Date:         Tue, 5 Jul 2005 23:04:38 -0400
Reply-To:     Kim Brennan <kimbrennan@MAC.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Kim Brennan <kimbrennan@MAC.COM>
Subject:      Observations on AC
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Okay, since there are some folks out there that think Westy's AC's
suck, I figured I'd give some info.

Today's temps in DC were in the low 90's with dew points in the 70's.
When I went out to my Burgundy (i.e DARK) Westy, which of necessity
parks in the sun (too tall to go inside the garages at work), the
interior temp was north of 120. At 6pm without rolling down the
windows, or doing anything else to vent that heat, I got in and
started driving home, with the AC on full blast. By the time I got
home, about 25 minutes later, the interior was 83 degrees and very
comfortable (actually a bit cold in the breeze as I was wearing shorts).

In truth it only took about 5 minutes for the blast furnace heat of
the interior to be reduced to something comfortable (lowered humidity
is a big part of that).

Now some of you used to driving standard cars will think those
numbers aren't all that awesome. But I challenge you to do that in a
standard sedan, but measure the temperatures in the BACK seat. I
think you'll find that your average car can't come close to cooling
the interior down like that. I've sat in enough cars' back seats and
roasted while the driver turned the AC down "cause he was too cold".
You also have to consider the volume of air that is getting cooled
down. which is something like 350 cubic feet of air (or more) , where
a typical sedan is cooling something more like 120 cubic feet.