mak8504

Is there any benefit of keeping the rear climate control vents open or closed if no one is occupying the rear seats? Will keeping them closed increase air output in the front? Does keeping them open help cool the car down faster?

unioncorps

I think it would follow the same process like home equipped with an HVAC unit. If a few rooms have vents closed, the air would be pushed and directed to other rooms that have vents open but the overall ambient temperature would eventually not be consistent throughout as some rooms would be cooler/hotter than others (causing a temperature imbalance).

For your car's HVAC itself, I would imagine having very little statistical efficiency gains (if any) by closing off the rear vents. The inside of the cabin is the same volume of air - you're either going to be moving a larger volume of air through a fewer number of vents or a smaller volume of air through a larger number of vents. Just like the house example above, leaving all vents open helps to keep the overall ambient temperature consistent between front and rear.

jhs82

Press this button on the climate control to cut off the flow to the rear vents.

arentz07

What car is in that picture? I've never seen such a button in the IS.

I just looked through the 2016 owner's manual and found no references to turning off the rear air outlets.

HOMER350

You can turn off the rear vents by turning them All the way to one side...I believe to the left / towards driver side. Takes an extra light push and they go kind of click into off position cutting off the airflow.

This does increase air through the front vents if they are closed.

I sometimes keep them open, sometimes closed. If using ventilated seats function I keep them open as well as the footwell vents to increase cool air getting below the seat.

logix1229

Would be nice to have that button...probably wouldn't ever use it when alone in the car...but maybe to torture the rear seat passengers on really hot days....haha!

gbgary

closing the rear vents just forces more air volume upfront. no harm done. it might be a tad noisier. as for efficiency you're still cooling the same space with the same amount of air. put the air where the people are.

jhs82

The picture is from my NX, but IS and others with S-FLOW all have the same. Guess your doesn't have S-FLOW though since you're missing the button. Then your only option is to close the vents yourself.

Flash5

I’ve never seen that button before. Weird.

jhs82

I had it in my IS also, but i suppose it comes down to which market you're on. All but the very base model had S-FLOW when got the IS back in 2013.

Flash5

I doubt it's a thing in the U.S. market.