Cold Weather, Hot Data: Heater Power Usage and Exterior Temp

[Firn]

Short drive testing Auto 1 vs Auto 3 in 7 degrees F.

Beginning is warmup as I left my house.

The second bit, 735-745, was Auto 3 at 70mph (ish).

The beginning of the third bit (747-75) was Auto 1, also at 70mph (ish). The last bit was Auto 3 again.

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[21st Century Truck]

Short drive testing Auto 1 vs Auto 3 in 7 degrees F.

Beginning is warmup as I left my house.

The second bit, 735-745, was Auto 3 at 70mph (ish).

The beginning of the third bit (747-75) was Auto 1, also at 70mph (ish). The last bit was Auto 3 again.

Thanks this is useful data.

 

[Firn]

Thanks this is useful data.

Yeah

What is unusual to me is that Auto 1 appears to use more energy than Auto 3.

Of note, today when leaving work with cold soaked battery the heating system did not warm the battery, even though power was even limited due to temp.

 

[Scorpio3d]

Yeah

What is unusual to me is that Auto 1 appears to use more energy than Auto 3.

Of note, today when leaving work with cold soaked battery the heating system did not warm the battery, even though power was even limited due to temp.

What about sport mode? People have said that it will cool the battery in the heat I wonder if it has the opposite effect in the cold??

 

[TaxmanHog]

Yeah

What is unusual to me is that Auto 1 appears to use more energy than Auto 3.

Of note, today when leaving work with cold soaked battery the heating system did not warm the battery, even though power was even limited due to temp.

Interesting, what was your outside temp?

I got a 10 minute session of spontaneous battery warming at 19°

 

[Firn]

Interesting, what was your outside temp?

I got a 10 minute session of spontaneous battery warming at 19°

Outside was high 20s (F), battery temp min was 28, max was 35, and reported "temp" was 30. Truck had been outside for 8 hours. Power was limited to 92% for my entire 20 minute drive home. Coolant Inlet temp stayed at ambient, heater power usage was only for hvac (turning hvac off had power usage go to zero). Battery temp mode was "Eq" through car scanner.

Edit. Even more fun. Just fired up the charger to see how the temp changes just charging, turned the truck on so I could monitor with the obd port. With HVAC off the heater kicked up to 8kw, even with the battery at 50 degrees F.
Not going to see much increase in SOC with the heater sucking up 8 or my 11kw...

Edit2. Temp went up to about 65f and the heater is off now

 

[Firn]

What about sport mode? People have said that it will cool the battery in the heat I wonder if it has the opposite effect in the cold??

Funny you mention that, I rarely use sport mode but did use it for about half the drive home.

With power limited by temp down to 92% (at 80%soc) i would think Sport mode would be more likely to heat the battery.

That said, i did switch to normal and tow/haul once I was home and in the 30 seconds to a minute I tried those modes the heater did not start warming the battery. I'll try other modes today.

 

[TaxmanHog]

IIRC, it was said, that Tow Mode engages extra cooling and possibly warming during cold season.

I did a test of that a few weeks ago, didn't notice an appreciable increase on the battery temperature gauge.

 

[Firn]

IIRC, it was said, that Tow Mode engages extra cooling and possibly warming during cold season.

I did a test of that a few weeks ago, didn't notice an appreciable increase on the battery temperature gauge.

I'm interested to see if that is true. That said, not sure if the truck will sit long enough today to find out. That, and, if I'm being honest, I don't really feel like parking it outside overnight just for you all...lol

 

[fitek]

I insulated my Transit van with Thinsulate and 1/2 and 3/4" polyiso and covered the unused windows with Reflectix and it made a noticeable, though not major, difference, especially on the coldest days. At least drink cans don't explode if night time temps go below 32f. Anyone know whether there's insulation of any sort in the LIghtning? My Transit van had almost nothing, wife's Porsche has those ripped up jeans IIRC.

 

[Firn]

Had a 40 minute highway drive so tracked heater usage again.

I used some portion of the drive on Auto 3, and some portion on Auto 1, switching at the halfway point. Care to guess which section is which?

I think we can see that which Auto setting you choose doesn't matter. Which makes sense, the truck is losing BTUs and needs to make up for that, how much it loses isn't determined by which setting you choose.

 

[GDN]

I haven't digested this thread, but the parts I've read and my personal experience for performance of the Heat or AC is to forget those Auto settings. They are worthless at controlling the HVAC in any manner they might suggest.

I rarely have enough fan for either heat or AC. Turning the fan up manually to 3 to push the heat out seems to be much more effective than either Auto that seems to blow nothing, regardless of how much power is being consumed by the heater.

 

[Firn]

I haven't digested this thread, but the parts I've read and my personal experience for performance of the Heat or AC is to forget those Auto settings. They are worthless at controlling the HVAC in any manner they might suggest.

I rarely have enough fan for either heat or AC. Turning the fan up manually to 3 to push the heat out seems to be much more effective than either Auto that seems to blow nothing, regardless of how much power is being consumed by the heater.

To each their own. Auto 1 is my preferred setting and it works fine for me. The fan kicks on initially and then slows down, I'm comfortable and I don't hear the fan. I'll hit the button on occasion for various reasons, then ending up driving like that for days or weeks because I didn't realize it was not Auto 1 like I prefer.

Regardless of the fan speed the heater usage should be the same if the temp is set. More, lower temp air, or less, higher temp air, it's all just trying to replace btu loss.

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