DRIVERS are urged to press a forgotten car button now, to make car journeys cosier, without using heating.
As the nights are drawing in and temperatures begin to plummet, many drivers will be cranking up the heating when out and about on car journeys.
Drivers have been urged to press a forgotten button to boost heating[/caption]
Most cars have a recirculation button[/caption]
However, if you’re still feeling a chill whilst getting from A to B, it may be because you have forgotten to switch off one key feature.
During the warm summer months, drivers are urged to switch on their “recirculation button”.
This tells the car to reuse the air already in the car rather than drawing air from outside, meaning that the car cool’s quicker when the air conditioning is turned on.
As well as speeding up the cooling process, it also saves money, as blasting the air conditioning uses up fuel.
It can also prevent the car from smelling bad, and prevent pollution from getting inside.
The button can be found on most modern dashboards, and usually depicts a car with a looping arrow inside it.
However, according to experts, you should make sure the button is turned off during colder months.
“As a general rule, when it’s cold outside make sure the recirculation button is switched off!”, experts from Eden Tyres and Servicing said.
“The air-recirculation button is best to use alongside your AC during warm weather. During cooler weather, it doesn’t have many benefits and can even be detrimental.
“Some drivers think it makes sense to not have “all that cold air coming in” if they are using heaters in winter.
“However, in reality, it’s best to keep it switched off.
“The standard “fresh air” mode forces the outside air through your heater core so it’s nice and toasty before it reaches you, and your windows will de-fog a lot quicker and stay that way while you drive.”
Experts have also revealed that penny pinchers shouldn’t be afraid to turn on car heating in the colder months, as it will likely not use any extra fuel.
Dorry Potter, an expert at National Scrap Car said: “The main fuel-saving misconceptions are that heating your car uses more fuel and that warming your engine up prior to setting off makes it run better on a cold day.
What should be in your winter car kit?
According to the RAC
By Jacob Jaffa, Motors Reporter
- Ice scraper
- Torch
- Paper maps
- Phone charger
- Warm clothes/blankets
- High-vis clothing
- Jump cables
- Jerry can
- Warning triangles
- Food and drink
- A shovel
- Sunglasses
“Despite air-con increasing fuel consumption during the warmer months, heating the car doesn’t actually use any extra fuel.
“Motorists may notice that when they first turn on their heating it blasts out cold air, this is because the heat comes from the engine itself so as the engine heats up, so does the air from the heaters.”
Drivers are also being urged to press a hidden button that stops you being blinded by headlights on dark evenings.
Motoring expert Graham Conway from Select Car Leasing explained that many drivers are only just realising that their rear-view mirrors have a ‘night mode’ — often referred to as the anti-glare switch.
He explained: “Car rear-view mirrors are actually much more clever than you might realise.
“In most vehicles, the mirror itself is a wedge-shaped piece of glass that has, essentially, two surfaces.
“One is fully-reflective, the other is only partially reflective, and you can toggle between the two surfaces via a tab or button.
