Fuel Economy Standard...Universal Law

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of unintended consequences...for those of us here, Gary Allan's universal law of unintended consequences was that the solution to a problem brings about more, and bigger consequences than it intended to solve.

This one motor vehicle HVAC systems...
* Make them more efficient, and you burn less fuel (or emit less C, whichever the bent of the boffin in charge).
* reduce cabin leakage, and they have less air to cool, taking less power.
* reduce the leakage to zero (like being locked in an icebox), and they are more efficient still.

http://articles.sae.org/15377/

"If it only saves one life" is reason to regulate something into or out of existence, then what about regulations that have directly, and measurably according to Az authorities cost lives...

(Thanks to Terry D for the article on Linkedin)
 
I never use recirculation, always vented, no a/c, and around town I'm a window down driver. I probably have excess cabin oxygen.
 
Originally Posted By: Silk
I never use recirculation, always vented, no a/c, and around town I'm a window down driver. I probably have excess cabin oxygen.


I'm the same way. Windows down,sunroof open,t-tops off
laugh.gif
I only use the AC if my passenger requests.
 
I use recirculate because it's hot outside. On a long trip I might take it off after a while because I get too cold. My old 86 Mercedes would turn recirculate off after a while.
 
99% of the time I have the AC on it's in recirc mode. Still plenty of air moving through the car. Cars have vents in the rear usually covered by flimsy flaps under the trunk liner.
 
I usually leave the a/c set on 64 and the car will automatically turn on / off recirculate as needed.
 
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
99% of the time I have the AC on it's in recirc mode. Still plenty of air moving through the car. Cars have vents in the rear usually covered by flimsy flaps under the trunk liner.


You didn't even red the SAE link, did you ?

(per usual)
 
Interesting. My pickup truck has a recirc button, but after you turn the key off it automatically resets back to fresh air. FWIW sometimes around here you need the max a/c recirculated air and I'll keep in mind to open it up to fresh air once the car is cooled down. Would have never guessed there could be a buildup of carbon dioxide.
 
Originally Posted By: Shannow
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
99% of the time I have the AC on it's in recirc mode. Still plenty of air moving through the car. Cars have vents in the rear usually covered by flimsy flaps under the trunk liner.


You didn't even red the SAE link, did you ?

(per usual)
That's a fact. I do have a CO2 meter. Tonight I'll drive around with the AC on and get some readings from it.
 
Originally Posted By: Shannow
It's always a fact with you...isn't it.

No facts, just opinion and rhetoric.
I'll take pictures for you......
 
Interesting article indeed. I don't remember exactly, but a high concentration of CO2 causes sleepiness, delays reaction time and ultimately loss of consciousness. In a car, that will most likely lead to a crash long before someone actually suffocates from lack of oxygen.
 
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
99% of the time I have the AC on it's in recirc mode. Still plenty of air moving through the car. Cars have vents in the rear usually covered by flimsy flaps under the trunk liner.


Those flaps are there to release the pressure when you slam the doors closed, when everything else is closed. They're not there to provide fresh air.
 
Originally Posted By: KrisZ
Originally Posted By: SHOZ
99% of the time I have the AC on it's in recirc mode. Still plenty of air moving through the car. Cars have vents in the rear usually covered by flimsy flaps under the trunk liner.


Those flaps are there to release the pressure when you slam the doors closed, when everything else is closed. They're not there to provide fresh air.
No they are to provide for flow through ventilation. They are exhaust vents that being at the rear of the car vent into a low pressure area.
 
I remember reading the owner's manual on one of my cars. It said that recirc mode was a blend of 80% recirculated and 20% fresh air. Of course that was 40 years ago.

I guess the manufacturers knew what they were doing. I remember a 4-week family vacation driving out West with 5 people in the car for hours at a time with the a/c on.
 
Come on now, does everyone think that running with the recirculate on means that you are in a sealed unit with zero outside air coming in?

If that was the case, you would die from lack of oxygen because of too much carbon dioxide that you exhale on a several hour trip.
 
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