Ventilation ???

J

Jim In Tucson

Well-Known Member
I’m attempting to figure out how to ventilate the SE. Every time I think I have all of the controls set to ventilate I still get heat. How do I turn off heat? I presumed the A/C off and on button also controlled heat, due to the source supposedly being an electric heat pump, but it apparently only turns of cooling only not heating.

This is very puzzling. Any ideas?


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Jim In Tucson said:
the A/C off and on button...apparently only turns of cooling only not heating
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Yes. I thought the A/C was broken until I realized I had to either press the A/C button or select the Auto function (to make it work like our Honda). If you have the temperature dialed down and the A/C and Auto function off, you will be ventilating.
upload_2022-2-8_20-43-13.webp
 
I leave it on auto and turn the dial to 60. Seems to work fine.

I was worried the remote conditioning would default to heat when it's cold out but the car has been in the sun all day, but it seems to base it off the interior temp thankfully.

One thing I really appreciate about the SE is that it's the first Mini I've had that you can pump in outside air and it's about the same temp as the outside air. Having to turn on the AC when it's 40 degrees outside is irritating.
 
Well, yes, but I don’t have to turn the dials UP to shut off the A/C, I can simply press the A/C button. Apparently there is no heater button. So, the default setting is heat always on. That seems odd to me since I presumed both A/C and heat are electric.


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The default isn't heat always on and I don't know why you think that.

If you want it cooler, turn the dial to a smaller number. If you want it warmer, turn the dial to a larger number. Whether it blows cool or warm air depends on the interior temperature and what you have it set to.

The A/C button turns the compressor on and off. If it's humid, having the A/C on will remove humidity from the air (both hot and cold air).
 
chrunck said:
The default isn't heat always on and I don't know why you think that.

If you want it cooler, turn the dial to a smaller number. If you want it warmer, turn the dial to a larger number. Whether it blows cool or warm air depends on the interior temperature and what you have it set to.

The A/C button turns the compressor on and off. If it's humid, having the A/C on will remove humidity from the air (both hot and cold air).
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I believe the concern relates to the ability to manually shut off the heat. The SE appears to have no override in prohibiting the heat pump from running, if the HVAC is selected on (regardless of AUTO selected on/off or AC selected on/off) the heat pump may be activated if an adequate temperature differential is measured.

"AC" OFF appears to prohibit cooling using the heat pump OR prohibit dehumidification using the heat pump. But heating using the heat pump will continue.

"AUTO" ON or OFF doesn't prohibit the heat pump from activation from the scenarios I ran thus far. If one chooses to ventilate, the heat pump may cycle on and off (for heating) with little control from the driver.

But if there is a way to manually lock out the heat pump (for ventilation) I'd love to hear it. The lowest selection method (as you mentioned) would work, but only for mild climates, temperatures below 50F may continue to trigger the heat.

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There's always Green+ mode if you're really determined.

I'm having a hard time imagining a scenario where I wouldn't want the heat to come on if it's only 50F in the cabin. Is there a particular scenario you have in mind? Right after a run/bike ride, where you're sweaty and don't want the heat on but still want some air movement? I could see that.

In the 2nd gen MINIs, turning it all the way down would set it to LO, which would just push through outside air, which sounds like what you want. I haven't seen that in our 3rd gens though, it just bottoms out at 60F. Though I haven't tried turning off all the auto functions to see if that allows you to get to LO.
 
chrunck said:
There's always Green+ mode if you're really determined.

I'm having a hard time imagining a scenario where I wouldn't want the heat to come on if it's only 50F in the cabin. Is there a particular scenario you have in mind? Right after a run/bike ride, where you're sweaty and don't want the heat on but still want some air movement? I could see that.

In the 2nd gen MINIs, turning it all the way down would set it to LO, which would just push through outside air, which sounds like what you want. I haven't seen that in our 3rd gens though, it just bottoms out at 60F. Though I haven't tried turning off all the auto functions to see if that allows you to get to LO.
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For me, personally, I'd rather have the full control over heat pump activation. Eliminating the unwanted wear and tear in addition to the marginal increase in power consumption. Instead, I find myself tuning HVAC off completely while venting the sunroof, it does the same trick if opened before fogging starts.

Green+ may actually allow ventilation while inhibiting the pump, a scenario I'll have to try next. Though I probably won't use it as the heated seats are reduced.....silly considering we're taking about maybe a 20 watt reduction per seat compared to 200-2000 watts for the heat pump, as a guess.

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insightman said:
I'm certain the heat pump is used only for heating, not for cooling.
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It's the same compressor for both cooling and heating. Valves reverse the flow of refrigerant depending on what cycle is needed.

Any refrigerator, air conditioner, or freezer uses the same technology without the reversing valve. Terminology aside, there is only one compressor for both heating and cooling, but cannot do both simultaneously.

There is most likely a resistive heater to supplement the heat pump during extreme cold weather performance and/or dehumidifying while attempting to heat the cabin.

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Wouldn’t turning the CC temperature controls to min and knocking off AC provide the ventilation you are looking for? Whether you have the control set to auto or manual I would have thought that if ambient temperature is 20C and you have your temperature control set to minimum, the heater shouldn’t activate?
Why are you concerned over wear and tear of the heat pump? Is it something you’ve had a problem with in the past? These things tend to be pretty reliable; as you point out, they are not strictly speaking a new technology.
 
SpeedyRS said:
Wouldn’t turning the CC temperature controls to min and knocking off AC provide the ventilation you are looking for? Whether you have the control set to auto or manual I would have thought that if ambient temperature is 20C and you have your temperature control set to minimum, the heater shouldn’t activate?
Why are you concerned over wear and tear of the heat pump? Is it something you’ve had a problem with in the past? These things tend to be pretty reliable; as you point out, they are not strictly speaking a new technology.
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I'll have to test a few configurations. I've tried turning the heat off without bottoming out selectable temp (AUTO ON & OFF + AC OFF) but the cabin temp remained comfortable with active heating. Plus I've noticed the heat pump running with the above settings, not the quietest of compressors, or just lacking noise deadening.

Wear and tear is a fact of all things mechanical. I've never had a compressor fail in a car, but know of many who have, usually 15+ year old gasoline vehicles. I'm not too concerned with the SE compressor, these inverter driven pumps are a little easier on components over the belt driven competition. But if I don't need to run the system, why run it? I'm still paying for electricity and battery cycles.

I'll try bottoming out the selected cabin temperatures next winter. We're around 50F(10C) these days. I doubt cabin temperatures will drop below 60 for any meaningful experiment. But my suspicion remains with active heating regardless of temperature selection, inability to inhibit heating while attempting to ventilate using the fan.

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Zim said:
Though I probably won't use it as the heated seats are reduced
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Heated seats are shut off completely in green+, I discovered.

Zim said:
There is most likely a resistive heater to supplement the heat pump during extreme cold weather performance and/or dehumidifying while attempting to heat the cabin.
Click to expand...
There is a resistive heater, otherwise there'd be no heat at the -15 ºF temperatures I've been driving in. And thankfully we're not in the same boat as Tesla owners, who have ZERO heat when their heat pumps fail.
 
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I turned everything to manual this morning, set the temp to the lowest it will go (60F), and it was blowing cool air despite being 40ish in my garage. I don't have any way to confirm whether the heat pump was on and not doing anything, but back to the OP, this is the way to ventilate.
 
Zim said:
It's the same compressor for both cooling and heating. Valves reverse the flow of refrigerant depending on what cycle is needed.
Click to expand...
Thanks for correcting me. I thought I'd read the A/C system was separate from the heating system. I went to a few MINI parts sites and found a heat pump controller but couldn't find a heat pump. The A/C condenser appears to be the only condenser under the hood.
upload_2022-2-10_17-53-44.webp
 
chrunck said:
I turned everything to manual this morning, set the temp to the lowest it will go (60F), and it was blowing cool air despite being 40ish in my garage. I don't have any way to confirm whether the heat pump was on and not doing anything, but back to the OP, this is the way to ventilate.
Click to expand...
Decided to try it after some errands, managed to find 45F ambient on a small hill, best I can do this time of year. The compressor did cycle on with a setting of 64F and higher, but did cut out below a 64F setting. I'm guessing the cabin temperature wasn't cold enough. AC OFF and AUTO OFF for the scenario and lowest fan setting.

Curious if this is true with lower temperatures, though anything below 40F and I'll personally be craving heat anyway. Otherwise, I'll drive all day long with the sunroof open without HVAC above 40F, I enjoy the fresh air.... of course I'm rocking the heated wheel and seats, I'm no Sasquatch.

For those without a sunroof or prefer it closed, then I do see the desire to ventilate at times. The Mini Cabin does a fair job in retaining heat.

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