To deal with brutal Southern California winters I have always turned the temperature control from cool (blue) to warm (red), without turning on the fan or heater. Warm air from vents resulted. Any way to do this on the Prius?
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(j24816 @ May 1 2006, 09:13 PM) [snapback]248274[/snapback]</div> Turn off auto mode, set the fan to the lowest setting, and set the temp up to higher setting. Tom
Added slightly to Tom's post... Turn off auto mode (if you had it on)...if not go from OFF to LO and set the temp up to higher setting. And then click off again. Bingo, warm air. Kind of a pain to have to do 2 steps...especially because as soon as you hit OFF you can no longer see the temperature setting (you have to click LO again to see it). But it does work.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mssmith95 @ May 1 2006, 08:58 PM) [snapback]248378[/snapback]</div> Thank you, (thank you, thank you) I will give it a try.....so even if the temperature setting and auto are greyed out it still is used to control temperature!? Both poorly designed and documented. Without your help I never would have figured this out, and explaining this to others will be an embarassment. The climate control operation needs a complete redesign.
It is one of my major pet peeves about this car that you have to turn the fan on in order to change the temperature setting. I much prefered the 100% manual climate settings in my old Civic. Another peeve is that to go from max hot to max cold, or vice versa, you have to click through the entire range of temps. In older systems you just give the knob a quick crank. At least they should offer a button to jump to max hot and another for max cold. Some folks set it to a comfortable temp and leave it there. But I dress for the weather, so I want the car warmer in hot weather (shorts) and cooler in cold weather (heavy pants and jacket).
OK, Now I understand the climate controls (but hey, I've only had the car a month!) Thanks for the help!