Turning off front defroster

not sure if gen3 is the same but in my gen2 I can press the defrost button on the mfd and toggle it on/off

 

Maybe I'm colorblind or the 2010 is different from the 2013, but the LEDs in the climate buttons on the center stack are green, not orange. Maybe you are talking about LEDs in some different location? Ignoring the LED for a minute, when you push the climate OFF button, does everything shut off, including front defrost?

 

You can tell when front defrost is off. The fans stop running at high (unless you have them on high for heat or cooling).
If you press the front defrost button does the light go off?

 

Yes, the scenario you described is normal. If you want the orange LED turned off, push the front defroster button BEFORE you turn off the AC system. You can also turn the LED off if you push the defroster button twice AFTER you have turned off the AC system.

I am basing the above info and statement on the reactions I observed on our 2013 Prius.

Best of luck to you.

 

Yes, I apologize for jumping in without trying it out. The main climate LEDs are green, but the front defroster LED is amber. I also confirmed that the defroster LED will stay illuminated when OFF is pushed. I also noticed that if originally in AUTO and then push DEFROST, the AUTO will go out. If you push AUTO again, the DEFROST will go out. They seem to be mutually exclusive.

 

I almost exclusively use AUTO mode. About the only time it comes on full blast is when cabin is really hot and the A/C with recirc comes on to cool quickly. Right now, we are in winter mode, and AUTO keeps the fan OFF until the car warms up enough to provide some heat. Then it gradually brings the fan up to speed as the car warms up. In other words, it prevents cold air blowing into a cold car until the engine is ready.

 

Yes, it stays illuminated as you described. Play with it and you will see what I was talking about. I waited until today to answer your post even though I read it yesterday. I wanted to drive the Prius and check it out while driving rather than starting it up on a "cold soak"...

 

You don't need to "start it up" to confirm this. Simply press Power twice with foot OFF the brake, and the electronics will come up without engaging Hybrid Synergy Drive--wow, that sounds like Star Trek or something. On first push, the Toyota welcome screen comes up, Power button has amber LED at this point. Second push brings up rest of electronics. You can then operate the climate buttons and see the responses. When done, simply push the Power button again to power everything off. Be careful of this: if you are in a darkened garage--speaking from experience--and you turn on the the driver's reading light to see things, then when you power down, both reading lights will immediately come on, and you might forget you pushed the driver's light. This will result in leaving the driver's reading light on after you exit the vehicle. Happy to say, this did not kill the 12v battery when I left it on overnight a couple nights ago after programming the next day's destination in the NAV.