What are the effects of turning on the cold air without AC?
2 Answers
Without turning on the AC, air will blow directly from the vents without being cooled, and over time, it will become increasingly hot. Below is an introduction to how the car's air conditioning works for both cold and warm air: 1. How cold air works: Cold air is formed by compressing the refrigerant to liquefy it, which then evaporates and absorbs a large amount of heat from the air. When the cold air is turned on, the compressor's pulley drives the compressor to work, increasing the engine load and consuming a certain amount of fuel. 2. How warm air works: Warm air comes from the heat generated by the engine during operation. After the engine's cooling system dissipates heat from the engine, a fan directs this heat into the car to create warm air. To get cold air in the car, the AC switch must be turned on, which activates the car's compressor to deliver cold air.
I often set the air conditioning this way too. In summer, I turn on the cold air without AC, and the fan keeps blowing. The air circulates, but the temperature doesn't drop at all, and the car remains stuffy and unbearably hot. Without the compressor running, the air blown in is just the hot air from outside, which is essentially ineffective ventilation. This operation wastes battery power, as the fan runs but fails to cool down the car. In humid weather, it can't dehumidify, and the windows are more prone to fogging up, affecting visibility. For safety reasons, remember to turn on the AC switch when cooling is strongly needed; otherwise, it's better to open the windows a bit for natural ventilation.
