Winter Is A Coming!

[Seventy One]

Would some kind person advise me?

What are the most efficient settings to use for demisting first thing on a cold morning and how long should the process take?

[tjcdigital]

try leaving all your windows open the night before, at bed time for about 15 minutes, then obviously shut themm.

that is meant to stop your car icing up. you'll have to try it to see if it works.

[Seventy One]

Big thank you for taking the trouble to reply. It sounds very practical ... but not in our street!!

[Cyker]

Just set the air to blow on the windscreen and turn the AC on; It'll clear in seconds! :)

[tavy]

First time, you start the engine then remove the ice from windshield, front windows and outside mirrors, get in the car, turn on the blower and go; this will take 5...6 min.

[reece]

Hot air, blower on maximum and set to the windscreen, don’t have the re-circulation on and it will clear pretty quickly.

If you have air con you could put that on for a few minutes if it’s heavily steamed up.

[Blue84]

First time, you start the engine then remove the ice from windshield, front windows and outside mirrors, get in the car, turn on the blower and go; this will take 5...6 min.

I start the engine, put the blower onto windscreen only on the highest setting of heat then clear the ice/rain drops/dew off of the windows. I would say 5 minutes or thereabouts until it is cleared properly.

If I am in a rush then I'll put the air-con on to clear it, otherwise I just do it standard.

[Seventy One]

Well, there seems a measure of consensus and that's what I had hoped for. Thank you everyone.

Out of interest, the question was prompted by an unusual weather feature a few days ago when a

hailstorm struck us when we were on the motor way. Being quite new to the car, at least as far

as wintery conditions were concerned, we were surprised at the speed at which the car misted up

inside. For a short while it was a dangerous situation. We moved to the slow lane slowed and hit

the screen with hot air but it still took nearly half a minute to clear sufficiently for us to see ... half

a minute that could have been our last.

Not quite what the question was about but as I said, prompted by this experience.

[Red Yaris 54]

Sound like you had your blower on RECIRCULATE mode..........(This does not draw any fresh air in and promotes misting in some circumstances).

Make sure that your air intake mechanism is set to take air from outside and you should not get this problem

[Johan007]

Why do all cars have the RECIRCULATE mode?

After a rainy I always dry out the car the next day by blasting hot air in and opening a window. Also make sure the inside window is clean and grease free.

[Cyker]

Aircon + Windscreen blower is the fastest way to clear condensation on the windscreen.

Max heat can also clear it, but not as fast (Well... unless you're using heat AND aircon ;)), and obviously doesn't work that well car is cold.

But yea, recirculation mode seems to encourage condensation unless the aircon is on so fresh air is deffo the way to go (Well, unless you're driving past a sewage treatment works or something, then aircon+recirc might be better ).

BTW, you can get a special spray (or impregnated cloth) which stops windows misting up so easily; I got one from Halfords and it actually works pretty well!

Annoyingly it only works well if you apply it while the window is fairly dry, so it's not much help in a pinch.

[Passedit]

You could place a big piece of cardboard over the front windscreen at night ,or even better buy a cover for the entire top of the car. As for the inside, when driving under damp conditions I always have one of the windows slightly open to clear the steamy breath of myself and passengers.

There is a way caravanners keep the inside of their vehicles damp free ( so I am told) by placing a container full of salt somewhere to absorb all the moisture. Never tried it,but it might work.

[Johan007]

How about a big bag of those small balls that say "Do not eat".

[Cyker]

Silica Gel it's called; It's a dessicant (i.e. absorbs water).

Apparently if you dump some rice or instant coffee (Disclaimer: I may have that wrong ) in a bowl and leave it in the car it can have a similar effect, but I must admit I've never tried that

[Blue84]

Opening the window a little bit also helps with the misting, they do mist up quickly, I was reminded of this last week after leaving work. Walked the 8 minutes up the road under a wet umbrella and got into the car and it really quickly misted up so opened both windows a little bit which helps it to sort itself out a bit too.

[Raeman]

With my Yaris it depends on how many are in the car....

Only me and it mists a little, i just set the blower to no1 on a cool setting on windscreen mode or open the window an inch or so..

A few in the car, then i use the air-con on middle temp setting, again on windscreen mode, blower on no2.

Allways works in my car doing this, but as we all know.....All cars are different!