Toggling the Air-Con

Brancho SG

Dear friends,

Would the car be damaged if , to save some petrol, during journeys, I turn 'on' and 'off' the aircon every now and then? When the air is cold enough in the car, I turn it off. And then after a while , when it gets warm again, I turn it back 'on'.

Does it matter when I turn it 'on' or 'off'? For example, I turn it 'off' when the car is accelerating. Or turn it 'on' when the car is accelerating or decelerating.

why i ask is based on the information that the aircon is coupled to the engine? or something that spins via a belt which taps on to the spinning power and thus slows down the car very slightly. Feel free to correct me if this understanding is wrong.

Thanks and nice day.

Brancho

sinicker SG

i have no idea abt it..

but have you tried on aircon till cool, switch off the aircon and opening the airflow intake into the cabin.... coz' i always do likewise when i drive from sch in NTU to home in tampines.. really helps in FC.

nick34 SG

I choose to spend abit more on petrol rather than having a faulty air com compressor.

When you on your aircon, you can actually feel a 'tak tak' sound to show that your aircon compressor is working to pump cool air into the cabin. With the constant on and off of aircon, you are actually stressing the compressor.

How compressor works ?

It will work to pump cool air into the cabin till the the thermostat temp and it will deactivate itself and only activate when the cabin temp is below that temp.

And the belt you mentioned is either the fan belt or timing belt.

alleggerita SG

Nothing much will happen in the short run. But in the long run, it's either you wave goodbye to the aircon compressor (expensive to fix) or, if you're lucky, the belt that drives the compressor (cheaper to fix).

Unknown_X SG

question is y u wanna do that? just leave the aircon in auto mode. should be good enough.

Brancho SG

Dear All,

I am shocked at my ignorance trying to safe petrol at the expense of the air compressor!

Thanks for all your valuable advice which are very much appreciated.

Happy & Safe driving to one and all.

Brancho

lianamaster SG

question is y u wanna do that? just leave the aircon in auto mode. should be good enough.

I also dun care one... just drive to your heart's content when you have the opportunity to....

Unknown_X SG

Dear All,

I am shocked at my ignorance trying to safe petrol at the expense of the air compressor!

Thanks for all your valuable advice which are very much appreciated.

Happy & Safe driving to one and all.

Brancho

just roll down the window a bit when u r driving then. not sure whether it will help cuz i can't live without my aircon.

FirePig SG

How much fuel does air con consume? Can someone give a brief writeup?

Unknown_X SG

i would say not significant enough for anyone to worry.

105090 SG

less than 10%.. read somewhere b4.. how about comparing to house aircon which is 20cents per hour?
the weather here.. dont on Aircon.. will mati one..
unless is early mornings..

lianamaster SG

How much fuel does air con consume? Can someone give a brief writeup?

Let me prepare my thesis....