Too Hot for Air Conditioning?

When traveling through the impossible heat of Death Valley in Nevada, you may see a sign telling you to turn OFF your air conditioning.  Could that be right?  Switch off the sweet cool air while traveling through the place with the hottest recorded temperature in the world?  Who would do such a thing?

Well, it turns out it’s a pretty reasonable bit of advice.  While our area almost never sees such extreme temperatures, it’s good to know what is happening when you use your air conditioning.

While you are nice and cool inside, your air conditioning is working hard.  Real hard.  It takes quite a bit of energy (heat) to keep you cool.  Thus, when traveling through Death Valley, the park rangers recommend turning the air conditioning off so the engine doesn’t overheat. 

This is good to remember, because if you are ever pulling a boat, camper, or trailer you may glance down and notice the engine really starting to heat up.  A good way to back that temperature down is to turn off your A/C.  You may sweat a little bit, but you can save some major damage to your engine.

As always, before you go on any long trip, make sure the cooling fluid is at the proper levels, the tires and brakes are in good shape, and the belts and hoses are not getting oldand cracked.  Got any questions?  Stop by and we can help!