Yeah… no… that’s only the newer generation of vehicles, the enshittified ones that assume everything for you.
Back in the 90’s and 2000’s, the engineers had common sense and if the temperature dial was set anywhere above 50%, the air conditioner would never turn on, as it’s a waste of energy at that point.
My 78 Chrysler was designed to use the AC in defrost mode even in a winter blizzard and was much more effective and drying the windshield because of it. Most heating/cooling system in cars were combined much earlier than that to take advantage of dehumidifying the air. It also has the benefit to run the compressor to keep lubrication and stop seals from drying out in the AC system that would otherwise not be used to months at a time.
There are some vehicles with separate heating and AC systems, (mainly cheap or aftermarket units) but the vast majority run together. (At least in North American cars.)
I really don’t know what to tell you there, I’m going by the vehicle manufacturer’s labels. The “defrost” mode on your climate controls (typically all the way to the right) that blows air towards your windshield will often use the ac compressor even if you have the heat set to high, because ac drys the air… it doesn’t have to be cold, it can be any temperature. Blowing wet warm air at the windshield isn’t very effective compared to dry warm air. That is especially true in our Canadian winters.
You can try it with virtually any car made from the 1970’s to today (and some in the 1950’s and 60’s) that was equipped with AC. Turn your defrost on, crank your heat, and you will hear/notice the slip clutch on the end of the AC compressor under the hood will kick in, turning on the ac unit. Some cars do come with a dedicated separate defrost button, (as opposed to the defogger button which only operates the heat lines in your back window) they also will use the AC to dry the air.
Defoggers are typically the heat lines you see in back windows, although some old cars (like my old 69 Newport) had blowers for the back window as well, and even a second heater core to feed it.
Long story short, AC is for drying air, not just cooling it.
Does absolutely nobody understand the difference between FOG vs FROST?
The deFROSTer is meant to gently melt snow and ice FROST off your windshield using the heater. Kinda fucking counterintuitive to blow freezing air at a frozen windshield, the FROST will never thaw that way.
The deFOGger is meant to dry the humidity off your windshield on a hot humid day, that uses the air conditioner on hot humid days.
Two different systems, for two different climates. deFOGger vs deFROSTer are two completely different modes of the climate controls.
I said 90’s through 2000’s, I said nothing about 2010’s or beyond.
I do not have much of any experience in working on anything past 2005.
Anything past 2014 is what I call new generation enshittified, as that’s around the year they basically started tracking everyone, refusing to offer printed service manuals (Hayne’s/Chilton), stop offering parts and requiring ‘owners’ to take the vehicle back to the dealership for repair.
I’m all about the right to repair. Your 2015 is a new generation enshittified thing, sorry.
So why are you discounting what people who do use modern cars are saying as incorrect if you don’t know much about it? I’d wager most people probably aren’t driving 25-35 year old vehicles anyway so at best you’re just stating outdated and irrelevant knowledge.
over_clox@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Yeah… no… that’s only the newer generation of vehicles, the enshittified ones that assume everything for you.
Back in the 90’s and 2000’s, the engineers had common sense and if the temperature dial was set anywhere above 50%, the air conditioner would never turn on, as it’s a waste of energy at that point.
Rocketpoweredgorilla@lemmy.ca 1 month ago
My 78 Chrysler was designed to use the AC in defrost mode even in a winter blizzard and was much more effective and drying the windshield because of it. Most heating/cooling system in cars were combined much earlier than that to take advantage of dehumidifying the air. It also has the benefit to run the compressor to keep lubrication and stop seals from drying out in the AC system that would otherwise not be used to months at a time.
There are some vehicles with separate heating and AC systems, (mainly cheap or aftermarket units) but the vast majority run together. (At least in North American cars.)
over_clox@lemmy.world 1 month ago
deFROST != deFOG
I’m starting to gather that most people don’t have any clue how to properly use their environmental controls.
Rocketpoweredgorilla@lemmy.ca 1 month ago
I really don’t know what to tell you there, I’m going by the vehicle manufacturer’s labels. The “defrost” mode on your climate controls (typically all the way to the right) that blows air towards your windshield will often use the ac compressor even if you have the heat set to high, because ac drys the air… it doesn’t have to be cold, it can be any temperature. Blowing wet warm air at the windshield isn’t very effective compared to dry warm air. That is especially true in our Canadian winters.
You can try it with virtually any car made from the 1970’s to today (and some in the 1950’s and 60’s) that was equipped with AC. Turn your defrost on, crank your heat, and you will hear/notice the slip clutch on the end of the AC compressor under the hood will kick in, turning on the ac unit. Some cars do come with a dedicated separate defrost button, (as opposed to the defogger button which only operates the heat lines in your back window) they also will use the AC to dry the air.
Defoggers are typically the heat lines you see in back windows, although some old cars (like my old 69 Newport) had blowers for the back window as well, and even a second heater core to feed it.
Long story short, AC is for drying air, not just cooling it.
SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Uhhh my 96 civic had an air conditioner button, and it also turned on when you turned the defroster on.
You’re making shit up, it’s a simple interconnection.
over_clox@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Does absolutely nobody understand the difference between FOG vs FROST?
The deFROSTer is meant to gently melt snow and ice FROST off your windshield using the heater. Kinda fucking counterintuitive to blow freezing air at a frozen windshield, the FROST will never thaw that way.
The deFOGger is meant to dry the humidity off your windshield on a hot humid day, that uses the air conditioner on hot humid days.
Two different systems, for two different climates. deFOGger vs deFROSTer are two completely different modes of the climate controls.
SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Grostleton@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 month ago
My 2015 vehicle does it that way, so it’s not exactly a recent change in design philosophy…
over_clox@lemmy.world 1 month ago
I said 90’s through 2000’s, I said nothing about 2010’s or beyond.
I do not have much of any experience in working on anything past 2005.
Anything past 2014 is what I call new generation enshittified, as that’s around the year they basically started tracking everyone, refusing to offer printed service manuals (Hayne’s/Chilton), stop offering parts and requiring ‘owners’ to take the vehicle back to the dealership for repair.
I’m all about the right to repair. Your 2015 is a new generation enshittified thing, sorry.
Grostleton@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 month ago
So why are you discounting what people who do use modern cars are saying as incorrect if you don’t know much about it? I’d wager most people probably aren’t driving 25-35 year old vehicles anyway so at best you’re just stating outdated and irrelevant knowledge.
JcbAzPx@lemmy.world 1 month ago
In my old '90s car, heat only just made the fog worse. You had to have AC on too. Though it did trust you to know that and turn it on yourself.
0ops@piefed.zip 1 month ago
My 04 turns on the AC with the defrost, so did the 01 I used to drive