Revisiting the A/C on while on auto

[studio460]

My AC seems to be active even when the AC button is turned OFF. Fan is on LO, AC off, and still cold air seeps through. I have to turn the entire climate control system power button off to get the ice-cold air from "leaking" out of the vents (plus, I still have some air coming out of my lower vents when set to top-vents or defrost only--is this a vacuum, blend-door, or a ducting problem?).

[davideos]

From time to time when messing around with the climate control, I have seen that when the set temp is lower than the ambient and I have the AC off, the air is cold and I see the power consumption of the climate control to go up. This sometimes happens when I turn the climate control on by pressing the "low fan speed" button. I'm attempting to get outside air, not conditioned. I believe it works to press the AC button to turn it off eventhough the AC light comes on; but I usually just turn the system off and back on again, put the system on low fan speed and turn the AC off.

I haven't played with it in awhile, but next time it happens I'll take better notes.

[WattsUp]

In the morning, when ambient temps are in the mid-40's, I don't want or need heat (I'm assuming that LO is higher than the mid 40's), but would like air flow. How do I do this? Open a window?

Apparently so. Unlike the A/C, there is no way to turn off the heat if, when you turn on the climate control, it thinks the cabin is colder than the ambient temp.

[WattsUp]

From time to time when messing around with the climate control, I have seen that when the set temp is lower than the ambient and I have the AC off, the air is cold and I see the power consumption of the climate control to go up. This sometimes happens when I turn the climate control on by pressing the "low fan speed" button. I'm attempting to get outside air, not conditioned. I believe it works to press the AC button to turn it off eventhough the AC light comes on; but I usually just turn the system off and back on again, put the system on low fan speed and turn the AC off.

I haven't played with it in awhile, but next time it happens I'll take better notes.

Sounds very odd.

With my FFE, it's been my experience that, when the A/C light is on, that is only time the A/C is actually on. By "experience", I mean feeling cold air and also seeing the corresponding energy usage.

What version of the MFT software do you have? I had some climate weirdness before updating to 3.6. Now is seems to work pretty consistently.

[jmueller065]

Put it on "LO", A/C off, and manually select the fan speed.

"LO" isn't exactly a temperature setting, it simply means don't heat (or cool if the A/C is off).

If you note that your climate is consuming ~1.5kW and it says A/C off: toggle the A/C on and then back off--in some cases the A/C will come on even if it says off on the display.

[WattsUp]

"LO" isn't exactly a temperature setting, it simply means don't heat (or cool if the A/C is off.

It sorta seems to behave like a temperature setting, around 60. If the outside temp is quite cold, the A/C stays off when I turn on the climate via "fan low". If the outside temp is warmer, the A/C comes on automatically.

[davideos]

From time to time when messing around with the climate control, I have seen that when the set temp is lower than the ambient and I have the AC off, the air is cold and I see the power consumption of the climate control to go up. This sometimes happens when I turn the climate control on by pressing the "low fan speed" button. I'm attempting to get outside air, not conditioned. I believe it works to press the AC button to turn it off eventhough the AC light comes on; but I usually just turn the system off and back on again, put the system on low fan speed and turn the AC off.

I haven't played with it in awhile, but next time it happens I'll take better notes.

Sounds very odd.

With my FFE, it's been my experience that, when the A/C light is on, that is only time the A/C is actually on. By "experience", I mean feeling cold air and also seeing the corresponding energy usage.

What version of the MFT software do you have? I had some climate weirdness before updating to 3.6. Now is seems to work pretty consistently.

I've got V3.6.2. The issue doesn't happen too often, and isn't too annoying, but it is there. I'll bring it up the next time I run into it.

[hybridbear]

For those of you who've reported that the car turns on the A/C while in auto (and it is clearly cold outside requiring heat): How do you know that it turned on the A/C? Monitored diagnostic messages on the vehicles data link and saw that the A/C was on?

That's how I know in the Energi. The Energi will turn on the electric heating element if you turn the HVAC temp warmer than the ambient temp even with the A/C on. The Fusion Hybrid would just slowly move hot engine coolant through the heater core to blend hot air with cold air. The Energi will turn on the electric heater to do this.

[Gigi]

If the climate is set to LO and the AC is (supposedly) off, the compressor will run if none of the vent settings have been selected. Oddly, selecting the panel vent turns off the compressor.

[WattsUp]

"LO" isn't exactly a temperature setting, it simply means don't heat (or cool if the A/C is off.

It sorta seems to behave like a temperature setting, around 60. If the outside temp is quite cold, the A/C stays off when I turn on the climate via "fan low". If the outside temp is warmer, the A/C comes on automatically.

Earlier this last weekend, at the time of a late evening drive, outdoor temp (according to the car) was 54. I turned on the climate using the "fan low" button and the A/C stayed off. Later in the weekend, outdoor temp was 65. I again turned on the climate using the "fan low" button and the A/C came on.

I swear there is a temperature "threshold" that controls whether the A/C comes on automatically. It doesn't seem to be exactly 60 (because I've had the A/C come on when the outdoor temp was just below 60), but it certainly seems to be around 60, which is the lowest temperature you can dial in before the display just says "LO". (Perhaps "LO" is sort like dialing in 59?) I think, for me, the reason the A/C comes on automatically most of the time is because the outdoor temp is usually well above 60.

Does anyone live in a climate right now where the outdoor temp is commonly well below 60? If so, what is the typical behavior of the A/C when you turn on the climate control using the "fan low" button? Does it stay off ("A/C" indicator does not come on, no energy consumed) or come on ("A/C" indicator lights up, energy consumed)?