@VIRAGOMAN: Tampa / St. Pete / Clearwater area ain't no joy when it comes to HUMIDITY either! So, I feel your pain!!!
By the way, this 2010 CAMRY is SO smart that when you turn the dial for max. COLD on the TEMP knob, it automatically puts the A/C on in RECIRC mode, whether you want it or not! But, when you turn the knob a little to the c.w. position, it does NOT turn the A/C off. You must then press the center of the other knob to turn it off. There's so much about the 2010 that I dislike, it would take a tome to describe all its "wonderful" engineering enhancements!!!!!
Wow. Guess I'll hold onto my 2002 196k mi. 5-speed manual Camry. Only issue with cabin air selection is automatic cancellation of recirculation mode when main selector is changed. Pulling outside air in during a rainstorm in Houston is counterproductive, so I always push the recirculate button again.
Interesting, Tim. A small item like that can help determine whether or not you like a particular car. This is a good example of a change to digital just for the sake of digital. You actually lose a degree of control with the upgrade to digital.
Makes sense to me. From a human standpoint, dry 90 degree air is more comfortable than humid 80 degree air. Thus re-circ passes cabin air repeatedly over the coils to remove humidity. Once the air is releatively dry, outside air can be brought-in dehumidified and cooled. For winter, when in re-circ - cabin air picks up moisture from the occupants and floor mats and is then re-directed against the cold windows creating frost. Taking outside air in winter draws in dry air which is heated and circulated. Well designed climate control in high-end cars blends cooled and heated air and keeps cabin air circulating continuously, they sense humidity, inside/outside temperature and adjust the controls as necessary, less well designed "temperature control" systems either heat or cool only and when the 'set' temp is achieved, the fan shuts down or goes to the lowest speed thus cabin air movement virtually ceases. There is a reason Mercedes cost more than Toyotas.
This "problem" is not isolated to the HIGHLANDER. It also rears its ugly head in the CAMRY. It's ironic when reading this blog, and the comments that follow, that one should take note of the recent TOYOTA radio advertisements that have been running for several months in my local market........ The 2012 TOYOTA CAMRY..... THE MOST TECHNILOGICALLY ADVANCED CAMRY YET!
Woe is me! I wish I still had my 2006 Camry. It was relatively simple; I could adjust the various control functions myself, all WITHOUT the aid of a microcontroller or two. My 2010 CAMRY replacement can't hold a candle to the 2006 model! I shudder to think of the next time I'm in the market for a replacement.
In winter I have passed cars with every window fogged up. I use the outside air setting in cold weather - I guess the occupants of the fogged up car didn't have an experienced driving instructor. In summer, I open all of the windows and set the A/C to outside air initially. After the hot cabin air, and the hot air in the vent system, is flushed, then I change to recirculate.
I agree with the final comment that the human has better reasoning than the canned program.
I agree-the logic is correct, for the reasons antedeluvian elucidated-even though his name is mis-spelled.. Humidity control is one big reason for recirculation when beginning the process, as it is much easier to cool dehumidified air than humid, and less humid air doesn't feel as uncomfortable, leading to more comfort sooner. This also is very important to defog the windows quicker in cooler temperature situations. For the technical Luddites, there is always an override capability. Undoubtedly, elements of their blood lines flamed the demise of manual spark advance and want it back! LOL
Rob kindly published my views on my monkey designed Toyota a while back, and while I listed lots of issues then, I completely forgot about my climate control issues which were the same as these. It seems like they don't have someone on their design team that understands thermal management. They also didn't understand lighting, as the vehicle had 2 map lights but no light baffle between them, such that the pasenger's map light affected the driver. It also had one of those lovely sunglass holders in the roof lining that was too small for a pair of adult sunglasses.
I had an Oldsmobile Achieva that had a volume control knob with ratchets on it that required pre-determined intervals ofvolume control. The best I could do was get the volume to a point that it was either a little bit too soft or a little too loud. This was just one reason that I did not care for that car.
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