If I drive with my window slightly open and my air conditioner is on, will I add ozone to the atmosphere?
By no means. What you will probably do is ruin you A/C. If the your car still has freon 12 and it is leaking, then you would add ozone to the atmosphere.
No, you will not add ozone to the atmosphere, but I am wondering why you would keep a window open (even slightly) when the A/C is on.
The only thing that you will accomplish by keeping a window open is to admit hot, humid, unfiltered air–which would seem to defeat the concept of air conditioning, IMHO.
Aha! Allow me to enlighten these kind folks!
When the weather is hot, and especially on slow roads, I open my sliding glass roof wide, open my side windows an inch or so, crank the AC up, and live life like a king. I get the sun on my face, the wind in my hair (which I still have, by the way,) and since cool air tends to settle, my lower extremeties stay cool and help keep me cool.
Laugh if you like, it really works!
No, you will not add to the ozone layer. The AC system only cools existing air. It adds nothing to it. Nor does it perform any chemistry on it.
"If I drive with my window slightly open and my air conditioner is on… "
That’s how I can tell that another driver is a smoker!
No, you will not add ozone to the atmosphere. An air conditioner does not generate ozone.
I will grant you that opening a sliding glass roof will extract some hot air from the car, but in the process, you are also allowing more sunlight to enter the car, hence, an increased heat effect from the sun. I have tried this, and I concluded that the “extraction” effect was just not worth the additional sun/heat load .
However, your air in New Hampshire may not be as humid as the air in NJ is in the summer. Around here, you would definitely want to keep the windows and sun roof closed, whether to keep out the humidity or to keep out the pollen.
You misunderstand, my friend. The sun on my face warms my face and just plain feels great. And the constant breeze created by the roof and windows being open prevents sweating. It just plain feels good.
In really hot weather, like what we’ve been having this week (it hit 101 on the local bank LED display) I open the windows wide.
I’ve spent lots of time in Jersey, especially in Cliffton where I used to go for monthly meetings. I’ve even been lost in Newark (with a colleague, but that’s another story). Yeah, we have as much humidity…and pollen by the bushel basket. But I just plain love the sensation.
Driving a convertible with the top down in the summer with the AC blasting! thats living!
When the weather is hot, and especially on slow roads, I open my sliding glass roof wide, open my side windows an inch or so, crank the AC up, and live life like a king. I get the sun on my face, the wind in my hair (which I still have, by the way,) and since cool air tends to settle, my lower extremeties stay cool and help keep me cool.
Laugh if you like, it really works!
I do the same thing, it’s great but if it’s really hot all glass is shut.
The sun on my face warms my face and just plain feels great.
Yea, but when you see the surgeon to have the cancer removed, it does not feel so great. I have been under the knife over a dozen times in the last 40 years. Over that time I have learned to avoid the sun and/or use the best sun block available. I nearly lost my leg on the first operation and I was given a 10% chance to survive 5 years, I beat it and the last operation I had they gave me a 97% chance of surviving 5 years. I figure at my age 97% is great even without the cancer.
I would hate to see someone who I respect go though all that.
You can’t add ozone to the atmosphere by using AC. You can’t destroy any ozone unless your refrigerant is leaking. The open windows don’t do anything bad to the sky.
Thank you for your responses. No - I am not a smoker. I keep my window open a crack when I first turn on the a/c to blow out the hot air. Then if the a/c is too cold, I open the window a little to mix in a little warm air.
Thank you my friend, I’m truely flattered.
Hey, I’m 57 with debilitating degenerative disc disease, arthritis, and a bad heart. Cancer is probably the only thing I’ll never get!
I appreciate your sharing your trials in the hopes of talking some sense into me…impossible a task as it may be. I’m glad you’re still with us and plan to be having these discussions with you for many more years.
Thank you.
I agree it’s not doing any damage, except maybe using a little more fuel to make up for the lost AC.
Mountainbike, if you want the real “wind in your hair/sun on your face” experience, go buy a motorcycle (about the most fun you can have with your pants on). My only problem is the sunburn on the scalp, due to my thinning hair.
“Laugh if you like, it really works!”
I know people who do this. One person who gets nauseated in a car if there is not alot of fresh air streaming in. We can’t always live for efficiency. If it feels good it’s alright!
“Then if the a/c is too cold, I open the window a little to mix in a little warm air.”
That is why you have a temperature control on your HVAC system. By opening the window, you are admitting air that is warm and pollen-laden, in addition to being warm. If you feel too cold, just dial up the temperature a bit.
(Note: On your next car, you might want to opt for the premium HVAC system with automatic temperature control. Just set the exact temperature that you want and it maintains that temperature very precisely, with no need for you to do any adjusting of fan speed/temperature or to open a window. Some of these systems now are dual-zone, meaning that the driver and the front seat passenger can have different temperature air coming out of their respective A/C ducts!)
I’d truely love to except for that little crumbling spine problem. I like bikes.
Can you ride a trike?
Pay extra money for a premium HVAC system? Naw, just open the window. We’re only here for what, maybe 75 years? Enjoy it. Use the extra money for liposuction.
It’s really just a personal preference difference. Some like a totally controlled environment, some like open air, some like a mix.
Maybe, if the seat were perfect. I’ve actually been thinking about that. I’ve also been seeing the trikes with 2 wheels in front and 1 wheel in back. They look like they’d be more stable in turns. That would allow me to lay back the way I have to in my car. And, it being a trike, I’d never have any lifting to do, which is another thing that’s become impossible for me.
I’ve even found the local dealer for those new trikes. Got to stop in.