Top air con hacks to keep your car cool as temperatures soar – including where to point your air vents
Amid record breaking temperatures around the UK this week boffins are revealing top tips about maximising your car's cooling systems.
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From using your doors and windows to maximising your air vents - a little goes a long way trying to keep the temp in your motor down.
Happily, the RAC have released five essential tips to beat the heat.
The easiest and most notable of all is pointing your car's air vents in an upward direction - maximising the use of your lower vents.
Heat rises - so to make best use of your car's air con, blast cold air downwards into the footwells.
This will force the hot air up and out of your car's windows (opening these is also a good idea).
To maximise this effect, shut the upper vents on the dashboard, so the full airflow is directed upwards.
After a little while, your car will have begun to cool, so slowly wind your windows up to ensure the cool air stays inside the cabin.
There's another key trick to cooling your car fast - but you may get some odd looks for doing it.
You basically use your car doors to fan out the hot air.
You need to open both windows on one side of your car, and then swing a door on the other side back and forth to push the car's stale air out of the open windows.
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It takes at least three attempts to get rid of the car's heat.
Another great way to cool down your motor's interior, is by making the best use of your car's air conditioning.
After starting your car's engine, turn your air con to the coolest possible setting, and make sure to use the 'external' air setting.
This is because the air outside your car is likely to be cooler than what's inside, so using air recirculation will slow down your car's ability to stay cool.
Bare in mind air con can take a few minutes to become effective - so opening your windows for a couple of minutes while it gets going might help.
By the time your air con does manage to pump out cool air, then make sure to shut the windows and switch from external air to recirculation.
You can also reopen the upper air vents and adjust the airflow from these according to your needs.
If your car doesn't have the luxury of air con, then make sure to keep your windows open as much as possible, turn the fan on and keep it at the coolest setting.
By contrast, if your car is advanced enough to have a climate control system, then you can keep a constant temperature for the remainder of your journey.
The RAC website says: "The summer months are perfect for road trips, holidays and trips to the beach.
"Fortunately, there are some simple steps you can take to keep your car healthy and cool in the warm weather."
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