What does the 'ECON' button do?

dcGT

Hi All,
Just wondering if anyone knows what the 'ECON' button does on car air conditioning systems (as opposed to the normal A/C button). I've asked a few people and seem to be getting different answers.

Cheers,

DC.

dak

ECON is short for economy. When you use aircon you car uses more fuel running the aircon system. When you hit ECON you effectivly turn off aircon will get outside temp air and heated air same as a car with no AIrcon.

OldmanMondeo

Economey? Waht car is it? On the Mondeo it is for knocking the A/c off and running the fan only.

dak

op.... 2 replies same answer. Turns aircon off

OldmanMondeo

dak wrote:

op.... 2 replies same answer. Turns aircon off

Yeah, but only one has the correct spelling, therefor this could lead to more confusion!!!:D

dcGT

Thanks for the replies. Hmmm, ok, if all the ECON button does is turn the air conditioning off, then why do I also have an 'A/C' button that also turns the air conditioning off. In addition, turning off the blower in the car will also switch off the air conditioning. I have 2 buttons: 'A/C' and 'ECON' beside eachother. It's a toyota import. I had heard that ECON affects the way the air conditioning works when 'stopped'. I presume this means the vehicle and not the engine.
In addition, when I hit the ECON button, I still get cold air from the vents, as I do with the normal 'A/C' button, but it seems that both the 'A/C' and 'ECON' buttons are mutually exclusive, i.e. you can only have one or the other switched 'on'. I thought perhaps the ECON button works more efficiently but not as cold or something like that....

Cheers,

DC.

Kimbot

ECON means if you are sitting in traffic it won't burn as much fuel from your car, it will be slightly less effective than the A/C from what I know.

Anan1

On European cars, the econ button, as previously said, disengages the a/c compressor. i vaguely remember reading somewhere that some JDM cars have two-stage a/c, where the econ button allows the a/c to function at a lower level. This is by no means gospel though.

cavanmaniac

On the Audi A4 I have it just reduces the effectiveness of the aircon, i.e. the air's not as cool, so I just assumed it is using less fuel.

Here's another one for yis though. Inside the driver's door on my car, concealed in the storage bin under the arm rest, there's two small buttons, one showing what appears to illustrate a small signal being given out (sth to do with the alarm?) and the other showing a vehicle on a steep incline, rather like the warning sign on the road.

I looked it up in the manual but was left none the wiser, the explanation for the incline one rattled off something vague about towing?

dcGT

Thanks for the replies folks, so it seems it's just a less cool but more effient air-con.

cavanmaniac wrote:

Here's another one for yis though. Inside the driver's door on my car, concealed in the storage bin under the arm rest, there's two small buttons, one showing what appears to illustrate a small signal being given out (sth to do with the alarm?) and the other showing a vehicle on a steep incline, rather like the warning sign on the road.

I looked it up in the manual but was left none the wiser, the explanation for the incline one rattled off something vague about towing?

I've seen these buttons on the A4 too. Has one of them anything to do the with light on the ends of the doors when you open them?


DC

JoeA3

cavanmaniac wrote:

Here's another one for yis though. Inside the driver's door on my car, concealed in the storage bin under the arm rest, there's two small buttons, one showing what appears to illustrate a small signal being given out (sth to do with the alarm?) and the other showing a vehicle on a steep incline, rather like the warning sign on the road.

I looked it up in the manual but was left none the wiser, the explanation for the incline one rattled off something vague about towing?

At a guess, I would say both are for the alarm. One switches off the interior sensors (if say, you have a dog locked in the car!), and the other stops the alarm from going off if the car is being towed (front wheels lifted off road) by a recovery truck.

E92

I think Some Opels have the same thing, the Omega for instance(well the Omega with Climate Control certainly does have this button).

I know that old Mitsubishis with aircon(not Irish ones obviously, Mitsubishi Ireland didnt see the need to fit aircon(not Climate Control, AFAIK, the Pajero has had Climate Control for a good few years) on Irish spec cars until I think it was about 4 years ago with run out Carisma models), that there was an 'off', 'econ' and 'a/c' knob.

Did this do the same thing as described previously?


On the subject of this, what does the 'rest' button mean(as featured on BMWs and Mercs with Climate Control)?

Gregor Samsa

Anan1 wrote:

On European cars, the econ button, as previously said, disengages the a/c compressor. i vaguely remember reading somewhere that some JDM cars have two-stage a/c, where the econ button allows the a/c to function at a lower level. This is by no means gospel though.

Indeed, the Mazda 6's climate control has an ECO mode. It still uses the A/C as normal, but at a reduced rate for some alleged amount of fuel efficiency.

Anan1

E92 wrote:

On the subject of this, what does the 'rest' button mean(as featured on BMWs and Mercs with Climate Control)?

It allows the heater to continue working for a time after the engine has been switched off, using a pump to bring warm coolant through the heater matrix.

copacetic

JoeA3 wrote:

At a guess, I would say both are for the alarm. One switches off the interior sensors (if say, you have a dog locked in the car!), and the other stops the alarm from going off if the car is being towed (front wheels lifted off road) by a recovery truck.

this is correct, the first turns off interior sensors, the second the tilt sensor.

Esel

OldmanMondeo wrote:

Yeah, but only one has the correct spelling, therefor this could lead to more confusion!!!:D

Kettle, meet Pot.

cavanmaniac

copacetic wrote:

this is correct, the first turns off interior sensors, the second the tilt sensor.

Ahhhhhhhh....thank you dudes....

dak

esel wrote:

Kettle, meet Pot.

Maybe you should be " ELSE"