I drive to work at oh-dark-thirty in the a of m, and at that time, it’s still cold out (for me & my location anyway (Florida). It’s been in the 50s, and sometimes it will be as low as upper 30s/lower 40s. I wipe off the outside windows for visibility, then wipe down the inside windows to get rid of the condensation. I’d really like to put on the heat in the car to warm myself up, but within a couple of miles, the whole windshield will be fogged up and I end up having to put on the defroster with the air conditioning on. That will clear up the window in seconds, and lo and behold, I can see again (such a good thing). But I am freezing!
I’ve been told to use the defroster with the heater, but that fogs the window twice as fast.
I’ve tried to use the heater on the foot area only, but within minutes, it’s foggy again.
I’ve tried to drive with the window cracked open slightly, but not only does the window still fog (wtf?), I’m cold from the stream of air (I hate air on my face).
I’ve tried Windex. Still fogs.
I’ve tried Rain-X. I have blotchy fog from where the foglets bead up.
Am I doomed to end up with freezing body and clear windshield, or warm body and foggy windshield? (And yes, I know what REAL cold is, having lived for a long time in “lower Canada” [upstate New York].)
On my car, I’m able to use the AC with the heat slider turned up, and it puts out warm dry air.
The people who make rain-x also make a product called fog-x or something like that. You should be able to pick up an anti-fogging solution at most any auto-parts store.
This works in our climate, Screech. You may need to find the correct balance of heat and also will probably have to occasionally need to use your windshield wipers for any exterior condensation.
Running the A/C and the heater at the same time. I tried this once and was nearly raked over the coals by my passenger for ‘damging the engine’, ‘ruining the A/c’, ‘costs $1000 to get the thing fixed’. By the end of the ‘conversation’, I was stunned I was not personally responsible for the downtown in the US dollar, Hurricane Andrew, and the destruction of the Brazillian rainforest.
I guess it depends on the car, but in my wife’s car, the AC automatically comes on by design when the defroster is used, and it happily pumps out warm air.
Your passenger was deranged. Running both at once is so common, in fact, that many cars incorporate this automatically. For example, in my car if I turn on “defrost mode”, the A/C comes on whether you push the button or not. Actually (I’m a bit embarrased to admit) that’s how I learned of the practice; it had never occurred to me to do that before! :smack:
For most cars sold in the US today, the defroster will automatically turn on the A/C. It’s been like this for years. The reason is that A/C is exactly what you want when your windows are fogging.
A/C cools air as a side effect, the conditioning being done is removing the moisture from the air. It will work at any temperature.
OK, just thinkin’ outloud here and haven’t really thought it through, someone will be along to tell me why this is stupid but…how about using the stuff they sell to keep scuba masks from fogging up? (I’n thinking it would be tough to generate enough spit) What exactly does that stuff do? Would it work in a larger application like a car window? Or are we talking a different process of condensation?
I’ve used Fog-X before, and it was really hard to get an even coating. It was more distracting to have the window fogging up in streaks than to have it fog up evenly, even if it did fog up more.
Cleaning the window with newsprint (NOT SMUDGE PROOF) works pretty well. It works my making the fog that forms darker --> easier to see through. Problem is that it looks like crap after a week (or a few days if the fog is thick enough) as the condensation makes the previously even coating start to run… easy to re-apply and get good coverage, though.
I always put shaving cream on the bathroom mirror to keep it from fogging. Behold the power of surfactants. I think this would be very messy in a car, though. Might do bad things if your car has an anti-laceration plastic coating on the inside of the windshield…
I say give the newprint a try. Phone books also work.
Be sure that you have the system set to “outside air” and not “recirculation”. I’ve owned several cars that wouldn’t defog properly on “recirculation”.
The A/C does not come on automatically with the defog. My defog blows out normal air, not heated or cooled, and I do not hear the kachunk when the A/C usually comes on.
I’ll try the “recirc”. I think I tried it before, but I could be wrong. I’m just tired of being cold in the car justto be able to see through the window.
At this point I’ll even get a box of CatCrap and Barbisol.
Hmmm. As a rule, you don’t want to re-circulate the air in your car. Use outside air. The air in your car may be wet from snow on your shoes and such.
On the other hand, I have a problem when I use outside air because it draws in snow. I get a facefull sometimes. So I will use the re-circulate option first, then go to outside air when everything is nice and toasty.
