If you engage your car’s air recirculation button, your fans will stop taking in outside air and will recirculate the air already in the cabin. You can use it to help your air conditioning cool your car down faster in hot summertime weather or stop pollution, odors, allergens, or exhaust fumes from entering your car. Plus, it can even help you save gas!
If your air conditioning has trouble cooling down your car during your commute on especially hot days, look for this little button. It usually has a circular arrow inside a drawing of a car, and it’s usually next to your AC button or on your car’s dashboard. That’s your air recirculation button and chances are, you’re not using it as often as you should!
Here to tell you all about your car’s air recirculation function is Jerry
, the car insurance
comparison app. We’ll tell you when to recirculate the air inside of the car and offer some tips to help you find the best cheap car insurance
—no matter what kind of car you drive. What is the air recirculation button and what does it do?
The air recirculation button is usually found near your other climate controls and often uses a circular arrow symbol, sometimes drawn inside the shape of a car.
The air recirculation button cuts off outside air and recirculates the air already inside the car into your car’s fan blower. This can help keep bad air out of your car, will make your air filter last longer, and can help your air conditioning system work faster.
How the air recirculation button works
The air recirculation button controls a flap that moves when you engage or disengage it. The flap will either cut off air intake from outside (when you turn the button on) or open up to allow outside air in (when you turn it off).
When to use air recirculation
There are only certain times when using the recirculate button is beneficial. Here’s when you should use it.
When the air conditioning is on
If you use your air conditioning a lot in the summer months, the air recirculation button can be a serious game-changer because it allows you to cool down the air inside of the car faster. If you’re bringing air in from outside, your AC system is going to constantly have to cool down hot air—but if you’re recirculating the air, your AC system can continue working to cool the same already-cool air.
This can also help save gas since it puts less strain on the air conditioning system overall. Air conditioning can increase the amount of fuel your car burns by up to 20% because it is drawing power that is generated by your car’s engine. Recirculating the air in your car puts less strain on its A/C compressor.
In dense traffic
If you use the air recirculate button while in heavy traffic, it will keep harmful pollution in the form of exhaust fumes from entering the car.
During allergy season
If you suffer from hay fever, keeping your recirculate button on during allergy season will help keep allergens out of your car’s cabin air.
Driving on a dirt road
If you find that you get a bunch of dusty air in your car when you’re driving on a dirt road, turn your recirculate button before you start down the road. You’ll recirculate the fresh air that was already inside!
When you’re driving on a smelly road
Country roads—we sure do love them! But we don’t always love that common smell of manure. If you notice an unsavory stench coming from outside, switch on the recirculate button to keep it out!
How to find cheap car insurance
Here at Jerry
, we love to provide you with the answers to your pertinent car-related questions—but we also love to make sure that you don’t overpay for your car insurance! If you want to find cheap car insurance, just download Jerry’s comparison shopping super app
, take a minute to fill in your profile, and let Jerry find you the most competitive offers available to you from name-brand insurance companies. Jerry’s commitment to customer service and finding users the best deals make it the #1-rated insurance app on the App Store, and the average user saves more than $800 per year.
“A seamless process and a fantastic app! Jerry
saved me over $2,000 on car insurance. I would recommend it to anyone and everyone.” —Osvaldo B.
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