Car AC Efficiency Tips: Ways to Cool Your Cabin Faster

An air conditioning system is a must have feature in your car, especially in a tropical country like ours. It is important to have your car’s air conditioning functioning efficiently for a number of reasons. Besides helping offer a comfortable driving experience, an efficient AC system will help your wallet. 

The car’s engine powers its AC system and running a car’s air conditioning can drop fuel efficiency by five to 10 percent. Efficient use of your car’s air conditioning reduces engine load and has a lower impact on fuel efficiency. Before delving into tips to improve your car’s air conditioning efficiency and performance, let's quickly understand how a car’s air conditioning works first. 

How does a Car AC work?

Simply put, a car’s air conditioning removes the hot and humid cabin air and replaces it with dry and cool air. It does this by utilising the simple principle of heat exchange. In a typical cycle, an AC system uses outside ambient air to cool down a refrigerant gas with the use of a condenser. The AC system then pipes the refrigerant to the evaporator where it comes in contact with the cabin air. The cabin air cools down while the refrigerant heats up due to the principle of heat transfer.

In more technical terms, the car’s air conditioning system converts the refrigerant from a gaseous state into liquid and then mist using heat transfer and pressure difference. The system then passes the cabin air over coils filled with refrigerant wherein, due to heat transfer, the refrigerant inside the tubes heats up and turns from mist to gas while the cabin air cools down and is pumped back into the cabin. 

Cool Tips To Improve Your AC Efficiency

An efficient car’s air conditioning system not only cools the cabin quicker, but it also puts less load on the engine and helps save fuel as well. Here are some tips you can use to help your AC perform optimally:

1. Park Your Car in The Shade

Besides saving your car’s paint from harmful UV rays, parking your car helps cool it down as well. Parking your car under direct sunlight makes your cabin like an oven and superheats the air inside. It not only makes it uncomfortable to get into the car, but the AC has to work overtime to cool the hot air inside. Parking your car in shade keeps your cabin cool and puts less stress on your car’s air conditioning system. 

2. Vent Your Car

Venting your car before starting your car’s air conditioner helps expel the hot air trapped inside your cabin and replace it with fresh, cooler air. Open all your windows to vent out the hot air for a few minutes. Since hot air is lighter, it rises up and escapes from the cabin quickly, reducing the cabin temperature. This helps the AC cool the cabin faster and more efficiently by using cooler air.

3. Keep the Cabin Sealed

Having a window slightly open will mean that hot air will come inside the cabin leading to a loss of cooling. This will lead to the car’s air conditioner working overtime to cool the cabin to the desired temperature and maintaining it. Ensure that your cabin is properly sealed. This also includes damaged door and window seals as the cool cabin air can escape through the tiniest of gaps. 

4. Use Recirculation mode

In recirculation mode, the cabin air is recirculated through the car’s air conditioning system instead of drawing hot outside air in. As the cabin air goes through multiple AC cycles, it keeps getting colder and reaches the desired temperature a lot quicker. Also, the car’s air conditioner has to work a lot less to maintain that temperature. 

5. Set the Right Temperature

Setting your temperature to the lowest position isn’t an optimal way to run your car’s air conditioner efficiently, as the AC has to work harder to reach that temperature. The recommended temperature for optimal performance is 24 to 26 degrees. This temperature range provides sufficient cooling while ensuring your car’s air conditioner runs efficiently by reducing compressor usage. 

6. Use Automatic Climate Control

Automatic Climate Control runs the car’s air conditioner more efficiently. Simply set the temperature to the optimal range and set Climate Control to Auto. The Automatic Climate Control will adjust the fan speed and cooling to reach your desired temperature quickly. Once reached, the compressor will turn off the compressor while the fan will keep running to ensure the cabin is kept cool efficiently. 

7. Avoid Auto Start Stop

Using Automatic Start Stop Feature with the car’s air conditioner on is not recommended. Auto Start Stop shuts off the engine momentarily which effectively turns off the engine driven AC compressor. This disrupts the car’s air conditioning cycle which has to start all over again. This increases AC load as a break in the AC cycle means a loss in cooling efficiency. Disabling this feature in start stop traffic should help your AC perform more efficiently. 

8. Keep the Condenser Cool

The AC condenser acts like a heat exchanger, cooling the refrigerant using ambient air. It looks like a mini radiator which has fins for air to pass through. Keep the fins clean as any debris will result in low airflow and poor AC performance. Also, parking in a shaded area will help keep the ambient air around it cooler which will help in better heat transfer. 

9. Replace AC Filters Periodically

In our dusty environment, dust and debris can quickly clog the AC filter. This leads to poor airflow into the cabin and results in poor AC performance. Replacing your car's air conditioning filter periodically should ensure efficient AC performance and also keep the cabin air fresh and free of pollutants and allergens. 

10. Service Your AC Regularly

Issues like clogged filters or AC refrigerant leaks develop over time and identifying these issues early on will help save you hefty service bills and an optimally running AC system. Servicing your AC regularly from the service centre or by a certified AC technician will help save a lot of headaches. 

Modern Tech for AC Efficiency

There are a lot of ways of improving AC efficiency and investing in technology, which does exactly that, is a good start. Here are some modern tech which should make the AC ecosystem more efficient:

Electric Compressors

While an AC compressor is traditionally driven by the engine via a pulley and belt mechanism, new age electric and hybrid vehicles use electric compressors. These compressors are directly driven by the larger battery packs in these vehicles. These compressors operate independently of the engine and can run the AC even with the engine off. You can control these compressors more precisely, allowing for a more efficient AC system. 

Solar Powered Vents

Solar powered vents have a solar panel that can be mounted on the roof. These panels generate electricity to power a small fan that vents hot air from the car when stationary. This setup helps cool down the cabin without using power from the car’s battery, allowing the AC to run more efficiently. 

Auto Climate Control

An Automatic Climate Control system uses temperature and humidity sensors to detect cabin temperature and humidity. It controls the AC temperature and fan speed to bring the cabin temperature down to the desired level in an efficient manner. Once the temperature is reached, it maintains that temperature by adjusting fan speed and shutting down the compressor when needed, ensuring utmost AC efficiency. 

Conclusion

A car air conditioner works on the principle of heat exchange. It draws hot and humid air from the cabin and replaces it with cold, dry air, making the driving experience more comfortable. The car’s engine drives the AC system which affects fuel economy. There are a lot of ways you can run the car AC more efficiently. 

The simplest tips are to park your car in the shade, vent your car before driving off, setting the right temperature, setting automatic climate control to auto mode, disabling auto start stop and using the recirculation mode while running your AC. 

Other methods of keeping your AC running optimally are to ensure your cabin is properly sealed, replacing your cabin filters periodically, cleaning your AC condenser regularly and servicing your AC from time to time. These tips should help keep your AC running efficiently and ensure its reliability in the long run.