In anticipation of the summer days ahead in Wonder Lake, you may have turned on your car’s AC to make sure it works before you need it. You don’t need it now but you will.

The problem is that, when you check your car’s AC on a cooler day, you can’t make an accurate assessment of how well your car’s air conditioning works. The cooler weather in Wonder Lake doesn’t challenge your car’s ability to cool the air in your vehicle. So, even though you’re pleased by the cold air that comes out of the vents, you can swear by the idea that it will come out of the vents that cold when you really need it.

In reality, your car’s AC doesn’t cool the air; it removes the heat.

A fan cycles the car’s interior air through a coil filled with coolant. According to the laws of physics, heat moves towards the cold. The coolant in the coil is cold. The air in your car is, presumably, hot. As the coolant passes through the pipes inside the coil it picks up the heat from the air passing through the coil’s fins.

The heated coolant then runs through your car’s AC system where evaporation, condensation, expansion and compression are used to remove the heat from the coolant so that it is ready to take more heat out of the interior of the car.

The point is that, if the air inside your car isn’t particularly hot, it’s easy for the car’s AC to remove what little heat is in there. Without hardly trying, the car’s AC pumps cold air back into the car. But, when there is substantial heat in your car, your car’s AC has to work that much harder. If you haven’t had your car’s AC properly checked, you may find that it isn’t really up to the job.

The solution – have your car’s AC checked now

The answer is really rather simple – have your car’s AC checked by a qualified auto repair technician. Even on a cooler day in Wonder Lake, using appropriate instrumentation, they can determine if your car’s AC is operating up to specs. In other words, they’ll know if your car’s AC is ready for the real dog days of summer.