Three Effects Of Your Car's Air Conditioning Other Than Keeping The Car Cool

If you're a car owner whose car air conditioning has broken, you need to get it fixed now. Even if you prefer not to use the air conditioning to cool the car, there are other beneficial effects that the air conditioning has, and one day, you may need to use the system to get one of these benefits. If you leave the system inoperable, you could end up causing yourself more problems.

Reduces Humidity

One side effect of using the air conditioner is that it also reduces humidity in your car. This is similar to a home air conditioner, where warm air that hits the cold condenser coil loses moisture. If you're driving in a rather humid area, turning the air conditioner on even at a cool rather than cold temperature can help make the interior of the car a lot more comfortable.

Defrost/Defog Windshield

If your windshield starts to fog up, turning the air conditioner on can help it defog more quickly. When the windshield develops a layer of fog, that's actually condensation forming as warm interior air (from your breath, body heat, and so on) hits the cold windshield. Blasting air at the windshield can help the warm side cool down and disperse the fog, but if the air coming out of the vents is too warm (for example, you're using recirculated air on the fan setting only), that's not going to get rid of a lot of the fog. But if you make the air cold by opening the outside vents and using the air conditioner (which stinks in winter, but it generally works quickly), the fog disperses because the temperature on the inside is starting to cool down, causing less condensation.

Save Gas

This is admittedly an odd one, but there may be times when you need to save gas, and turning on the air conditioner is one way to do that in certain circumstances. If it's a hot day and you have the windows down while driving down the freeway, the drag created by the air going inside the car can make the car work harder to go faster, thus using more gas. Roll up those windows and turn on the air conditioning, and you make your car more aerodynamic for high-speed travel.

For more air conditioner use tips or to get the air conditioner fixed, talk to a repair service like Modern Auto Air that specializes in auto air conditioning repairs.