If you’ve ever wondered what the difference is between Normal AC and Max AC, you’re not alone. These two buttons have been causing controversy ever since Max AC was introduced and the internet is filled with forum after forum where people speculate as to there actual use. So what is the difference between normal AC and Max AC? Here’s the short version.
Normal AC activates your vehicles air conditioning system which causes incoming air to be passed through its compressor and condenser where the air is cooled and dehumidified, before being blown into your vehicle. Max AC activates the AC and re-circulation mode, while also in some vehicles, forces all air to be blown through the dash vents in an attempt to cool the car down rapidly. Max AC is simply a more convenient way to turn on your AC, set the AC to re-circulation mode, and turn your air up full blast.
If you’d like to know more about these buttons and how they work, keep reading to learn more! In this article we’ll explain their differences in more detail as well as show you how to use them to cool your car down quickly!
Normal AC
When you press the AC button in your car, it does a few things. First of all it activates your vehicles air conditioning system. If you have your car set to blow cool air but don’t have the AC button engaged, it will only blow but so cold. The reason for this is because the incoming air is not being processed through the AC system.
Once the AC button is pressed, any incoming air will be ran through the systems compressor which cools and dehumidifies the air before its blown into your car. This works with re-circulation mode or fresh air mode. The only difference is that re-circulation mode works by reprocessing the air that’s already in your car whereas fresh air mode constantly takes in new fresh air from outside of your vehicle. Both methods will cool your vehicle down but re-circulation mode is quicker as its easier to reduce the temperature of air that’s already been cooled down.
You can also use AC for heat in your car. I know that sounds strange but its completely safe to do so. One instance where you would consider this is when your windows are fogged and you need to clear them quickly. Air that is processed through your AC system is dehumidified which means its dryer. The dryer the air the less humid it is. And because window fog is caused by humidity differences between the inside and outside of your car, using heat in conjunction with the AC function makes clearing your windows faster than doing so otherwise.
Also, if you decide to use the AC function with heat in order to clear your windows, be sure to switch from re-circulation mode to fresh air mode. Again, because window fog is caused by differences in humidity, its best to bring in air from outside of the vehicle to help bridge the gap between the two different levels of humidity. Using the re-circulation mode will just continue to cycle the same humid air in your vehicle and it will take longer to clear your windows.
To wrap things up, the AC button activates your vehicles air conditioning system which causes all air, whether through re-circulation mode or fresh air mode, cold or hot, to be processed through its compressor which makes for dryer, less humid air. This aides in cooling your vehicle faster in the summer, or clearing your windows quickly when fogged.
Max AC
For those of you who have been baffled by the true function of Max AC, this section is for you. For years I have wondered what that button really did and as it turns out, its more of a convenience feature than anything. Unfortunately, pressing this button wont magically transform your vehicle from a commercial grade oven to an ice box. Let me explain what it will do.
As just explained in the previous section, utilizing the AC function of a vehicle forces air to be processed through the air conditioning system. This is a must if you want to cool your vehicle down quickly. The other factors that contribute to how quickly your vehicle is cooled down is how much air is being put out, and whether you’re using re-circulation mode or fresh air mode.
When you use the Max AC function, all its doing is activating your vehicles AC, turning on re-circulation mode, and forcing all air through the dash vents to help cool your vehicle as fast as possible. That’s it.
If you use Max AC and then manually turn off the re-circulation mode, Max AC will turn off as it will only function while in re-circulation mode. This is because the sole purpose of Max AC is to cool your vehicle down as quickly as possible and re-circulation mode helps in that process.
To summarize, Max AC is a multi-function button that makes it super convenient to cool your car down rapidly. Definitely use this button if its scorching outside and you need to cool your vehicle down quickly.
In Summary
Both Normal AC and Max AC will cool your vehicle down. The only difference is how fast. To be honest, I don’t know that there is a tremendous difference in the amount of time it will take regardless of which method you use. I guess it really depends on how well the AC system was designed in your specific vehicle. Some makes and models just have better air conditioning systems than others so results may vary.