How to stop heater from turning on when running AC in summer

[NC-GT]

It’s Summer… Looking for a way to set AC to Automatic without having the heater turn on when it thinks it is getting too cool. Seems like there should be a way for it to act like AC in home that just turns on when it needs to cool. You would never know the Mach-e had switched to heater unless you tap on the icon for settings, and sure enough the heater button has turned on.

Why does it matter… well the heater drains the battery like crazy on my 2023 GTP, while AC has little to no impact.

Internet search had brilliant ideas like put it on AC Max (60) - not trying to drive around with coat on in summer…

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[NC-GT]

Go into the climate control settings and turn off the EHeat button.

Do that all the time, then check again in a few minutes, and it decided to turn back on. That does not turn OFF permanently for that drive

 

[Tampamike]

It’s Summer… Looking for a way to set AC to Automatic without having the heater turn on when it thinks it is getting too cool. Seems like there should be a way for it to act like AC in home that just turns on when it needs to cool. You would never know the Mach-e had switched to heater unless you tap on the icon for settings, and sure enough the heater button has turned on.

Why does it matter… well the heater drains the battery like crazy on my 2023 GTP, while AC has little to no impact.

Internet search had brilliant ideas like put it on AC Max (60) - not trying to drive around with coat on in summer…

Just leave it in Auto and don’t keep looking at the A/C display screen. If I’m not mistaken, that E-Heat button is always displayed as “on” in auto but it really isn’t always on. I think it’s just enabled for use as needed with regards to condensation control. I live in Florida (duh) and I leave the climate control in auto all the time. I get the expected range when driving.

 

[Mach-Lee]

Heater does not drain the battery like crazy in the summer, only a small amount of heat is being used to reheat the air after dehumidification. It’s throttled down not full blast. Just use AUTO and don’t worry about it.

 

[NC-GT]

Ok thanks!

 

[bbulkow]

As i posted in another thread, the key appears to be "recirc". If you don't keep pulling in air from the outside, hot or cold, you can improve range significantly over epa.

Sometimes i still use outside air, but usually i find the heater and ac do a great job on the air that's already inside. Especially in pollen season which started where i live last week!

My number is 8 percent saved, measured over about 1.5k miles using Trip, compared to previous 2 years historical. Climate is now 5 percent instead of 14 historical, and i am more comfortable.

Heat in an ice car is free. In fact, it helps the engine, having another avenue for cooling. Not so much ours.

If you want to see how much power heat is taking, you can get a bluetooth dongle and the carscanner app. There is a separate number on there for it.

 

[NC-GT]

As i posted in another thread, the key appears to be "recirc". If you don't keep pulling in air from the outside, hot or cold, you can improve range significantly over epa.

Sometimes i still use outside air, but usually i find the heater and ac do a great job on the air that's already inside. Especially in pollen season which started where i live last week!

My number is 8 percent saved, measured over about 1.5k miles using Trip, compared to previous 2 years historical. Climate is now 5 percent instead of 14 historical, and i am more comfortable.

Heat in an ice car is free. In fact, it helps the engine, having another avenue for cooling. Not so much ours.

If you want to see how much power heat is taking, you can get a bluetooth dongle and the carscanner app. There is a separate number on there for it.

So since RECIRC also turns itself off…. Was the trick to also select setting for which vents to use? ( would be fine not pulling in the yellow pollen)

 

[bbulkow]

So since RECIRC also turns itself off…. Was the trick to also select setting for which vents to use? ( would be fine not pulling in the yellow pollen)

Yes. Although there is a cabin filter of course.

The recirc still goes to outside air occasionally, but with vent, floor, and or defrost set, it's rare.

The car always starts in outside mode.

 

[morawski64]

In my experience, changing the auto 1-2-3 setting is what allows the car to do what it wants with the heat and Recirc controls.

I personally leave it in Auto 3 with Recirc on and heat off. If it gets too cold I'll turn off the A/C using the persistent control and cycle it manually to avoid reheating.

The giveaway that the A/C is satisfied and wants heat (that you won't let it use) is it directing the air to the floor vents. As soon as I feel that, A/C comes off and stays off until it's warmed up on its own.

I, too, don't understand why the darn compressor can't just turn off. They could have put a reheat condenser in the cabin for dehumidification purposes if they really wanted to and it would have been significantly more efficient. Oh well.

Anyways bottom line is avoid changing your auto mode. Control via temperature, A/C button, and the main system on/off control in the menu. It'll leave your Recirc and heat toggle alone (95% of the time)

 

[bbulkow]

In my experience, changing the auto 1-2-3 setting is what allows the car to do what it wants with the heat and Recirc controls.

I personally leave it in Auto 3 with Recirc on and heat off. If it gets too cold I'll turn off the A/C using the persistent control and cycle it manually to avoid reheating.

The giveaway that the A/C is satisfied and wants heat (that you won't let it use) is it directing the air to the floor vents. As soon as I feel that, A/C comes off and stays off until it's warmed up on its own.

I, too, don't understand why the darn compressor can't just turn off. They could have put a reheat condenser in the cabin for dehumidification purposes if they really wanted to and it would have been significantly more efficient. Oh well.

Anyways bottom line is avoid changing your auto mode. Control via temperature, A/C button, and the main system on/off control in the menu. It'll leave your Recirc and heat toggle alone (95% of the time)

Not based on my experiments... of course we have different cars & weather.....

It certainly won't leave you in RECIRC if you don't change the AUTO button. Sorry for the double negative, I mean if you have auto OFF (or on) and don't touch AUTO it continues to switch to fresh air. Frequently. It will leave you on RECIRC for a few minutes, but on my car, every 5 minutes.

If you have a vent selected and all of the above (selecting a vent turns off AUTO), then it'll stay on recirc for quite a while, usually. It still seems to have some algorithm for doing fresh air, but it's often more like half an hour instead of 5 minutes.

I can't understand why, if I choose I prefer RECIRC, the car won't honor my desires. It's starting to feel personal and disrespectful.... I can't think of any other setting in a car you explicitly do, and then it changes behind your back some amount of time later.

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