a/c

Kadeshh

whats the difference between climate control and air conditioning?

techie

With climate control you set what temp. you want in the car and the system constantly adjusts to keep the car temp inside to that temp.

A/C just keeps blowing out cold/hot air depending on the heat dial in the car.

unkel

Both are air conditioning systems. With the manual one (air conditioning), you have to turn the gauge to the level of cooling you require (1, 2, 3, etc.) given the external circumstances. With climate control (automatic air conditioning), you just select a temperature level and the system will maintain that for you, regardless of external circumstances

unkel

Techie beat me to it

Kadeshh

unkel wrote:

Both are air conditioning systems. With the manual one (air conditioning), you have to turn the gauge to the level of cooling you require (1, 2, 3, etc.) given the external circumstances. With climate control (automatic air conditioning), you just select a temperature level and the system will maintain that for you, regardless of external circumstances

ah right cheers, so climate control would be the more desirable one then?

Anan1

unkel wrote:

With climate control (automatic air conditioning), you just select a temperature level and the system will maintain that for you, regardless of external circumstances

In principle, at least.;)

unkel

Climate control is the more desirable option. Having said that, in a very moderate climate like in Ireland ( warm winters, cold summers - in fact I rember a day in January that was warmer than yesterday) neither is of great added value

Don't confuse the OP, Anan1

Kadeshh

Anan1 wrote:

In principle, at least.;)

so in principle it sorta works or in principle it does the job in the same way that an alfa works:D

bazz26

I find the Irish climate quite suitable for air conditioning.

Air Conditioning is very handy when it is raining and the inside of the car fills up with condensation. Putting down the window is not an option so the air conditioning will clear the condensation in less than 2 mins. Equally when the windows are covered in front putting on the climate control can mean that the windows are defrosted very quickly.

Both are desirable and are standard on most medium to large family cars these days, but I would not pay a premium for it in a used car.

mukki

unkel wrote:

Climate control is the more desirable option. Having said that, in a very moderate climate like in Ireland ( warm winters, cold summers - in fact I rember a day in January that was warmer than yesterday) neither is of great added value

its absolutly essential to have at least ac if you work nights, I haven't yawned yet in the new car

daedalus2097

unkel wrote:

Climate control is the more desirable option. Having said that, in a very moderate climate like in Ireland ( warm winters, cold summers - in fact I rember a day in January that was warmer than yesterday) neither is of great added value

Hmmm... I dunno... It's true that we don't have the warmest climate, but to me that just seems like an excuse from penny pinchers or those that want it but don't have it. I don't have it in my car as I couldn't find one with it when I was buying, but I'd like it, even just for those 2 or 3 days a year when there's blistering sunshine and you're sitting on the M50 for 2 hours. Come on, who wouldn't like air conditioning then??

Victor Meldrew

unkel wrote:

in a very moderate climate like in Ireland ( warm winters, cold summers - in fact I rember a day in January that was warmer than yesterday) neither is of great added value

But.. if you get stuck in traffic A/C (or it's posh cousin , Climate control) is very useful and reduced fatigue a lot, Over ~ 45MPH AC is nicer than having the windows down as you won't go deaf. and finally, if you have small kids (esp. infants) A/C keeps them happier and less prone to dehydration, even if you are OK with the A/C off, your infant can still be sweating , not nice.

I'd pick AC over alloys, sunroof, sat nav, etc. I'd consider it near essential in a new car or anything pre 03'

With C/C there are good ones (possibly "worth" the outlay) and bad ones (where you are better with basic A/C), if its a nice sticky day during the testdrive, put it on auto, pick a temp and check how quickly it settles down to an unobtrusive hum....

Finally, AC demists windows fast (handy when there is an unexplained puddle in the boot of your Renault :eek: )

Ah, yes, the french, filling cars with stuff so you don't notice the basic engineering deficits...:o

R.O.R

If you have to go anywhere near the M50 in rush hour, A/C or Climate is essential for those 3 days a year when it's baking. Nothing worse than the que back to Ballymount in 28 degree heat with no way of cooling the car down.

Stephen

I've only had a car with climate control for a month now, but now that I'm used to it I wouldn't have it any other way! Its worth it for not having to faff about with the heater controls every time it rains to keep the windows clear alone. From my experiments it doesn't seem to impact my fuel consumption much at all.

unkel

I didn't say it was useless - just arguing that its usefulness is marginal. On a €10,000 second hand car I wouldn't pay more than €200 extra for it. On the other hand I wouldn't even consider buying a car without ABS or air bags

daedalus2097 wrote:

I'd like it, even just for those 2 or 3 days a year when there's blistering sunshine and you're sitting on the M50 for 2 hours. Come on, who wouldn't like air conditioning then??

Agreed. Stuck on the M50 at 25 degrees C is a bit uncomfortable. But think about it, until a decade or so ago, nearly nobody stuck on a motorway in the south of France at 45C had aircon. And they all survived

Anan1

unkel wrote:

think about it, until a decade or so ago, nearly nobody stuck on a motorway in the south of France at 45C had aircon. And they all survived

Kind of. Back then, the French had an appalling road safety record. I'm not for a moment saying that's all down to a/c, but being too hot does have an affect on driving.:)

endplate

Air con or climate control is a fantastic addition to a car. If the operator understands how to use it properly (before you attack I have seen plenty of people who don't) it seriously reduces fatigue. As mentioned before Climate Control is a lot more operator friendly.

unkel

Anan1 wrote:

Kind of. Back then, the French had an appalling road safety record. I'm not for a moment saying that's all down to a/c, but being too hot does have an affect on driving.:)

Appalling road safety doesn't really apply when you're stuck on the A6 south of Lyon on black saturday

Pep

So which cars have the best ac or cc then?

JoeA3

Climate control is a great feature, I'd be hard pressed to go without it now, having had it in the last car and current one... Set it to around 18-20 deg on AUTO and that's it, 365 days a year! Fiddling with the controls is rarely necessary.

rebel.ranter

More of a 21 deg man myself. One of the lads bought a LS430, he has it on 16deg all the time, it's like a fridge!!
As an aside:
I was fiddling with the tripmeter reset button & ignition (BMW) and all the readings switched to farenheit, it was freaky. Had to ge out the diagnostic kit to switch it back.

I have the Aircon switched on all the time as part of the Climate Control. It will definitely be up there near the top of my list of requirements for my next car.

TJJP

Kadeshh wrote:

whats the difference between climate control and air conditioning?

Worth noting that on some systems the climate control also has cabin pollen filter or automatic recirculate for traffic fumes which a/c doesn't always have. The system switches to air recycle if it senses smelly stuff. Only downside is the cabin pollen filter cost when it comes to a service... extra couple of quid.

OKenora

Another thing not really mentioned is that AC/CC drys the air, meaning no fogged up windows on the wet days or at least they clear mega quick.

Forget our heat or lack of it in this country, I would never buy a car without aircon, bar a classic that never had it (even at that one of my classics does have AC). It is an un-sung hero for drivers and once you have a car with a decent working system you will wonder how you ever lived without it.