Air conditioning and automatic air conditioning: things to know

adminonFebruary 2, 2022February 11, 2022Leave a Comment

Today, air-conditioning aids are part of the standard equipment of a vehicle. There is both air conditioning, which the driver has to set himself, as well as systems that automatically regulate the climate in the vehicle interior as soon as it deviates from the temperature and humidity desired by the driver. An air-conditioning system can be very beneficial – for example, on a long trip in the summer heat. Apart from the fact that cool air has a positive effect on the driver’s ability to concentrate, there are, however, a number of things that should be borne in mind when operating an air-conditioning system – because excessive temperature fluctuations can lead to a cold. Interesting facts about air conditioning and other air conditioning systems in the car you can read in our article.

The air conditioning system in the car

Sitting in a car for a long time in the summer, especially when the outside temperature is far above your personal comfort temperature, is not only exhausting, but can also be dangerous – the keyword is heat stroke. Fortunately, the U.S. engineer W. H. Carrier over 100 years ago the modern air conditioner, which was installed in vehicles a few decades later by the automobile manufacturers nash motors and studebaker corporation. Over the years, the air conditioning evolved, but essentially unchanged. In principle, an air conditioning system serves to bring a comfortable temperature and humidity in the interior of a vehicle and to maintain it. In winter, for example, thanks to the air conditioning preventing the windows from fogging up and thus contributing to traffic safety. Finally, visibility is severely restricted by fogged windows. Roughly, the system works as follows: is the air conditioning switched on, outside air is drawn in, filtered and mixed with the inside air, and if necessary still cooled or heated. If a system cannot actively cool, the term air conditioning does not apply. Then it is a matter of heating.

air conditioning and automatic air conditioning: differences

Now, in addition to the air conditioning, the automatic air conditioning established. Unlike air conditioning, automatic climate control regulates itself whether the temperature needs to be adjusted up or down. Sensors installed throughout the vehicle’s interior are responsible for this decision. So you don’t have to keep regulating it yourself to achieve or maintain the desired climate – a clear advantage of the automatic system. The air conditioning only cools or warms on one stage and the regulation of the strength of the blower is also limited. The automatic climate control, on the other hand, regulates flexibly or not as restricted as the air conditioning system. There are also differences in the airflow of the two air-conditioning systems. This is how the air flow in a vehicle with air conditioning comes out of the openings on the dashboard provided for this purpose. This leads to (who does not know it?) that the air is blown directly into the face of the driver and/or passenger. Depending on the temperature and intensity, this is rather unpleasant. The airflow or intensity of an automatic air conditioning system can be adjusted according to preference. Since the air vents are installed almost everywhere in the vehicle interior, you can also use them to warm your feet in the cold season.

A special variant of the self-regulating air-conditioning system is the multi-zone air-conditioning system-automatic air conditioning. Here, the driver can divide the vehicle interior into different climate zones, for example so that it is somewhat cooler in the rear than in the front – although this model is not very widespread. In most cases, the passenger can also set a separate temperature for his or her seat and the passenger side.

Increased consumption and costs due to air conditioning systems?

To air-condition the vehicle interior, either fuel or, in the case of electric cars, electricity is consumed. Automatic air conditioning is considered much more economical than air conditioning because the automatic air conditioning or compressor only works when it measures a difference between the desired and the actual temperature inside the vehicle. If the temperature is constant, it switches off – saving energy. The air conditioning, on the other hand, runs constantly at the set level when switched on, so that over time the temperature becomes too high (or too low) and you are forced to correct the air flow manually using a rotary switch.

Additional consumption due to air conditioning systems

The ADAC has a comparison of the extra fuel consumption of manual, semi-automatic and fully automatic systems air conditioners set up – concretely measured the additional consumption with activated and deactivated systems. The test vehicle was a skoda octavia 1.6. The results of the test were that (,)

Fully automatic air conditioners consume the least fuel. Best to leave the system in "auto" mode. According to the ADAC, this only adds 5 percent to 6 percent to the fuel bill. A setting of 21°C to 23°C is recommended, depending on the outside temperature.
Since semi-automatic systems require manual adjustment of the blower, fuel consumption is somewhat higher than with fully automatic systems, but the purchase cost is lower.
Manual air-conditioning systems consume above-average amounts of fuel in city traffic and when idling. Less outside the city. In addition, the ease of use is not as high as with the other two systems.

It is important to remember that there is no one-size-fits-all answer to the cost of an air conditioning system. The additional costs always depend on factors such as the vehicle model and the associated interior size, the equipment, the desired comfort temperature and also the model of the air-conditioning system or compressor.

E-cars lose range when air conditioning is activated

How does consumption by the air conditioning system affect range, especially in winter?? Here, too, the ADAC has carried out a test. The conclusion was that in city traffic (30 to 50 km/h) at 0°C, there is a loss of range of up to 50 percent – compared to summer temperatures of 20°C. Out of town (100 km/h), the loss in range is around 10 percent.

Additional costs due to air conditioning systems

The cost of the power required for an air-conditioning system to air-condition the vehicle’s interior has been reduced over the years as systems have evolved. On average and across all systems, the additional consumption and the associated additional costs amount to around 10 percent to 15 percent. In the city, a fuel surcharge of about 20 percent (0.54 liters/100 kilometers) must be added, and outside the city, a fuel surcharge of about 6 percent (average speed of 100 km/h) must be added. The highest percentage consumption was measured with 70 percent tank surcharge (0.4 liter per hour) at idle speed.

Set the air conditioner correctly and save fuel

Before you set off, there are a few things you can do to take some of the workload off the air conditioning system – saving you additional money:

Ventilate the vehicle well by opening the doors and, if necessary, the sunroof for a few minutes.
Take advantage of the shading on glass roofs.
open all air vents and adjust them so that the air is blown over the shoulders of the people sitting in front as much as possible.
Do not set the system too cool, as you can easily become tense and catch a cold from the cold air, especially if the outside temperature is very different from the inside temperature. An average temperature perceived as optimal is between 21°C and 23°C.
Switch off the cooling system shortly before the end of your journey, but do not switch off the fan. This prevents the buildup of residual moisture in the ventilation system. This could otherwise lead to mold growth.

For fast cooling set the heating temperature controller to "cold", turn on the blower to the highest level.
Once a comfortable interior temperature has been reached, use cooling in selective operation if possible (only switch on when cooling power is actually required).
Gradually turn down the blower.
The effect of the air conditioning system can be improved by using recirculating air. To avoid oxygen deficiency, it is essential to follow the vehicle’s operating instructions.

Individual temperature preselection.
Turn on the blower to the highest setting.
gradually reset the blower.
To reduce the additional fuel consumption caused by air conditioning systems, only switch on the cooling system when cooling of the interior temperature is desired. The air-conditioning compressor is only switched off automatically when the outside temperature falls below 3 to 6°C.
If fogging of the windows cannot be prevented by a higher blower level in the event of high humidity, switch on cooling mode to dry the air.
the effect of the air conditioning system can be improved by using recirculating air. To avoid oxygen deficiency, it is essential to follow the operating instructions for the vehicle.

Preselect individual temperature and select automatic program for air distribution and fan strength.
To reduce the additional fuel consumption caused by air conditioning, only switch on the cooling system when the interior temperature needs to be cooled down. Do not start the machine until the outside temperature has reached approx. 3-5°C, the air conditioning compressor is automatically switched off.
If a higher fan speed cannot prevent the windows from fogging up when the air humidity is high, switch on cooling mode to dry the air.

Conclusion: benefits as well as maintenance and care of the air conditioning system

An air conditioning system is a sensible investment and not an unnecessary gadget in the vehicle, as the following benefits show:

Cool air has a positive effect on the concentration of the driver. Heat increases the risk of becoming unfocused by 63 percent, which in turn significantly increases the risk of accidents.
Retrofitting an air conditioning system is very time-consuming and expensive. Therefore, when selling a used car, it is a strong selling point if a system is already in place.

Have your air conditioner serviced regularly, as the humidity in the air can cause mold to form in the vehicle interior. This may not only cause bad smells, but also allergies. In addition, the cooling substance evaporates over the years, reducing the cooling capacity. You can refill the cooling substance in ADAC test centers and also have the system disinfected there. In autumn, it is advisable to switch on the air conditioning system once every two to three weeks for about 10 to 15 minutes in order to wash off possible contaminants from the condensation water. Please also note our above mentioned tips for the correct handling of the different air conditioning systems – such as switching off the cooling, but not the fan, shortly before the end of the journey to prevent residual humidity, then you will enjoy your air conditioning system for a long time.

After we have already shown you in an experiment how to build a water rocket, we will show you in this instruction how to build a rocket car. Have fun and good luck with your work!

For the rocket car you need:

1 empty plastic bottle
4 round beer mats
2 drinking straws
2 wooden shish kebabs
Clear cover
3 corks
Small screw eye
2 m twine
Hot glue
Pointed knife
candle
Pencil and ruler

As fuel:

vinegar (about 100 ml per start; best not to use the expensive balsamic vinegar from the kitchen shelf). Cleaning vinegar will do)
Baking soda (about 20 g per start)

This is how the rocket car is built:

1: before you start, find some of the cork choose the one that fits best as a cap in the bottle – so that you need some force to push it in. Put it aside. Cut the remaining corks into four equally thick slices each.

2: Fill the bottle a quarter full with water and place it on a flat surface. This spirit level help yourself to mark the points where you have to drill holes at the same height. At the front and back, the distance is 5 cm from the bottom of the bottle for the front axle, and 10 cm from the opening of the bottle for the rear axle.

3: carefully drill the holes in the plastic. The best way to do this is to heat the tip of the knife over a candle beforehand. The holes should be so big that the drinking straws just fit through it.

4: push the straws through the candle and shorten them so that the ends protrude by 3 cm each. Seal the holes carefully with glue from. Blow into the bottle to check if air is still escaping somewhere.

5: mark the center on each beer cap. then put a cork disk, a beer cap and another cork disk on a wooden skewer. Push it through one of the drinking straws and then again put a cork disk, a second beer cap and another cork disk on it. Repeat the whole thing with the second spit. The four wheels should sit firmly on the axles, held in place by the cork discs. If in doubt, use some glue to help you.

6: from the cork, which you put aside at the beginning, you make a cartridge, into which the baking powder charge is filled before the launch. Screw the eyelet into one of the ends of the cork and tie the string to it.

7: cut a piece out of the clear cover, 8 cm long and wide enough to fit around the cork once. glue the cork and the plastic foil together – so that the cartridge is a bit slimmer towards the end.

The start of the rocket car:

8: look for a flat place outside test track. then add 100 ml of vinegar to the bottle and 20 g of baking soda to the cartridge. Push the cartridge into the opening without mixing the powder and vinegar. Attention: the tighter the cork sits, the more powerful the car will go off. However, if it sits too tight, nothing may happen! Lift the back of the car so that the powder trickles into the vinegar. Shake the vehicle and quickly put it in the launch position.

9: now vinegar and baking soda react with each other. This creates carbon dioxide and creates overpressure inside the bottle. The cork is then forcefully ejected from the opening, the car shoots in the other direction – and you can guess what the string is for: you can use it to hold the cartridge in place. Don’t be surprised: it can happen that the cartridge breaks at startup. then simply stick a new piece of foil around the cork.

How a rocket works?

Rockets are powered by the so-called recoil principle powered. This was discovered over 300 years ago by the english scientist isaac newton. Newton noticed that every force produces an opposing force: if you kick the edge of the pool, your body will move in exactly the opposite direction.

Nothing else happens during a rocket launch. Inside the rocket propellant mixture the rocket is ignited, producing gases that shoot out of the engines with incredible pressure – and push the rocket off the ground, so to speak. By the way, this principle still works when there is no ground to push off from. Even in a vacuum. The rocket engine is therefore the most common in space travel. We filmed the first launch – here’s the video.

After executing the command LINE (engl. LINE) the dynamic input is displayed at the cursor, where (as well as in the command line below) I can see what is required of me.

Enter first point (engl. Specify first point).

In addition to the input prompt, coordinates of the cursor position relative to the starting point of the coordinate system are also displayed here. We can also see these coordinates at the bottom left of the status bar (below the command line), where in addition to the X and Y values, the Z value is also displayed. This does not change when drawing in 2D, d. H. This remains at 0.

note: the numeric values of coordinates use a decimal point instead of the comma. The comma is used for other purposes, namely to separate the X, Y and Z values of coordinates.

The icon of the current coordinate system is in the origin and has X,Y coordinate values of 0,0 (resp. 0,0,0 for X, Y and Z). the coordinate values of the points to the right and above the origin are positive, and the coordinate values of the points to the left and below are negative.

note: if the origin is not displayed on the screen, the symbol in the lower left corner will be docked.

Since the line is a straight line between two points, we draw it by defining the coordinates of the start and end points. We have several ways to enter these coordinates.

The first method I will show you is to use absolute coordinates.

Although this is not the most natural way to draw a line, it is one of the options that makes it easier to understand other commands and features in the program.

I want to draw a horizontal line from left to right with a length of 80.

I have to start somewhere. The very first point is therefore always in absolute coordinates, d.H. At some distance from the origin of the coordinate system.

At the input prompt specify first point, I enter 20,20 and confirm with the enter key.

The next input prompt enter next point or.. expects me to enter the coordinates of the endpoint of the line relative to the previous point. If I want to enter the second point in absolute coordinates, d.H. At the origin of the coordinate system I have to insert the prefix # in front of the number.

Therefore I enter in the quickinfo #100,20 and confirm with the enter key. Then a line with a length of 80 is displayed.

note: notice that the command LINE is still executed. The program expects to enter the endpoint of the next line whose starting point coincides with the endpoint of the previous line.

I will draw the next line with a second method using relative coordinates.

I want to draw a vertical line from bottom to top with a length of 60.

Since the command LINE is still executed, I enter the following at the input prompt enter next point or .. coordinates 0,60 (the relative coordinates of the end point to the coordinates of the previous point are) and confirm with the enter key.

Then a vertical line with a length of 60 is displayed.

Note: but if I want to enter the second point via the command line, I have to enter the character "@" in front of the numeric value. otherwise the program would understand the input of absolute coordinates. Therefore, at the input prompt I would enter @0.enter 60 and confirm with enter.

I can enter relative coordinates also in the form of negative numbers. This will draw to the left and down. At the input prompt specify the next point or .. I enter -10,0 and confirm with the enter key. At the next input prompt I give 0,-5 and confirm with the enter key. The result is the following shape.

The third way to draw a line, which I will show you, is to use polar coordinates.

It is possible to draw lines in a certain angle with polar coordinates.

Both dynamic input at the cursor and the command line provide other subcommands during the line command run, z. angle (A) or Llength. The abbreviations of these subcommands are displayed in capital letters. So if I want to enter the length first, I enter L and confirm it with the enter key. Then I enter the value 50 and confirm it with the enter key.

When the input prompt specify angle is displayed, i can move the cursor as desired, rotating the line around the start point while maintaining the specified length of 50.

To create a line exactly horizontally to the left of the previous point, I need to specify an angle of 180 and confirm with the enter key. The result is the following form.

Note: the program will keep the entered angles counterclockwise, with angle 0 at 3 o’clock, angle 90 at 12 o’clock, angle 180 at 9 o’clock and angle 270 at 6 o’clock. If I want to enter an angle clockwise if i want to enter a negative angle, i can use a negative angle (for example, an angle of -90 gives the same result as 270).

another way to draw a line is to enter it directly in ORTHO mode and/or polar tracking.

This is probably the most natural method of drawing. We also start by entering the absolute coordinates of the start point of the line. If a start point has already been entered (as in this case), we enter the end point of the line by dragging the mouse in the direction we want to draw the line and enter the length.

When we want a horizontal or vertical line, we can help ourselves by the orthogonal mode activate with the ORTHO symbol in the status bar or the F8 key, thus limiting our options to only one horizontal or vertical direction. In the selected direction we enter the length of the line 5 and confirm with the enter key.

An alternative to ORTHO mode is polar tracking. If I click on the symbol with the right mouse button, and choose settings, a dialog box appears where I can set the incremental angle. I prefer angle 15 because it gives me exact lines at angles 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90, etc. Draw can.

Drawing a line with an object trace

The last method I would like to show you is to draw a line using object tracing.

To make it more interesting, I’ll use the specification of the endpoint of a line with the functions object catch track and polar tracking combine. From the previous point, I would like to draw a line at an angle of 210 degrees. Helping me with the polar tracking function.

I want to align the endpoint of the new line with the X-position of the startpoint of the line i drew first. Since I don’t know the exact length of the new line, I use the object trap function. I move the cursor closer to the point of the first line and wait a bit until the description endpoint is displayed. Then I move the cursor up until the imaginary intersection appears.

I confirm the selection with the left mouse button. Finally I draw the last line with the function object snap – endpoint to close the shape.

I terminate the command LINE by repeatedly pressing the enter key or the ESC key.

The air conditioning system in the car

air conditioning and automatic air conditioning: differences

Increased consumption and costs due to air conditioning systems?

Set the air conditioner correctly and save fuel

Conclusion: benefits as well as maintenance and care of the air conditioning system

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