In my last 2 cars, I was on "vents up" setting 98% of the time. My first 3 tanks on the smart were the same thing.
Warm air tends to "hang out" in the area between the dash and the windshield leaving a bit more radiated heat and the occasional hot breeze when some of the circulation (typically open windows) moves that hot air around. Changing the vents to panel tends to keep air blowing across exposed skin making some parts uncomfortable in either hot or cool weather (if there's sweat, the accelerated evaporation makes skin cold; if there's no sweat it's often cold already and the breeze doesn't help. Blegh.). The floor vents just seem to do nothing for the comfort level.
When I have my car buttoned up and no temperature assist is needed, why leave any circulation going? Because simply breathing is enough to build a small fog on the inside of the windshield after a while even if the outside temp is pleasant. Some airflow is needed.
Moving air across the windshield produces a very slight breeze toward the face which is hardly noticeable because the flow is spread out by the time it gets there. The hot air moves out from that stale air well with the assist. The circulation keeps dry, fresh outside air moving through the cabin to keep the comfort level up.
The only time I (used to) change my vent direction was if I desperately needed the full power of the AC or if my feet were freezing.
I'm now stuck with more stale air than I'd like and I'm never in a happy-place with the cabin if I'm driving with a passenger at highway speeds. The top down is too much when it's too cool (cold air, hot sun) or you want to talk; the window can't be open because the airflow pummels the seat occupant at full-open and a cracked window is hugely noisy. I try to balance the noise and the comfort but often just end up closing it all up and turning on the AC.
I just bought a new (standard) external air intake to prototype a forced air assist for the cabin air without screwing up the bodywork I have. With the intake currently perpendicular to the air flow, there's actually a negative pressure on the intake at speed; ask Bernoulli about that one. Perhaps by adding some positive pressure to that front end, the car will be less starved for the limited circulation I get with the half-floor, half-windhield vent setting. If it works well, I won't need to blast the fan to get decent airflow.
Now If I could just keep the AC from coming on when I don't want it.
... My last tank of gas resulted in 42.63 mpg and included liberal use of the A/C, driving on the highway (up and down hills) as well as to work and I even allowed my Sweetie, and my brother-in-law, my niece and my nephew to ride with me ...
Impressive mileage, but my goodness! How did you ever manage to fit five people into that poor little smart???
JohnH. There are fragments of a discussion on this topic down on the Maint+Op forum ,Perhaps we could contiue it down there?
I would enjoy pursuing this vent idea further as, I believe you are talking about a direct ram intake to the cabin without cutting a hole in the front bonnet.
Positions left and right of the center defrost setting seem to offer control over the AC compressor as well as directing air through the vents at the base of the windshield.
Not necessarily a logical solution but it seems to work.
Positions left and right of the center defrost setting seem to offer control over the AC compressor as well as directing air through the vents at the base of the windshield.
Not necessarily a logical solution but it seems to work.
.
Sorry to ask a dumb question......but are you saying that with the indicator set at either side of the defrost spot, that the a/c will not come on until you depress the a/c button? Thanks for clearing up this for me.....trying to keep up!
.
Sorry to ask a dumb question......but are you saying that with the indicator set at either side of the defrost spot, that the a/c will not come on until you depress the a/c button? Thanks for clearing up this for me.....trying to keep up!
You've got it Piccola! You can control the A/C compressor via the A/C switch by setting the indicator just slightly left or right of the top center position.
I think it's a good solution, once you know it's there.
Positions left and right of the center defrost setting seem to offer control over the AC compressor as well as directing air through the vents at the base of the windshield.
Not necessarily a logical solution but it seems to work.
yep, I suggested this (and later confirmed) way back in post#21!
:
(that's me tooting my own horn!)
but thanks for the nice pictures - they're worth a 1000 words
(well at least a 100 of mine anyway!)
You've got it Piccola! You can control the A/C compressor via the A/C switch by setting the indicator just slightly left or right of the top center position.
I think it's a good solution, once you know it's there.
Another trick I found was to put it just to the right (up vent & passenger air), and then slide the side-to-side bars on all the passenger blower vents away from the center of the car. That position closes all the cabin air vents, forcing the air to the windscreen. Not the best solution, but it works well.
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