The question was actually a comment my husband made that I'm foolish leaving the air conditioner running when the top is down. Only took him 4 years to notice that I do this.... he has never even sat in my car when top was down until this week (I was in driveway and he got in car to check something) and I got a sermon from him. I never thought about shutting it off.I don't understand the question. But I liked the answers. If its 90 and the top is down,I have the ac on. ESP.. In stop and go traffic. If it's 75, then your just wasting gas in my opinion.
Well, you would think there is a 'wear and tear' factor at work if the A/C is running 'all the time'. I've never noticed a big difference in gas mileage, but one would think 'parts' would wear out more frequently/sooner with virtually constant use.The question was actually a comment my husband made that I'm foolish leaving the air conditioner running when the top is down. Only took him 4 years to notice that I do this.... he has never even sat in my car when top was down until this week (I was in driveway and he got in car to check something) and I got a sermon from him. I never thought about shutting it off.
You're missing the point, air conditioning is ONLY effective within an enclosed airspace. An example is a C70 with the top and windows up or a building with all doors & windows closed. Running the A/C with the top down is essentially blowing a small amount of cool air (which quickly dissipates) into the hot air around you. If you're too hot with the top down then put the top and windows up and crank the A/C, makes a ton of sense to me!Now to me, foolish is sitting there sweating away when there's AC available simply because you're worried about wasting a little energy or wear and tear.
Who cares if it quickly dissipates. I keep the vents blowing on my arms and face and it keeps me plenty cool.You're missing the point, air conditioning is ONLY effective within an enclosed airspace. An example is a C70 with the top and windows up or a building with all doors & windows closed. Running the A/C with the top down is essentially blowing a small amount of cool air (which quickly dissipates) into the hot air around you. If you're too hot with the top down then put the top and windows up and crank the A/C, makes a ton of sense to me!
Actually your engine generates excess heat so you'd be doing your car a favor by running the heater at any time, I do it in my mom's convertable all the time as well as in my wagon with the windows down. Also your seat heaters are tied in to your alternator & battery, you'd simply be operating another electrical device.I suppose I shouldn't keep the top down either with the heater blowing and heated seats on when it's cold outside as well.