How To Clear Your Windscreen - Hot or Cold?!
Having a windscreen clear of fog and mist is vital. Any limitations on your field of view when driving can be very dangerous, resulting in accidents and injuries. How to defog a windscreen quickly is full of old wives tales and "hacks", none of which really seem to work. So, what actually is the best way to defog your windscreen and why does it even happen? Lets take a look!
Why do windscreens fog up?
This comes entirely down to the amount of moisture in the air and the temperature. Moisture inside your car is generated from breathing, wet clothing or shoes etc. When it is a cold day, this moisture hits the air near your window. When this air is below a certain temperature, the moisture turns to condensation/fog. On hot days, the opposite occurs as warm outside air is cooled by the air con inside your car.
As to how to deal with this, it depends on whether it is a hot or cold day.
Defogging your window when it is a hot day
Follow these simple steps to quickly clear your windows when a hot day has caused some fogging:
- Condensation usually forms on the exterior of the window during a hot day, so start by using your windscreen wipers to clear some of the fog.
- Warm your car up. Don't sweat yourself out, being comfortable is important too. Turn the temperature down to as low as you can comfortable go.
- Turn off the recirculation feature, if your car has it. This will allow the levels in your car to balance out.
Defogging your window when it is a cold day
When it is cold outside, the steps vary slightly:
- Maximise your heating settings. Crank everything right up.
- Turn on the AC
- Turn off/keep off the recirculation
Conclusion
As you can see, the true answer as to whether hot or cold air inside your car is better depends on the weather outside!
