On scorching hot days, we’re all thankful to have cars with air condition. The problem is, if your car has been outside all day, it’s even hotter on the inside.
And with our penchant for bigger cars these days, if you think the inside feels hotter than you remember it in your older, smaller vehicle, you’re probably right about that too.
“A lot of folks nowadays drive SUVs or larger cabin vehicles,” said Ben Perricone, territory manager for AAA Mid-Atlantic Approved Auto Repair Program. And those vehicles have much bigger windows than the coupe or sedan you may have grown up driving.
“That increased glass area, it’s greenhouse. And even with window tinting, the interior of the car will get up to 135 or 140 degrees very, very quickly,” said Perricone.
One’s first instinct is to start the car and put the air conditioner on full blast. It’ll work, eventually, but not as well as it could.
“You’re trying to cool off 135 degree air. And that’s going to take a lot longer than cooling off 100 degree air or 90 degree air,” said Perricone, adding that he suggests using 90-degree air.
Once you start your car, he says “crack the windows a little bit and get going and leave the air selector on fresh air.”
“What that’ll do is replace that 135 degree air with 90 degree air or whatever the ambient temperature is,” said Perricone. “After two or three minutes, then seal it all back up because now your air conditioner is working on 85 degree air instead of 135 degree air and you’ll get that car cooled down just that much quicker.”
It also makes your air conditioner’s job that much easier, he said.
Now that said, any time the AC is in use, it’s going to impact your fuel mileage, but that’s a sacrifice most are willing to make during hot weather conditions. But there are other ways you can keep your car a little bit cooler when it’s parked.
First, if you can take your time starting your car, roll the windows down and let the fan run for a few minutes before driving. Parking in a garage or the shade will help a little bit, too, as will reflective shades some drivers place across their dashboards. Window tint also helps.
Don’t use the recirculating air feature if you’re driving with passengers in the back seat. The cooler air won’t reach the back seat.
Perricone also said people should not leave their pets in their vehicle if they are not in the car.
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