[elite88]

Lately we have been doing winter road trips with the heater on, recirc on, defogger vent selected, and fan/temp set to Auto. We usually have TEMP set to 65. Driver gets the heated steering wheel and passenger gets a CarCozy2 blanket.

At 10F to 20F, the cabin heater seems to pull mostly 1900 watts or so, but sometimes down to 1100. We did have to use RainX on the inside of the windshield, or it would fog up.

Before this, I used to turn off the heat, but keep blowing air at the windshield. Then, when it started to fog, I'd turn on heat until it quit fogging (and repeat). That approach seemed to pull 7000 watts whenever the heater was on, and near zero when it's off. But I think the average was around 3000. And the GOM would show very different numbers depending on whether heat was on or off.

Using Auto seems to use less energy, and much less faff, and the GOM is more accurate.

 

[jmcbrew]

Yes, it takes less energy to maintain temperature than it does to heat up initially. That’s why you do t see too much of an impact from using heat on a long trip, but you see a big difference using heat on lots of short trips.

 

[duncanator]

I have found on the vehicles I have that have auto climate control that it just works better. I can't say if it's more efficient, but I used to be one who adjusted everything and when I switched to using auto and just adjusted the temperature, the car did a better job than I ever did.

 

[jefro]

Defogger may be using both heat and ac.

 

[OkieBolt]

RainX on the inside of the windshield

I hope you mean the RainX anti Fog (did not know they still made it). The normal RainX is for outside of the car only with a big warning label on the bottle. Also, keeping the windshield clean greatly reduces the amount of fog build up.

 

[elite88]

Defogger may be using both heat and ac.

Sorry that was not clear: I mean I had the air directed at the windshield rather than feet or face. Even without heat, having air moving over the windshield helps avoid fog.

 

[elite88]

I hope you mean the RainX anti Fog (did not know they still made it). The normal RainX is for outside of the car only with a big warning label on the bottle. Also, keeping the windshield clean greatly reduces the amount of fog build up.

Yes, rainX for inside, not outside. I've read that dish soap works too, but haven't tried that.

 

[jefro]

How do you get air on the windshield without setting the defrost button?

 

[MichBolt]

How do you get air on the windshield without setting the defrost button?

There are two buttons for the windshield. One to the right is max defrost. One to the left is just the vent.

 

[jefro]

Guess my hvac is different. ?? Guess I'll have to look at personalized settings for auto defog.

 

[Jerry Duke]

Might be an LT vs Premier setup. Just found out about the phone charger pocket being a Premier option.

 

[SteveWilson1983]

Lately we have been doing winter road trips with the heater on, recirc on, defogger vent selected, and fan/temp set to Auto. We usually have TEMP set to 65. Driver gets the heated steering wheel and passenger gets a CarCozy2 blanket.

At 10F to 20F, the cabin heater seems to pull mostly 1900 watts or so, but sometimes down to 1100. We did have to use RainX on the inside of the windshield, or it would fog up.

Before this, I used to turn off the heat, but keep blowing air at the windshield. Then, when it started to fog, I'd turn on heat until it quit fogging (and repeat). That approach seemed to pull 7000 watts whenever the heater was on, and near zero when it's off. But I think the average was around 3000. And the GOM would show very different numbers depending on whether heat was on or off.

Using Auto seems to use less energy, and much less faff, and the GOM is more accurate.

As far as maintaining temperature is concerned, it wouldn't matter which one you do. An electric heating element is 100% efficient, so you are putting whatever energy you use into the cabin air regardless. Heat loss from the cabin will be the same either way, so do whatever suits you.

If you really want to save energy, and just want to keep the windshield clear, I'd suspect no heat and recirc off would do it, and use almost no energy, but that might be a bit chilly.

 

[Galtha58]

Lately we have been doing winter road trips with the heater on, recirc on, defogger vent selected, and fan/temp set to Auto. We usually have TEMP set to 65. Driver gets the heated steering wheel and passenger gets a CarCozy2 blanket.

At 10F to 20F, the cabin heater seems to pull mostly 1900 watts or so, but sometimes down to 1100. We did have to use RainX on the inside of the windshield, or it would fog up.

Before this, I used to turn off the heat, but keep blowing air at the windshield. Then, when it started to fog, I'd turn on heat until it quit fogging (and repeat). That approach seemed to pull 7000 watts whenever the heater was on, and near zero when it's off. But I think the average was around 3000. And the GOM would show very different numbers depending on whether heat was on or off.

Using Auto seems to use less energy, and much less faff, and the GOM is more accurate.

Looks like the CarCozy2 blanket draws about 45 Watts. Is that less than the heated seat would use?