How It Works: Your Car's Heating System - Driving
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When the weather turns cold, few things on your vehicle seem as important as its heater. Its controls may be on the dash, but the heart of how most of them work begins inside the engine with its cooling system.
Article contentRegular maintenance on that system not only benefits the engine, but can keep your vehicle’s heater in good condition as well.
Article contentArticle contentAn engine generates so much heat from combustion and friction that if it isn’t continuously cooled, it can suffer serious damage. Virtually all modern vehicle engines are liquid-cooled, using water blended with antifreeze to reduce corrosion and keep it from freezing.
Article contentAdvertisement 1Story continues belowThis advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below.Article contentThe coolant is pumped through channels in the engine, called water jackets, where it absorbs heat. It then travels into the radiator where it cools down before going back into the engine in a continuous loop.
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Some of the hot coolant makes a detour from the engine through a water valve and over to the heater core. This is a miniature version of the radiator, with tubes for coolant circulation and cooling fins to dissipate the heat.
Article contentArticle contentWhen you turn on the fan, a blower motor sends the air warmed by the heater core into the cabin. To regulate the temperature, small “blend doors” open or close to regulate how much hot or cold air enters the cabin from the heater core or air conditioning unit. There’s also a flap that regulates how much fresh air comes into the climate system from outside.
Article contentSetting the system to “Recirculate” closes this outside flap, and the climate system receives only inside air to be heated or cooled. This helps it to reach the desired temperature quickly, and can also prevent outside odours from getting in (flip it closed quickly when you see the dead skunk up ahead!), but leaving it in that position too long can build up condensation and cause the windows to steam up. If too little fresh air comes in, it can also create higher carbon dioxide levels, which can make you drowsy.
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If your vehicle has automatic climate control, it uses sensors to monitor the cabin, and then opens or closes the blend doors and outside flap as needed to maintain the temperature you’ve set. Dual-zone systems, which allow driver and passenger to set different temperatures, operate individual blend doors on either side of the dash.
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