Automotive Air Conditioning

In our little automobiles we can savor the same levels of bliss that we are allowed at home and at work. It may be 100 degrees outside but do not fear. The automotive air conditioning system is here.

The interesting thing is that A/C (Air Conditioning) systems in automobiles have been around since the 1940’s. It was then simplistic. Now it is a monolith. Sensors, brain boxes, hoses, pumps, accumulators, evaporators and vents. Plus all the buttons you need to push on your dash just to turn it on.

They call it a “climate control system”. This has always made me giggle. I mean can we really control anything completely after all?

The cool part, pardon the pun, are the leaps in technology that we are seeing now. The newest progressing system is called “Thermoelectrics”. It makes me think of the film ‘2010 Space Odyssey’ and good ‘ole Hal.

Basically, it takes between 3,500 – 4,500 watts of power to operate a conventional automotive A/C system. With “Thermoelectric” it will only require around 630 watts of power to run the same or better cooling environment. It also uses heat from the exhaust of the engine to help in this process.

You may be asking “What the heck does that mean?” It is recycling at its best. A greener light at the end of the tunnel. It means that less power will be asked from the engine. This will decrease elevated fuel consumption levels that occur with the old style system. It reuses heat already expended by the engine.

So the bullet points are:
∙ Greater fuel economy
∙ Heat already created by the engine is reused
∙ Less friction wear on components inside and outside the engine.

The money you will save with the new system you can use for your next oil change or brake job. Perhaps even a few lattes. Hey, some things just stay the same. For awhile anyway.