Cooling the Oven in Your Car

You’ve probably seen the Internet picture of somebody baking cookies in the heat of their closed car.  It can certainly get hot in your car...not 350 degrees hot, though. Those cookies took hours and hours to cook! 

Here are some ways to keep your car from feeling like a blast furnace when you first get in. 

There are some simple tips that you probably know by now.  Park in the shade, point your car away from the sun, and leave a bit of the window open.  These things will help keep the temperature down.

When you turn the air on, look for the “recirculation” button.  It’s usually a symbol with an arrow going in a circle around itself.  When you have that on, it will “reuse” the air that is already in the car.  In other words, it will take the air that has already been cooled down, and cool it down even more.  Most air systems have that switched off by default, and that just means you are bringing more warm air in and making your system work to cool it down.

Here’s another easy thing you can do.  Keep a water bottle nearby, and spray down the steering wheel when you get in.  Just like when you sweat, the evaporation of the water on the steering wheel can help drop the temperature quickly and keep your hands on the wheel. 

As always, if yousmell something unusual coming from the vents, or you just aren’t cooling offlike you did last summer - - come visit US Automotive, or your own personalmechanic for help.  

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!