Stay cool and keep your money.
Comfort and convenience are great, but they shouldn’t put you on a treadmill. Here’s how to get cool and stay cool for many summers to come:
- Don’t run the air conditioner on recirculate (max) UNLESS the vehicle is already cool inside. Otherwise, you will burn the refrigerant or overpressurize the system, creating a leak, making the A/C useless. An acquaintance with the same make and model of car as mine, but a year newer, had to have her air conditioner repaired (presumably because she ran the A/C on max when hot), while my car never needed A/C repairs for the five plus years I owned it.
- Instead, with the windows partly open, run the blowers at top speed with unprocessed (temperature set to cold, but no A/C)air until the air coming out of the blowers is nearly the same as the outside air.
- Then, turn on the air conditioner (still not on recirculate or max) and run until the interior of the vehicle is noticeably cooler than the exterior was.
- Only after doing all of the above should you run the A/C on max or recirculate, if you wish, for efficient operation.
The above methods may use more fuel, but that is a pittance compared to air conditioning repairs. Don?t be penny-wise and dollar foolish.