Climate Control oddities while camping inside R1S

[jrtozer]

Hi folks, I love my R1S and enjoy camping - I like to sleep inside on the lie flat seats at night, but I cannot figure out the right camp mode climate settings.

When it is freezing outside, I set the climate temp inside to 65 degrees since I have a sleeping bag. Even though it is freezing and I want a bit of heat, the AC turns on. The AC runs all night - The display shows the snowflake icon, I can hear the compressor whine, energy loss is large overnight, and there is a puddle under the vehicle in the morning, . Here are my settings: Climate Control On (conditioned air), Temp set to 65, Fan on low (not Auto), Recirculate Off, Camp Mode "Stay On," Middle and Rear climate zones off.

If I turn the climate control up to a higher temperature, like 72 degrees, the snowflake icon switches to the heat icon (red bacon), and the AC turns off. But 72 degrees is too hot for sleeping. I talked to support and my local service center, and they don't have any awareness of this problem or answers for it.

Has anyone found settings for sleeping inside while camping in the cold? What are your settings?

Thanks,
-JR (2023 R1S)

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[R.I.P.]

Hi folks, I love my R1S and enjoy camping - I like to sleep inside on the lie flat seats at night, but I cannot figure out the right camp mode climate settings.

When it is freezing outside, I set the climate temp inside to 65 degrees since I have a sleeping bag. Even though it is freezing and I want a bit of heat, the AC turns on. The AC runs all night - The display shows the snowflake icon, I can hear the compressor whine, energy loss is large overnight, and there is a puddle under the vehicle in the morning, . Here are my settings: Climate Control On (conditioned air), Temp set to 65, Fan on low (not Auto), Recirculate Off, Camp Mode "Stay On," Middle and Rear climate zones off.

If I turn the climate control up to a higher temperature, like 72 degrees, the snowflake icon switches to the heat icon (red bacon), and the AC turns off. But 72 degrees is too hot for sleeping. I talked to support and my local service center, and they don't have any awareness of this problem or answers for it.

Has anyone found settings for sleeping inside while camping in the cold? What are your settings?

Thanks,
-JR (2023 R1S)

It is using the AC condenser to wick the moisture out of the vehicle. Without it, you will notice the inside is damp after sleeping in it all night.

Long time Tesla camper here, and I really appreciate this feature!

 

[iforbes]

If my heat is at 66 the a/c icon shows even though warm air is coming out. At 70 the heat icon shows. ??‍

 

[usulio]

Happened to me and have seen other reports on the forum -- snowflake icon any time it's set around 71 or below, heat icon any time it's set higher, regardless of the air outside. Have not figured out if it's actually still heating when it's 30 outside and you set the climate to 68 with a snowflake icon.

 

[Dark-Fx]

AC will run to control the humidity in the cabin. You'd wake up with everything wet inside if it didn't.

 

[Jdsmith75229]

It would be nice if we had the option of having heat only or AC only, more of a manual function.
No blending of the two.

 

[crashmtb]

In every vehicle i've had with automatic climate control that turns on AC to dehumidify, you can turn off AC without affecting other automatic settings. not sure if rivian does this too.

But for sleeping in the vehicle, not having everything get fogged up and damp seems beneficial.

 

[jrtozer]

In my experience the AC is not necessary to prevent condensation when sleeping inside.

If I turn the climate controls to air only (no heat or cooling), it keeps the vehicle ventilated nicely with enough outside air to remove condensation from our sleeping breath. It gets cold inside without heat though, so I am considering an electric blanket. I think it's a shame since I think this vehicle should be able to maintain temp without using the AC.

 

[feifan]

Have not figured out if it's actually still heating when it's 30 outside and you set the climate to 68 with a snowflake icon.

On my drive this morning, it was 57 outside, HVAC was set to 66, and my car felt more like 66 than 57. Climate control screen showed snowflake icons though.

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