You are correct!
I turn the AC off when there is snow and/or ice on the windshield, and Iām trying to melt it, or when Iām driving in below-freezing temps and ice is collecting on the windshield wipers.
I also do it in cold weather when Iām trying to blow warm dry air on the inside of the windshield and the car is still warming up.
Long before it was common to have air conditioning in cars, there was an option to blow warm or ambient temperature air on the inside of the windshield for various reasons. Those reasons didnāt go away just because most new cars now come with air conditioning.
If I need to get fog off the inside of the windshield, the dry conditioned air does it faster, but if what I need is just warm air and there is no fog on the inside of the windshield, conditioning that air seems unnecessary and costly in terms of energy use.
I have had cars that the ac runs with defrost on and no option to change it, that scenario has worked fine. Keeping moisture out of the car is more important imhop, such as kicking snow off your boots before getting in the car.
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