HOUSTON – If you’re sitting in traffic or just driving around Houston, there’s a button on your car’s dashboard you need to know about — especially with gas prices surging.
It’s the recirculation button.
If you’re looking for it, you’ll find it, but it’s often the thing you likely look at and aren’t sure what to do with it. The recirculation button is the button on your dash that sports a car outline with a U-shaped arrow inside of it.
This button stops air flow from outside your vehicle so your air conditioner recirculates the air inside of the vehicle that’s already cool or on its way to being cool.
U.K. car company Eden Tyers & Servicing shared in a blog post that the recirculation button also helps with “boosting your AC to help your cabin get as cold as possible as quickly as possible, stopping pollution and exhaust fumes,” as well as “reducing pollen when driving if you suffer from hay fever” and “stopping strong outdoor odors entering your car.”
Who knew one mysterious button in your car could do all that?
If you choose not to use the button, your car will have to pull in air from the outside and work hard to cool that air rather than the already chilled air circulating in your vehicle’s interior. Work smarter, not harder (or at least let your air-conditioner) and push that button already.
One caveat: You may want to avoid using this button in the wintertime.
One caveat: You may want to avoid using this button in the wintertime.
