Kitcat Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 She says in cold weather, the inside of the car will warm up to 75 degrees just as fast when the thermostat is set on 75 degrees, as when set on max (abt 90 degrees). She uses the oven analogy (ovens dont warm up to 350 degrees any faster when the thermostat is set on 400 degrees). Assume car's heater fan is not turned on till engine is warm. I use the boiling pot of water analogy (see why we need your help?): A gallon of cold water heats to boiling faster if max btu's are used (flame at max, not medium). If (as I pray:)), my wife's analogy to the oven is wrong, why? Full disclosure: This came up on the way to a joint book club poker nite deal. After dropping her off at book club, I "laid my cards on the table," so to speak, at poker and sought the learned male advice of my fellow players. Sadly (tragically?) my poker buddies all sided with my wife's logic (And they call the selves men!). Can you help a brother out here???? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimrankin Posted January 22, 2012 Share Posted January 22, 2012 She's right... at least in most cases. Most modern cars that have a temperature setting read the air temp at the return and put out about the same supply heat till it gets the return temp it wants. If your not on the "automatic" setting then fan speed on max will bring up the temp quicker. I have the opposite problem you do, my wife gets in and cranks my car to 85 from my constant of 68 because she thinks it's "warm faster" that way, and then doesn't remember to turn it down till we are baked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mondo Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 I agree with Jim... and have the same problem. I tell her to leave it where she likes it and it will get there at the same time. Then you don't have to turn it down after that. The only problem with "automatic" in many cars is it usually activates the floorboard vent (heat rises so probably good) and if you change to dash vents it turns to "manual". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BruceBowker Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Heat in cars??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimrankin Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Haven't you heard of tow vehicles. LOL. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slngsht Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Normally I'd say the wife is always right, but in this case she actually is right Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkinnyG Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 On most of the cars I've worked with, temperature control is merely an adjustable blend of unheated air and heated air. As the engine and interior warm up, I keep the temp on HOT, so there is no "cooler" air bypassing the heater core - I want ALL the heat in the air that I can get. Once the interior is warm, I'll drop the temp from HOT to wherever comfortable is (thereby allowing some outside air to bypass the heater core and mix in). Other cars control temperature by limiting the amount of hot coolant through the heater core. I would think you'd want ALL the hot coolant going there to speed things up a bit. An oven element (or even your house furnace for that matter) only has ON. Temperature is controlled by cycling ON with OFF to maintain the desired temperature. Most cars do not work that way. Mind you, you mentioned that the fan is not on until the engine is warm. I am not an HVAC engineer, but I imagine you'd still need to expel the cooler air in the interior. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitcat Posted January 23, 2012 Author Share Posted January 23, 2012 You have made my wife sooo happy! (And there is nothing wrong with a happy wife:)). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Stig Posted January 23, 2012 Share Posted January 23, 2012 Hmmm. I always prefer the engine to warm up before I redirect the heat to the interior on the basis that without a hot engine, you wont get hot air! (not from the heater anyway!) I am sure getting the temperature of the engine up quickly is more beneficial to the engine even if you freeze your bits off inside the car. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powderbrake Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 There is one constant in the universe. " The wife is always right" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antinym Posted January 24, 2012 Share Posted January 24, 2012 While it is true that the air in the car won't heat up any faster to 75 degrees, there is merit in setting the car to 85. Your skin and clothes will warm up to 75 degrees quicker with 85 degree air vs 75 degree air. Your perception of the air is much more important that the actual air temperature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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