Keeping Your Cool in the Heat

By Brian Klaubert

Well, the summer heat is in full gear and our automobile air conditioners are hard at work keeping us cool. To understand how to get the most out of your system, let’s talk first about the different settings available on most vehicles.

“Max AC,” or “Recirculate” and “Normal AC,” or “Fresh” are often misunderstood and are important to the cooling process of the vehicle. The “Normal,” or “Fresh” setting is taking the outside air and cooling it down before it enters the cabin of the vehicle. On the other hand, the “Max,” or “Recirculate” setting is using cabin air to cool the vehicle. When you first get in your vehicle during the hot summer months, the outside air is usually cooler than the interior temperature of the vehicle. Because of this, it would be best to start on “Normal” to begin the cooling process of the vehicle cabin air. Once the cabin air has begun to cool, then it is time to change the setting to “Max.” This setting will continually use interior air, and since our AC systems are only capable of dropping air temperature 40 degrees, it would make sense that the cooler the starting air, the cooler the air will be coming out of the vents. By utilizing this simple technique, you can drop your vent temperatures an additional 20 to 25 degrees on average. Another important reason to use re-circulated air is to minimize the introduction of outdoor pollutants such as exhaust and smog into your vehicle.

Some people may also notice a musty odor when they turn on their AC. This is caused by mildew build-up inside the AC system. A simple way to help minimize this is to turn off the AC, but leave the fan itself running for approximately 30 seconds before turning off your vehicle. You can also have your AC system sanitized at most full service AC repair facilities.  There is a simple method that injects a sanitizing foam in front of the cooling coil in your dashboard. The foam strips any mildew from the coil.

There are many different reasons why an AC system may not perform up to par in extreme heat, but by understanding and utilizing these simple methods, your AC system will not have to work as hard to keep you from being hot under the collar.

Let’s move on and talk about when your air conditioner does not provide cold air – regardless of the setting on the dash board. The most likely cause of this is a low Freon level. Freon is the gas inside the air conditioning system that makes the air cold. If the Freon gets low, the air conditioning temperature will keep increasing until it is no different than the outside air temperature. Freon does not wear out or lose efficiency, it only leaks.

You can just have your system recharged. The Freon will most likely leak back out, but you can judge how long it lasts. If you have an older car you are only trying to get a few more months from, you may try just having it refilled. If you plan to keep the car for while, or if the Freon leaks out again in a matter of days or weeks, you will need to have a leak test.

Have a great end to your summer, and keep your cool!

Brian Klaubert owns Christian Brothers Automotive – Hamilton Mill, on Braselton Hwy in Dacula. They are winners of “Best of Gwinnett” in both the Gwinnett Daily Post and Gwinnett Magazine.