Dual zone aircon - heat from sides

[markfranklin]

Has anyone else noticed this phenomenon with their aircon, now that the weather has taken a colder turn and we're starting to use the heater rather than the cooling....

When I used the aircon in the summer, say it was a hot day and I started the car and switched the unit to 17 degrees on auto, it would blast out cold air from all of the vents (face, feet, etc) until the temperature had been reached (the speed of the fans slowed as the car got progressively cooler).

When I now get into a freezing cold car, I turn on the aircon on auto and select say 25 degrees. Being a diesel it takes a while for things to warm up, but after a few minutes nice hot air is available.

However, of the face vents, the hot air only comes out of the side face vents (ie the ones at the extremes nearest the doors). There is sod all coming out of the twin central vents above the aircon controls and stereo.

I thought it might be the vents were broken, so I pressed the button which directs air only to the face, and that had the effect of turning off the "auto" but I got hot air blasting from all four face vents. Switch it back to auto and hot air again now only comes out of the side two.

Just wondered if anyone else has this?

Cheers

 

[Tam]

Not noticed, but will check in the morning

 

[coggie]

Guess it must help clear the windows?

Or...

From memory it shuts the central vents down when you have two significantly different temperatures set...

 

[markfranklin]

Thanks for the posts -

The only good thing about it is that it does not blow hot air into the eyes and dry out the contact lenses!

PS Both sides set to the same temperature.

 

[flakmunky]

Hi,

My GolfV was the same... You can force it to come out of the centre vents by overiding the Auto setting, I think...

Incidentally, because the diesel engines won't warm up on tick over and require to be driven for a few miles to warm up the Golf had an electric heater that would give you instant(ish) hot air but only if you turned the heat right the way up to Max. Be interested to hear whether it is the same with the Leon or if the bean counters cut that one out...

Also, something I have noticed on both cars, when you engage reverse, the air con unit switches to recirculate mode. Although the light doesn't come on, you can hear the change in note which is the same as when you manually press recirculate. Presumably this is to stop exhaust gases being blown in to the cabin.

 

[Tam]

Right,

On "auto" i get heat from the sides only.

If i select it to blow out the heat vents to me, (i,e. the middle button of the 3 for direction control) it blows out of both the side and centre vents.


Haven't thought about this electric heater thing when set to the highest setting, will give it a go when its icy.

 

[coxxic]

guess its because in "AUTO mode" hot air should come out from foot space and colder from central vents to feel comfortable instead of going hot right to your face. Side upper vents are (primary) designed to point on windows to balance lower temperature coming from outside through window and protect against foggy windows

 

[Gib83]

I've too noticed this on the climate control. must be a standard thing on climate systems because my mk3 ibiza did the same before, only came out of the side vents when on auto. I agree with coxxic, i think its to make it comfortable and heat the car where it needs it most, rather than blast you with hot air.

 

[markfranklin]

Thank you for all the comments. I will check out the quick heater tomorrow morning. I will be out at 6am so it will be pretty cold then, and I will put the blowers all on max and see if I can detect any heat at all. Will report back results!

 

[chrisboyle999]

the clue is in the name.
air conditioning merely heats/cools the air to your set temperature.
climate control attempts to manage the air inside the cabin to your set temperature using sensors within the car, directing conditioned air where the system sees fit.
by pressing one of the manual controls you are switching from climate control to air con.

 

[pr0ton]

... the Golf had an electric heater that would give you instant(ish) hot air but only if you turned the heat right the way up to Max. Be interested to hear whether it is the same with the Leon or if the bean counters cut that one out...

Thanks for the tip, didn't even knew it exists. This function is absolutely brilliant, just tried it. Blows warm air almost immediately, even with a completely cold engine

 

[Tam]

Thanks for the tip, didn't even knew it exists. This function is absolutely brilliant, just tried it. Blows warm air almost immediately, even with a completely cold engine

Ahh,.. but that's in Finland .. .where it will be colder ...... so possibly needed.

I guess in England, the bean counters may have cut this out..... will know at 5:00am tomorrow

 

[Glovepup]

Ahh,.. but that's in Finland .. .where it will be colder ...... so possibly needed.

I guess in England, the bean counters may have cut this out..... will know at 5:00am tomorrow

and??

 

[Tam]

and??

Haha ...... got up jumped in car, weather was warm so forgot all about it .. till about a mile up the road .. by then i thought it was a bit late (as the engine was warmish by then) . Will try to remember tomorrow morning... If its cold enough.

 

[Tam]

Well... it was 9.5 degrees this morning, tested.... stayed cold.

Perhaps its only triggered below a certain temperature, or of course its not on uk spec cars

 

[pr0ton]

Perhaps its only triggered below a certain temperature, or of course its not on uk spec cars

BTW, do you have heated seats straight from the factory as standard? Because that's what we get here, and for example front mudflaps to mention some.

 

[Tam]

BTW, do you have heated seats straight from the factory as standard? Because that's what we get here, and for example front mudflaps to mention some.

Nope no heated seats, no mudflaps.

 

[flakmunky]

You had to turn it right the way up to Max for it to work on th Golf and it took a minute for the warm air to come through on a particularly cold morning.

You don't have to wait for a cold morning, it should work whenever the engine is cold.

 

[markfranklin]

I tried out the heater this morning as it was terribly cold. Put it on full max, full heat, and I put my hands to the vents. It appears to come out cold (or at best, cool) until the engine warms up.

So it sounds like my FR at least is not equipped with the super heater.