I understand how cabin thermostats work, and sometimes like to set it and forget it. But- every car I have ever had has also had the ability to use manual controls. As in, I would like to be able to make the air blowing out of the vents warmer or cooler without regard to the cabin temperature. Is that an option?
Not as far as I know. It's always thermostatically controlled and all you can do manually is limit the output to fan, cooling or heating only. But given the technologies and need to stay economical with power usage, I think that it's the only way it could work.
If you want it to blow hotter, just dial up the temp. If you want it cooler, just lower it. That's the same as a manual control.
I have figured out to change the thermostat. Was just wondering if there was a strictly manual setting.
Only sorta. If you take control of the temp, fan, and whether heat and/or A/C are on, you can probably force the conditions you want. Study this and experiment while sitting still, because trying to figure out what the inputs and result is while driving is not a healthy idea. The system may revert one or more settings by itself after some time [notably recirc/fresh], so eyeball the lights once in a while. Real buttons/knobs aside, this system is super-quirky. _H*
To amplify this comment further, consider that the PTC heater outputs something like 5kW when powered. Without thermostatic control you'd get uncomfortable very quickly. There's no variable setting possible as implemented, nor is that technology intended to be modulated electronically. They used a PTC because it's low cost. The AC and heat pump (where applicable) system is much the same, either on or off. The compressor does have a variable speed but the range of heating or cooling output is not likely to be very wide due to the limitations of the refrigerant cycle, and in any case no such options have been made available to the driver outside of the temperature knob.
