Run Your AC In The Winter: Here’s Why

Why Run Your A/C in the Winter?

In West Jordan, Utah, all drivers have their tips for surviving and driving in the Winter. Maybe you have a trick to defrost your windshield more quickly, or you know the best way to turn out if you are spinning on ice. At M1 Auto Repair, we have heard them all! Our technicians are always trading in tricks of the trade. One tip you may not have heard is to use your air conditioning periodically throughout the winter. No, we’re not crazy!

The main benefit of exercising your air conditioning is simply that it needs to be used or it will begin to deteriorate. Your air conditioning has fluids and coils and seals and all sorts of complicated mechanisms that work together. If they sit idle for long the seals will dry up, the fluids will stagnate and when you finally go to use your air in the Spring, you’ll find it’s not in any condition at all. Running the air for just ten minutes every two weeks will give the system an opportunity to circulate the fluids and re-moisten the seals.

Your air conditioning doesn’t only reduce the temperature in your vehicle, it also reduces the moisture. In the winter, when your windows are more likely to fog up from your heat, the extra moisture in your car will make it even more difficult to see. Your a/c also has filters to reduce contaminants in the air. This will also prevent the musty, moldy smell that sometimes appears in the Winter on fabric seats from the stagnant air. When you run your air conditioning, it replaces the air in the cabin so you and your car can breathe.

If you’re worried about adding cold, air-conditioned air to an already freezing car, you can run your air conditioning and heating on 50/50. This way you can exercise your a/c without losing your fingers to frostbite! If you have any winterization tips to share with us or concerns about your vehicle’s winter performance, come into M1 Auto Repair.