Hot cars cool down fast when drivers push 1 button | UK | News
Air conditioning is an important feature of modern cars ( stock image ) (Image: Getty)
Getting in the car in the middle of a heat wave can be an uncomfortable experience. Windows surrounding all sides of the vehicle allow sunlight to enter, warming the interior while trapping hot air inside, effectively turning the vehicle into a mini greenhouse. Fortunately, most modern cars have air conditioning, so you only have to suffer for a few minutes until it cools down, and then you won’t want to leave.
So what’s the best way to cool your car as quickly and efficiently as possible? It turns out that the answer lies in a button with a mysterious symbol on it.
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A man who regularly posts useful information about cars on social media has revealed more. The man, who has 128,000 followers on TikTok, known as Capturing Cars, said: “99 per cent of people use this button completely wrong and maybe you’re one of them.”
Pointing to a button depicting the outline of a car with an arrow curving backwards inside, he continued: “What does the button itself actually do? So, it’s a recirculation button; it actually closes the air vents on the outside of the car, trapping air inside.”
It is best used when the weather is either very hot or very cold, he continued. Explaining how to use the system in combination with your car’s air conditioning to cool down he said: “What you will want to do is press this button. That will then trap the air inside the car and it will get colder on each pass, or hotter if you’ve got the heating turned on, of course.
“If it’s not open, you’re bringing in boiling hot air from outside and trying to cool it down, and it takes a little bit longer. It’s going to happen, it just takes a little bit longer. So turning it on will speed up the cooling process of the car.”
He went on to say that it is best not to step on rainy days. He explained: “Let’s say you’re in the car, your clothes are wet because you got caught in the rain.
“If your car is fogging up, which we’ve all experienced, then you’re going to want to turn that off. That’s because you’re trapping moisture inside the car. It could be from your breathing, like a wet umbrella or wet clothes or whatever. But trapping moisture is what causes fog to form on your screens.”
He added that cars even have a feature that disables the recirculation switch when you turn it to blow air onto your windshield to clear fog. “The car itself is stopping you from doing that because it knows it’s not going to work efficiently at defogging your windshield,” he said.
People in the comments shared other functionalities of the feature. One of them said: “Another good time to use it is if you’re following an old vehicle that’s emitting a lot of smoke, or if you’re driving in the countryside and they’ve recently put manure on the fields. It cuts the smell. But ideally for heating, yes.” [or] Cool your car faster.”
Another said: “I always use recirculation. It keeps the car exhaust out when I’m in traffic.”
But someone else added a caveat. “On very long journeys, be careful not to leave the recirculation on for too long, as this can deplete the oxygen in the vehicle and make you sleepy,” they said. “Open the window once in a while.
