recirc vs. fresh air???

[stiller fan]

is it true that at a stop, you get more air out of the vents with the recirc button vs. fresh air coming into the cabin? :)

[BenjiBoy650]

I believe it almost always holds true, whether it's at a stop or not? I dunno, from experience there seems to be more air coming out when recirc is on, but the temp may vary (depend on if its on or off).

[stiller fan]

i know that at highway speeds, the fresh air setting would bring in more air (open to outside)...

[princess]

The fans usually sound like more air is coming in on recirc. than on fresh. I don't know if it actually makes a difference on the amount of air coming in.

MANY of the years if you use recirc. & almost never use fresh air you'll get a swampy smell. Not all the moisture gets out. In the '86 I'd always put it on fresh as I drove up our street. It sat "open" then. I did it because I got that swampy smell once & it was nasty! There's actually been mosquitos chased out of there on some of them!!!

When extreme cooling you'd use the recirc. to make it cool faster.

We also change to recirc. when behind something stinky even if temp. isn't the issue!!

[anysia]

i agree, it always sounds like there is more air on recirc....

also agree not to always use recirc! 2 problems, the nasty mildewy smell and also the tendency to have ot have it on defrost/ac because the windows fog up!

i usually leave it on fresh air except when behind stinky stuff like princess said or trying to cool the car quickly (recirc, max ac, vented moonroof seem to be an AWESOME combo to quickly cool the car in the dog days of summer!! :thmsup: )

[BenjiBoy650]

An annoying thing that Mercedes does is that on their cars with a manual climate control (like our ML), when you rotate the temp control all the way to minimum cold without turning on AC, it automatically goes to recirc. We could never figure out why the ML's windows would fog up in like 5 minutes when no other car had any problems....stupid fools :headbash:

[Greg]

We could never figure out why the ML's windows would fog up in like 5 minutes when no other car had any problems....stupid fools :headbash:

I agree...I hate cars that try to "know" what you want. I find this to be the case with most GM rental cars that I drive (especially the impala) - the cars think they are smarter than you are. The impala has an idiot buzzer for everything. Fuel is low...buzzer. I decide to put the car in reverse before releasing the e-brake...buzzer. If I ever owned one, that buzzer wire would be the first one I cut.

As to the fan sounding louder on recirc, I always thought it was the suction noise (from the return) and the fan noise combined that made it louder. :dunno:

[Inspector1]

I agree...I hate cars that try to "know" what you want. I find this to be the case with most GM rental cars that I drive (especially the impala) - the cars think they are smarter than you are. The impala has an idiot buzzer for everything. Fuel is low...buzzer. I decide to put the car in reverse before releasing the e-brake...buzzer. If I ever owned one, that buzzer wire would be the first one I cut.

:lmao: :lmao:

To bad they don't have a warning buzzer @ dealer to warn you what you are about to Buy :nuts: :nuts: :D

I1 :)

[stiller fan]

i have noticed that through the years, honda and some other cars have always had the recirc / fresh air option, whereas the older american cars do not......another case of higher quailty overall of foreign brands??? ;)

related point: why must you have the A/C on with fresh air to de-fog the windows (above freezing point)? the older american cars never had this problem (i believe), and the only time that you used the A/C was to keep the interior cool.....whereas Honda, even if it's 35F outside, your A/C is still on.......

pls clear this up someone??? thanks! :thmsup:

[BenjiBoy650]

American cars all do have recirc I believe. They had a setting for "MAX A/C" which was basically AC with recirc. Pulling in cooler air from the interior vs. trying to cool down hot air from the exterior would cool down the air much more efficiently, thus "MAX A/C."

You have to have AC on in most cars because it increases defogging by leaps and bounds. Where it might have taken minutes on my regular settings, it takes only 3-4 seconds to completely defog the entire windshield with AC on. You cannot have recirc on because recirculated air causes windows to fog up.

Just a side note, some German cars have a feature that automatically switches to recirc if the temperature dial is on the coolest setting. To take it out of recirc, you need to put it one click above the coolest temp the switch/dial will go to. Neat trick, but I wish the dealer would have told us about it before we spent countless hours wiping the windshield with paper towels while driving because it kept fogging (recirc was ON).

[according2me]

:lmao: :lmao:

To bad they don't have a warning buzzer @ dealer to warn you what you are about to Buy :nuts: :nuts: :D

I1 :)

That's why they have Onstar...to remind you to visit your local dealer at ~50K miles for a $500 intake gasket courtesy of the General

[Inspector1]

That's why they have Onstar...to remind you to visit your local dealer at ~50K miles for a $500 intake gasket courtesy of the General

Yes very true :yes: :lmao: :lmao:

I1 :)

[dougm]

The fans usually sound like more air is coming in on recirc. than on fresh. I don't know if it actually makes a difference on the amount of air coming in. Depends on where the cabin filter is in the system, if it's one of the models that has a cabin filter. If the filter is bypassed in the recirc. setting, recirc. will give more air movement. Otherwise the fan is the same and moves the same amount of air no matter where the system is set. It will sound louder on recirc. because the air intake is moved to the cabin so you can hear the sound of air rushing into it as well as out of the vents.

why must you have the A/C on with fresh air to de-fog the windows (above freezing point)? the older american cars never had this problem (i believe), and the only time that you used the A/C was to keep the interior cool.....whereas Honda, even if it's 35F outside, your A/C is still on Don't know about other American cars, but on GMs the defrost setting has always activated the A/C. No A/C compressor should run when it's below freezing out. On the '05 Accord, pushing the defrost button will automatically switch to fresh air mode and activate the A/C compressor (which shouldn't actually run if the outside temp is below a set level). I don't really like giving up this control because there are times when it's very cool out, but not cool enough to deactivate the compressor, and I just want to defrost the windows a bit and switch back to heat. If the compressor runs, it accumulates water on the cooling coils so you can't put it back into heat mode because when you do all the water on the coils is vaporized and the car fogs up worse than it was before.
American cars all do have recirc I believe. They had a setting for "MAX A/C" which was basically AC with recirc Yup. If you want recirc. on an older GM, put selector on MAX A/C. In the winter the compressor won't run so this is useful when you get behind a "stinky truck", but it does switch air outlets to dash. The newer GMs have a recirc. button like most Japanese cars do, but on my last GM, recirc. was disabled whenever the selector was in defrost, split between defrost and floor, or floor modes, so they might as well have just kept the old system where you used MAX to get recirc.
The impala has an idiot buzzer for everything. Fuel is low...buzzer. I decide to put the car in reverse before releasing the e-brake...buzzer I miss the fuel low chime as well as the one that went off in my Pontiac when I put the car in drive and a door was open and the one that went off any time a warning light came on. Wasn't annoying, just 3 chimes (ding ding ding) which prompted you to look at the dash. My Accord beeps if I start to back up without the e-brake fully released too, but unlike the GM, the Accord actually senses movement before it makes any noise. Very classy! Pontiac also chimed continuously if you left your turn signals on for more than a mile (or so). I never had it happen in the 5 years I owned the car, but having been behind many fools who signaled a lane change and still had signals flashing 20 miles later, I think all cars should have that feature.

[datamac]

Speaking of fresh air ..... I have this very funny smell coming out of my vent when I first start up my Honda. It smells a little like rotting dead leaves.... like from a compose in your garden... I took out the air filter and cleaned even though it wasn't too dirty but the smell is still there.... The other strange thing is that is seems to go away when the AC is on. Does anyone else have this problem ?

[princess]

It's common if you use recirc. more than fresh air.... it's just the "airtightness" of the system. They have a disinfectant spray you can use.... I simply make sure it's on fresh before turning the car off. I haven't had a problem with this one, but Hondas in the past I'd push that button for fresh as I came into my neighborhood.

On the climate controled ones, MOST of the time when it's been on a while it will automatically kick down to the fresh air. I guess that depends on if you have it on full auto or not. You can also turn the temp up a degree or 2 so it uses recirc. less.

If not dealt with you can grow mosquitos in there!! So that swampy smell really does mean that you have swamp water in there!!


An article:

After you clean the evaporator, pass these tips along to
your customer to minimize future odor problems:
• If possible, don’t use perfumes or interior
deodorizers. Also, don’t smoke in the vehicle. These
things make the odor worse.
• Keep the evaporator case dry by leaving the blower
fan on (at least on low), even if you aren’t using the
A/C. (Use the various ventilation modes to direct air
where it’s wanted, or away from where it’s not
wanted.) If needed, use the temp control to warm the
air to a comfortable level.
• In dry weather (low humidity), keep the ventilation
system in the Fresh Air mode all the time, or as much
as possible. And in humid weather, keep the system in
the Recirculation mode.
• The last few blocks before reaching your destination,
turn off the air conditioner, but leave the blower fan
on. This stops the A/C’s condensing action, and helps
to dry the inside of the evaporator case.

[datamac]

Hey Princess, thanks for the info and the tips
Datamac

[jakes29]

trying to cool the car quickly (recirc, max ac, vented moonroof seem to be an AWESOME combo to quickly cool the car in the dog days of summer!! :thmsup: )


Maybe I miss understood but isn't the air inside your car much hotter on hot days than the outside air? If so, wouldn't it make sense to put it on fresh air instead of recirculating the air inside that is hotter? That is how I look at it so I usually put it on freshair to cool it down. Maybe I'm wrong. Any suggestions???

Plus my a/c does not cool like it should. I need to get that checked out.

[princess]

The therory is that it cools the air on the inside, so when you recirculate it it'll cool even faster!

That's why when you have it on auto & it's hot, it'll put it on recirculate for a while.

Best method when it's REALLY hot inside is to open it up as you walking to it via the remote if you can. Then start it & close it up. That way that 150 degree air is turned loose & you're cooling 110 degree air instead! :)

If you can't roll down your windows as you're walking up, then open it up as you get in open it up & let out the hot air for a minute or so as the A/C is working hard to get it cooled off.

If the A/C isn't making about a 30 degree difference between inside & outside, then it's in need of getting checked. So if it's 100 outside it's not going to make it 60 inside.... Mine freezes me out! Of course, we haven't had any Summer weather this year! :boohoo: