This isn’t just an American car thing, non American brands do this as well. That’s because it’s a good idea. The heater core has way more capacity than the AC, so the air coming out of the vent will still be warm. But running the AC is still a good thing, because it gets the moisture out of the air.
Without running the AC the humidity in the car shoots up and takes a while to clear, with the AC on the humidity stays controlled. This helps clear the windscreen sooner and helps with comfort in the car. It also prevents mold, which if you live in a cold but humid place, can be very annoying. It is very normal where I live to have the AC on in fall and winter, because otherwise the humidity inside the car is very uncomfortable and can easily cause mold all over the interior.
If it’s a cold winter day it’s dry outside. Just open your cabin circulator to bring in outside air, and you don’t need to use the extra gas to run the AC.
If you’re in an equatorial area, foggy windows will be because of unbelievably high humidity in hot to boiling weather, which WILL require AC because you can’t just suck in more wet air and make it hotter and expect that to work.
This isn’t just an American car thing, non American brands do this as well. That’s because it’s a good idea. The heater core has way more capacity than the AC, so the air coming out of the vent will still be warm. But running the AC is still a good thing, because it gets the moisture out of the air.
Without running the AC the humidity in the car shoots up and takes a while to clear, with the AC on the humidity stays controlled. This helps clear the windscreen sooner and helps with comfort in the car. It also prevents mold, which if you live in a cold but humid place, can be very annoying. It is very normal where I live to have the AC on in fall and winter, because otherwise the humidity inside the car is very uncomfortable and can easily cause mold all over the interior.
If it’s a cold winter day it’s dry outside. Just open your cabin circulator to bring in outside air, and you don’t need to use the extra gas to run the AC.
If you’re in an equatorial area, foggy windows will be because of unbelievably high humidity in hot to boiling weather, which WILL require AC because you can’t just suck in more wet air and make it hotter and expect that to work.