensor to lie to the heater controller and tell the controller it was warmer in the car than it really was, you could fool the heater into keeping a cooler temperature.

    The "room temperature" sensor is a thermistor and it looks like 10k ohms in parallel to the thermistor would make the heater controller think the car was about 10 degrees warmer inside than it really was. That would give you control down to about 55F when your setting was at 65F.
     
    #4 xs650, Dec 12, 2011
  5. spiderman

    spiderman wretched

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    Great mod idea. :D
     
    #5 spiderman, Dec 12, 2011
  6. Tideland Prius

    Tideland Prius Moderator of the North
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    The fact that your windows are fogging up hints to me that you're not using A/C. A/C dehumidifies the air, drying it out so the windows don't fog. That would help with cooler temperatures too coming out of the vent. The A/C compressor is electrically driven (off the HV battery) so your electrical consumption (as long you aren't blasting it at full speed) is not much. Plus, you can use ECO mode to reduce output of air (or turn it off if the output isn't enough)
     
    #6 Tideland Prius, Dec 12, 2011
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