Is it possible to turn on the air conditioner in the car in winter
Content
So is it possible to turn on the air conditioner in the car in winter when it is cold outside? This question is asked by drivers who have heard the advice that in order to extend its service life, you need to periodically run this system. The correct answer is not only possible, but also necessary. But there are nuances.
For example, the air conditioner in the cold may simply not turn on. And then the car owner also has a number of other questions related to the operation of the air conditioning system in the winter season. All the details are in our article.
Why turn on the air conditioner in the car in winter?
Any expert on car air conditioners will tell you that you need to turn on the air conditioner in the car in winter. And the user manuals of different car models will confirm this. But why do it?
Scheme of the air conditioning system in the car
The fact is that special compressor oil is used in the air conditioning system. Need it for lubricating compressor parts and all rubber seals in the system. If it were not there, the rubbing parts in the compressor would simply jam then. However, the oil itself does not circulate inside the system on its own, it is dissolved in freon, which is its carrier.
As a result, if you do not turn on the air conditioner for a long time (for example, several months in a row, from autumn to summer), the compressor will run dry for the first time after starting up after a downtime. This mode can lead to failure or simply significantly reduce its resource. And the longer the system has been idle, the longer the oil needs to lubricate all the elements of the system again. The more the compressor is “killed”.
And looking at its cost, no one wants to change this part (for Priora - 9000 rubles, for Lacetti - 11 rubles, Ford Focus 000 - 3 rubles). Therefore, the lubrication of the system is the basic reason why you need to turn on the air conditioner in the car in winter. That's just the use of car air conditioning in the winter should be correct, otherwise you will not be able to turn it on in the summer.
But in addition to the wear of the compressor itself, rubber seals also suffer without lubrication. And if they dry out, freon will begin to flow out and evaporate. Filling in a new one is not as expensive as replacing a compressor, but it is also several thousand rubles. Moreover, the costs will also not pay off, because if the cause of the leak is not found and eliminated, the freon will leave the system again and the money will be literally thrown to the wind.
Confusion on the question “is it possible to turn on the air conditioner in a car in winter” is caused by several factors.
- The manuals do not write anything about the fact that you need to start the air conditioner at a positive ambient temperature - no one has found an answer why this is not indicated.
- The compressors of most vehicles manufactured after 2000 rotate all year round and are referred to as all-weather compressors. The work of the compressor to increase pressure and close the clutch and pulley occurs inside the structure - therefore, it is difficult to determine that it really “earned” and this complicates the understanding of “whether the air conditioner turns on in winter”.
- Even with the compressor turned off, the AC lamp lights up in the cabin - we will try to figure this out separately.
How often should the air conditioner be turned on in winter?
There is no single recommendation. Mean - once every 7-10 days for 10-15 minutes. It is best to look for this information in the owner's manual for the specific vehicle. In general, this is the only reliable source of information for which the automaker is responsible with his head and risks possible lawsuits. Even if you doubt whether it is possible to turn on the air conditioner in the car in winter, look at what the manufacturer wrote. When it says “turn on”, then turn it on and don’t be afraid about what will happen if you turn on the air conditioner in the car in winter. If there is no such information, the final choice is yours. However, keep in mind all the arguments that were given above.
Why doubts may arise at all, because the system needs lubrication? In fact, in cold weather, the air conditioner does not start! Yes, even if the A/C light is on. In order to enable it, certain conditions are needed.
Why does the air conditioner not turn on in winter?
The air conditioning system of all vehicles, regardless of age and design, does not turn on at low temperatures. Each automaker has its own settings at what temperature the air conditioner in the car does not work, but most fit into the general range from -5 ° C to + 5 ° C. Here is the data collected by the journalists of the publication “Behind the Rulem” from auto manufacturers in Russia in 2019.
| car brand | Minimum operating temperature of the compressor |
|---|---|
| BMW | + 1 ° C |
| Haval | -5 ° C |
| Kia | + 2 ° C |
| MPSA (Mitsubishi-Peugeot-Citroen) | + 5 ° C |
| Nissan | -5…-2°C |
| Porsche | +2…+3 °C |
| Renault | +4…+5 °C |
| Skoda | + 2 ° C |
| Subaru | 0 ° C |
| Volkswagen | +2…+5 °C |
What does this mean? The design of the system has a freon pressure sensor, which primarily prevents an emergency with a high level of pressure. Roughly speaking, he makes sure that the compressor does not “pump”. But he also has a minimum pressure level, below which he believes that there is no freon in the system at all and also does not allow the compressor to be turned on.
At this point, elementary physics works - the lower the temperature overboard, the lower the pressure in the system. At some point (individual for each automaker), the sensor disables the ability to turn on the air conditioner. This is a safety mechanism that prevents the compressor from operating under low pressure conditions.
Why can the air conditioner still turn on after some time after starting the internal combustion engine and reaching operating temperature. Not a single automaker reports on the settings for the operation of their air conditioning and climate control systems. But it is logical to assume that the compressor heats up in the engine compartment of the car to the minimum required level and the pressure sensor allows starting.
But even in such a situation, the air conditioner can quickly turn off, literally 10 seconds after turning it on. This is where the evaporator temperature sensor comes into play - if it detects the risk of icing on the part due to the low temperature around, the system will turn off again.
How to turn on the air conditioner in the winter in the car
So should you turn on the air conditioner in the car in winter if it still does not start? Yes, turn it on, in order to drive the oil, and in order to produce it, there are the following options:
- warm up the car well, it will turn on when the dashboard in the cabin is already warm;
- include in any warm room: heated garage, warm box, indoor parking, car wash (by the way, many car owners recommend washing).
In this case, you can definitely turn on the machine air conditioner in winter and even control its operation. On older compressors with a magnetic clutch, this is easy to understand, because when turned on, there is a click - this clutch engages with a pulley. In modern climate control systems, it is possible to understand that the air conditioner can only work in a warm box, after a while checking what air is coming from the air ducts or watching the speed on the tachometer - they should increase.
How air conditioning helps with fogging
Anti-fogging
also one reason why to turn on the air conditioner in the car in winter is the fight against fogging of the glass. Any driver knows that if the windows start to sweat in the cold season, you need to turn on the air conditioner and the stove at the same time, direct the air flows to the windshield and the problem will be quickly eliminated. Moreover, in modern cars with climate control systems, if you manually switch the airflow to the windshield, the air conditioner will turn on forcibly. More precisely, the AC button will light up. The air is dried, fogging is removed.
In spring and autumn, and more precisely at temperatures from 0 to +5 ° C, when you turn on the air conditioner, it starts up and supplies cooled moist air to the evaporator. There, moisture condenses, the air is dried and fed to the stove radiator. As a result, warm dry air is supplied to the passenger compartment and helps to heat the glass, absorbs moisture and eliminates fogging.
But in winter, not everything is so clear. The problem is that if you dig into the physics of the process, then dehumidification of the air on the evaporator of the air conditioner is possible only at positive temperatures.
Scheme of the system when removing glass fogging using air conditioning in winter
In frost, moisture on the evaporator cannot condense, because outboard air enters it and it will simply turn into ice. At this point, many drivers will object, “But when it’s cold, I turn on the blower on the windshield, turn on the stove and A / C (or it turns on by itself) and removes fogging like a hand.” there is also one common situation - in the winter, in a traffic jam, cabin air recirculation is turned on, in order not to breathe exhaust gases in the outboard air, and the windows immediately fog up. Turning on the air conditioner helps eliminate this unpleasant effect.
How does air conditioning work in summer and winter.
This is true and it can be explained as follows. In the recirculation mode, when the air conditioner is turned off, the humid outside air is not dried on the evaporator, but is heated and enters the cabin, where it condenses again. When the heater radiator in the cabin heats the air to above-zero temperatures, the normal boiling process begins in the air conditioner evaporator. At the same time, the heated cabin air actively absorbs moisture, which it leaves on the air conditioner evaporator. These processes are described in more detail in the video.
So in winter, do not be afraid to turn on the air conditioner. Electronics will not harm the system - the air conditioner simply will not turn on. And when the conditions for his work arise, he will earn on his own. And a working air conditioner will really help to eliminate window fogging.
