[Barrydr]

I have found that running my a/c on recir all the time and turning off the compressor when the cabin is cool that I can get more mills out of my charge. Does anyone know if this is bad for the a/c system?

 

[Barry]

I doubt it is bad for it, but not necessary. The compressor will only use the power needed to maintain your set temp, and it will go to a lower power mode and also cycle off if appropriate. Use the eco setting if you want to conserve HVAC energy.

 

[hellsop]

I doubt it is bad for it, but not necessary. The compressor will only use the power needed to maintain your set temp, and it will go to a lower power mode and also cycle off if appropriate. Use the eco setting if you want to conserve HVAC energy.

Yus... ECO with full-auto everything is pretty lightweight on the consumption for climate and handles even rapidly-changing conditions really well. It's easy to forget things like "I left recirc turned on" then come out to the car after a big weather change and find that the side windows will all fog up and stay that way or something. Auto everything manages that better, using recirc to dry the cabin or keep too much hot (or cold) inside air from fighting the climate control.

 

[somms]

I have found that running my a/c on recir all the time and turning off the compressor when the cabin is cool that I can get more mills out of my charge. Does anyone know if this is bad for the a/c system?

Doubt you are actually fully turning off the A/C compressor especially when in AZ during the summer your Volt will be running it constantly just to keep the battery pack cool!

 

[Cord]

from an old thread

The AC compressor function is to provide refrigerant flow in the AC refrigerant loop to help cool down the cabin, help dehumidify the air in a defrost mode and help maintain the battery temperature. Rather than a more typical pulley, the A/C compressor uses a 3-phase alternating current, high voltage electric motor to operate. It has an on-board inverter that takes High Voltage direct current from the vehicle's High Voltage Battery and inverts it to alternating current for the motor. The AC compressor shall be activatedwhen any of the three following events occur:

• The customer pushes the AC button
• The HVAC control, in AUTO mode, requests the electric AC compressor on to help in cooling the cabin or removing moisture in the defrost mode
• The High Voltage Battery Thermal System requests the AC compressor on to help maintain the battery temperature

The Hybrid Powertrain control module 2 uses values from the A/C refrigerant pressure transducers, A/C refrigerant thermistor, duct temperature sensors, ambient air temperature sensor, passenger compartment temperature sensor, evaporator temperature sensor, battery cell temperature sensors, battery coolant temperature sensors and battery coolant pumps to determine the speed at which the compressor will operate. This speed request message is sent from the Hybrid/EV Powertrain Control Module 2 tothe A/C compressor control module via serial data message.

 

[MikeyCVolt]

Yus... ECO with full-auto everything is pretty lightweight on the consumption for climate and handles even rapidly-changing conditions really well. It's easy to forget things like "I left recirc turned on" then come out to the car after a big weather change and find that the side windows will all fog up and stay that way or something. Auto everything manages that better, using recirc to dry the cabin or keep too much hot (or cold) inside air from fighting the climate control.

That's what I've observed. With Eco mode turned off, the AC seems to draw a near constant 1.5kW because the display shows 2kW. Switch to Eco and it shows 0.5 kW which to me, indicates that the compressor is off much of the time. In Eco mode, it only occasionally spiked to 2Kw when nothing else is on.

Mike