Using the AC... recirculate on or off?

In my Legacy manual it says to maximize efficiency, use recirculate when running the A/C.

Is this standard for all vehicles? Or is it the equivalent of "Max A/C" you see on some climate controls

 

In the tacoma manual it says fresh air... that has always confused me.

 

Usually the recirculate setting is for cooling down fast like if you just got in to a hot car. The cars I own with climate control come on with recirculate and then will switch to normal mode after the inside has cooled off. I use it in my Tacoma only when it's really hot and then switch back to normal.
Randy

 

Huh, that's interesting, 'cause I've always put it on recirculate after cooling the cab down. That's what my dad told me, anyways.

 

I've always thought the same thing.

On one hand it seems that continuing to recirculate air that you are cooling would cool it quicker than cooling outside air.

However, it always feel like fresh air is colder when you first start up.

My carpooling buddy and I always laugh because we are diametrically opposed on this topic. When he drives, he clicks on the "recirc (max)" and when I drive, I run fresh air for a few minutes then click recirc.

 

In my Legacy the manual says to always use recirc when using the A/C because it's more efficient.

I rarely use it in my Tacoma because the recirc feature is so f'in loud.

 

I don't like the recirculation because it draws in the air I just farted and makes it stink. Fresh air FTW.

 

and make sure you switch it to fresh if you use the defrost/defog. my dad and I had a long and lengthy argument about this and i had to read it to him out of the book... I don't make it a habit of correcting my dad but this was a safety issue.

 

If you look at the climate control of some of the 01-04s it says to use recirc when you set it to defrost & defrost/foot

 

this was on his 2nd (19934x4) the control panel seems close to ours. that was the one he got stuck on Ocracoke Island, funny story.

 

Consider this: The inside of the car is usually much hotter than the outside. Recirculating hot air to cool it off is not as efficient as drawing in the much cooler outside air when first starting to cool down. Cracking the window will also allow the fan to push more hot air out, until the temp inside starts to drop. After 5-10 min, close the window and switch to recirc/max. The interior air should be cooler than the exterior.
Recirc is more efficient at keeping it cool, but can make for a musty/stinky interior.

 

+1 to this.

The whole dashboard ductwork is heated by the sun when the truck is parked. You want to use the fresh setting to pull in cooler outside air for the first few minutes. On the freeway the recirc. setting keeps a lot of the exhaust fumes out.