Effectively use your aircon all year long

You’re going to save fuel by not using the aircon every time you get in the car. But, sometimes you just need that air conditioner to make the drive tolerable. We all know that an Australian essential is airconditioning on a hot day, but we also know it consumes more fuel than you’d care to lose. But, this doesn’t mean you have to switch off come the swelter. You only have to be practical and clever about it.

To begin with, if you can park in the shade you should.

Every moment the car idles out of the sun, the lower the temperature will be when you eventually get in.

If you have parked in the sun, a quick solution is to turn on the A/C and wind all the windows down until the majority of the heat’s gone. Then, set the aircon to recycle and re-use that glorious cool air. Once on the road, there are two aircon settings, recirculated air and outside air flow.

Never, and I repeat never, use the outside air flow, this will only suck every ounce of heat-ridden particle into your car.

Unless your car is smelling a little stale, or the temperature outside isn’t terrible and you just want that gentle breeze, alternatively windows down would be a good substitute.

By recycling the air from inside the car, it can only get cooler and cooler each time, meaning you can keep the aircon on low with the same effect.

Don’t rush into it either, start you’re A/C on low and gradually work up, or if low is all you need – then voila!

Final note, don’t set your car to arctic, not only will this affect your fuel immensely, but if it’s too hot outside of the car you might pass out with the sudden temperature change when getting out of the car, worst possible outcome.

In winter, frost might be a troubling factor you’ll need to deal with. You could dilute some isopropyl or rubbing alcohol in water and spray that on your windscreen, but if it’s a random frost that hits mid June you might not be prepared for that.

We also suggest not to just pour hot water onto your windscreen as this might cause further fogging and refreezing.

The fastest way to defrost or de-fog your windscreen is to blast the windscreen with hot air, turn on the A/C, crack the windows if you can and turn off inside air circulation.

This way, you’re getting the most result in the shortest time, and will be able to turn the aircon off sooner and save faster.

We recommend in summer a temperature of 24 degrees Celsius for both your health and economical use, and for winter 22 degrees.