Energy Consumption in MyView

[brcd131]

I've been trying to figure out what the two energy consumption screens mean in MyView - "Climate" and "Other". I've tried to find in owners manual and in Ford's videos but so far I haven't found the info. My interpretation is that "Climate" is the AC compressor usage coming from the drive batteries, and "Other" is everything on the 12V system. Has anyone seen a definition of this?

[brcd131]

I ask about this because it seems that the once the engine is warm and the car is warm, the climate controls use the AC to cool the cabin even when the AC light is off. I have seen energy usage on the "Climate" screen when the AC is supposed to be off, and turning the AC on seems to have no effect on the energy usage. It's like the controls use the AC whether I want it or not. And after a moderately long drive, I see a puddle under the car like the AC was used even if it isn't used. This happens even on a cool day (say 45 degrees) when you would normally expect to circulate outside air and not use the AC.

[Johnboy]

Do you run your climate system on the defrost setting frequently? The defrost setting may run the AC system even if you haven't deliberately turned it on. Just a thought. I haven't fiddled with many of these screens on my car yet.

[brcd131]

No, it's not defrost (I seldom use defrost). There must be something drawing energy from the drive battery when it's cool outside. Now that it's in the 80s here during the day, the energy consumption has stopped and I have to turn the AC on if I want the cabin cooled.

Edited March 19, 2013 by brcd131

[neod192]

Expresspotato posted on the blue oval forums that the climate fan usage falls under "Other" instead of "Climate". This doesn't quite answer your question, but it's something to think about.

[brcd131]

I've turned the heat to the highest temp. and the fan went to max. and saw no energy usage on "Climate".

 

The energy usage I've seen in "Climate" happens when the outside air is cool to cold, after the cabin is warmed up. It doesn't happen when the cabin is warming up or when the outside air is warm to hot. A typical example would be when I had the fan set to low, temperature set to 71 Deg., air set to come out at floor, auto control set to off. I think this is the way the manual said to set up the heat for best usage.

[JSKershaw]

Climate is only for the A/C. The fan and rear defogger along with the heated seats fall under "Other". If you put your climate on Auto once in awhile your A/C will turn on even if you didn't turn it on. It will use either heat or A/C to keep the cabin set at a certain temp.

[brcd131]

After a little more experimenting, I think I found out how the climate controls work in my car. After the car warms up, if I turn the fan on, set the temperature, and set the air handler so the air comes out at the floor only, then the car uses the AC to control the temperature (Auto light is off, AC light is off, etc.). I can see the energy usage on the "Climate" screen in MyView. So at this point, it appears that the car is using the AC to control the temperature even though the AC light is off.

 

Now, if I turn on the dash vents (upper vents), then the "Climate" energy usage stops (AC usage stops). So as long as the upper vents are on, the system doesn't use the AC to control the temperature and uses only the outside air (assume recirc is not on).

 

Now the question is - Is it really supposed to work like this? Why does it use the AC when only the floor vents are selected??, and not turn the AC light on?? Maybe Microsoft had a hand in writing the climate control software.

 

If I turn the AC on, it works as one would expect, the AC light comes on, there is energy usage on the "Climate" screen, cool air comes out of the vents, etc.

[scott_farmer]

I have found with mine that the AC is actually blowing cold on upper vents even when the AC light is turned off. The only way for me to get it to turn off completely and show no power usage for climate is to turn on the ac button, then turn on max AC, then turn off AC with the AC button. This lets the air blow through from the outside with no power usage. I've been meaning to post a bug report for Ford, but haven't found the time. I can reproduce this consistently.

[brcd131]

I showed mine to the service manager at the dealer today and he agreed that there is a problem. He said he'd report it to Ford. They installed a bunch of updates, but he didn't know what they were for, but none fixed the AC problem (nor improved the gas mileage).

[brcd131]

I have found with mine that the AC is actually blowing cold on upper vents even when the AC light is turned off. The only way for me to get it to turn off completely and show no power usage for climate is to turn on the ac button, then turn on max AC, then turn off AC with the AC button. This lets the air blow through from the outside with no power usage. I've been meaning to post a bug report for Ford, but haven't found the time. I can reproduce this consistently.

I tried your method to turn it off (AC, MAX AC, AC OFF) and it worked on mine too.

[brcd131]

I got a call from the service manager today. He reported the above issue to Ford and they said that when the vents are set to floor only, the system is designed to run the A/C compressor (but the A/C light does not come on). When you turn on the upper vents, the A/C compressor goes off. Ford designed it that way. Really!! Who would have thought...

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Sounds like another Ford mistake that Ford doesn't want to acknowledge or fix.

[Toz]

I got a call from the service manager today. He reported the above issue to Ford and they said that when the vents are set to floor only, the system is designed to run the A/C compressor (but the A/C light does not come on). When you turn on the upper vents, the A/C compressor goes off. Ford designed it that way. Really!! Who would have thought...

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Sounds like another Ford mistake that Ford doesn't want to acknowledge or fix.

It's not a BUG, it's a FEATURE!

[expresspotato]

If the car is on the "Auto" setting for which vents to use - the car will engage the AC compressor to de-fog the car as it sees fit. If the vent setting is set to face & feet it will not use the compressor at all unless AC is on.

 

I've noticed my car will not go into EV mode if the vent setting is on AUTO or all 3. When I switch off the windshield vent EV engages instantly. Its simply trying to dry out the air with hotter temps from the engine and the AC compressor doesn't run - but its something to take note of though.

[B25Nut]

If the car is on the "Auto" setting for which vents to use - the car will engage the AC compressor to de-fog the car as it sees fit. If the vent setting is set to face & feet it will not use the compressor at all unless AC is on.

 

I've noticed my car will not go into EV mode if the vent setting is on AUTO or all 3. When I switch off the windshield vent EV engages instantly. Its simply trying to dry out the air with hotter temps from the engine and the AC compressor doesn't run - but its something to take note of though.

Thank you for this. All winter I had the windshield vent engaged when the Climate was on. You do great detective work!

[Former Expedition owner]

I'd like to be able to have outside air come through the upper (face) vents on my HyTi.

 

I believe this is somewhat related to this topic.

 

On a sunny spring day, after my HyTi sits in the parking lot all day at work, the interior becomes warm. However, the outside temperature my be only 55-60 degrees. I'd like to be able to open the "vents" without turning the compressor on (and using any energy or forcing he ICE to come on), to let the cool outside air into the warm cabin.

 

Sounds simple, right?

 

I can't figure out how to open the vents without forcing the compressor to come on.

 

Any ideas?

[murphy]

Why don't you open the moon roof and let the warm air escape?

[hybridbear]

I'd like to be able to have outside air come through the upper (face) vents on my HyTi. I believe this is somewhat related to this topic. On a sunny spring day, after my HyTi sits in the parking lot all day at work, the interior becomes warm. However, the outside temperature my be only 55-60 degrees. I'd like to be able to open the "vents" without turning the compressor on (and using any energy or forcing he ICE to come on), to let the cool outside air into the warm cabin. Sounds simple, right? I can't figure out how to open the vents without forcing the compressor to come on. Any ideas?

 

Check out Post #9 in this thread. That answers your question

[Darkside]

Diggin up kind of an old post here, but I think from my observations that "other" as the original post says is everything the 12v system requires to run the vehicle. So I'd like to know what other people show for "other" power? Mine usually always stays at about 3/4 way to the first bar line. I do not believe "other" can go to zero unless the car stalled.