How does cabin heating work?

[WXman]

Only 42F here this morning...not even cold yet. But with the truck on "Auto" and temp set to 74F it still never got warm. Also, the windshield gets foggy.

So two questions:

Why do I have to crank the temp up so high to get warmth in the cabin? ALL my prior trucks I would set to 68-70F and stay comfy.

Why does "Auto" mode still require me to select A/C to get the compressor to clear the fog off the windshield?

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[Heliian]

Auto mode doesn't defrost the windows. You need to select defrost on the climate screen or go max defrost with the button.

Also, in the climate screen, make sure heat is selected on.

 

[RickLightning]

Only 42F here this morning...not even cold yet. But with the truck on "Auto" and temp set to 74F it still never got warm. Also, the windshield gets foggy.

So two questions:

Why do I have to crank the temp up so high to get warmth in the cabin? ALL my prior trucks I would set to 68-70F and stay comfy.

Why does "Auto" mode still require me to select A/C to get the compressor to clear the fog off the windshield?

There has been a fair bit of discussion on heat and defrost and I wish I could remember it well enough to recap.

Put simply, there is a lot of disagreement as to if it works well, or doesn't. I have seen some say they have to enable heat to get it to warm up. Others have complained about the windows fogging up. A lot of discussion on how it clicks off recirculate and or how the A/C will re-enable itself.

My gut feeling is the heat pump trucks may work a little different than the resistive heat trucks too, but I have nothing to support that.

I will say that in my 23 the auto setting seems to work how I would expect it aside from maybe fogging up slightly some times IIRC.

Bingo.

I can't wait for the winter discussions of heat pump vs no heat pump trucks. Our 2022 heats great. I believe heat pump owners will not be happy with what I expect to be:

- slower heat
- noisier heat
- vibration

 

[abcut973]

How do you know if you have a heat pump or not?

 

[WXman]

And if the heat pump setup is objectively worse, why would Ford switch to it? I have a hard time believing it would cost less to produce.

 

[bmwhitetx]

How do you know if you have a heat pump or not?

It was introduced on 2024 models. Your 2022 has a resistance heater.

 

[bmwhitetx]

And if the heat pump setup is objectively worse, why would Ford switch to it? I have a hard time believing it would cost less to produce.

Because us 2022 and 2023 owners asked for it . It's what Tesla uses and is more efficient so you're theoretically getting better range in the winter.
Lots and lots of discussion. I wouldn't say it is objectively worse. That is an opinion.
https://www.f150lightningforum.com/forum/search/3836717/?q=heat+pump&c[title_only]=1&o=date

 

[WXman]

OK this thread is going off the rails. We've established that the heat pump setup doesn't heat as well, and that many owners have complained about it. Then immediately the convo turns to how the heat pump setup is more efficient and makes heat better. So which is it?

I can tell you which it is on my June 2025 build truck.....it's worse. If I have to set the temp to 75F or higher just to knock the chill off in the truck with a 42F ambient temp, what's it going to be like at -5F? My goodness....

 

[WXman]

Auto mode doesn't defrost the windows. You need to select defrost on the climate screen or go max defrost with the button.

Also, in the climate screen, make sure heat is selected on.

I'm not trying to defrost (yet). I need to defog. "Auto" mode in every other vehicle I've owned over the last 30 years would automatically take care of that by using the compressor when necessary. This truck does not seem to do that. It's odd.

I did go to the climate screen and heat was selected on already. But the windows did not defog until I manually selected "A/C" and I also hit the "Auto" button until level 2 was selected. This entire thing is a joke and completely defeats the purpose of automatic climate control. At this point I honestly would rather have a basic non-automatic system with a temp knob, fan speed knob, and duct selection. Would be a lot simpler and more effective.

 

[Saberdentures]

Finally got cool in Georgia so I’ll be able to test, but this morning I set air on 74, auto, and made sure heat was on. I had preconditioned, so truck was warm, but even on auto 3 I couldn’t feel any air or hear the fan running; the windshield started to fog up, so I manually set the duct to windshield and I heard the fan turn on (or maybe just get louder? Manual airflow was at 2); anyways, the windshield defogged immediately and I got hot quick.

The resistive heater works great in my “23 pro, but that auto mode that I love for A.C doesn’t seem to work for heat.

I *think* last year I figured that heat on auto sent air to my feet and always super low fan speed; perhaps the truck is trying to maximize efficiency for cold weather and does too good a job?

 

[Heliian]

defrost (yet). I need to defog.

LOL, same thing, one is >0degC.

 

[Lightning Bronson]

I will say that in my 23 the auto setting seems to work how I would expect it aside from maybe fogging up slightly some times IIRC.

Can confirm. MY23 truck as well, and Auto works just fine. It's just the matter of making sure heat is turned on, and driver focused is *off*.

Side note: I wish there was a small red light just below the three auto lines that would denote whether heat is enabled so we don't have to toggle the damn HVAC window all the time.

 

[Altivec]

Works "fine" is a little nicer than I would go. I have a 23 with resistive heat (no heat pump like 24's and newer). Pro's. It heats up fast and is very capable of keeping the truck warm (and I'm from northern Canada). Negative's is that it has the worst "auto" setting I've ever had in 20 years. It's like it's not reading the drivers temp accurately. I need to crank up the temp on cold days and drop the temp on hot days. Even my previous 2010 F150, I just set the temp once and never had to touch it. But the worst thing is the fogging of the windows. All my previous vehicles always had some air going to the windshield and side windows in auto mode. On my lightning, auto sends no air there so in freezing weather I have to play juggle the HVAC. Put defrost on full blast for a few minutes, switch to auto for 5 min, repeat this for your entire trip (not fun and noisy). It's so obviously terrible, that I thought it's a bug or wasn't developed fully and that Ford would send an OTA. Cleary, That was during a time when I still believed in Ford's declaration of software updates.

I think there will be a lot of differing opinions on this depending on the climate you live in. If all I had deal with was increasing or decreasing the temp constantly to get the right temp, I would still say this is the worst auto system, but it's fine. But having to deal with keeping the windows defrosted by toggling the defrost on and off is unacceptable.

 

[Timeless Epoch]

Works "fine" is a little nicer than I would go. I have a 23 with resistive heat (no heat pump like 24's and newer). Pro's. It heats up fast and is very capable of keeping the truck warm (and I'm from northern Canada). Negative's is that it has the worst "auto" setting I've ever had in 20 years. It's like it's not reading the drivers temp accurately. I need to crank up the temp on cold days and drop the temp on hot days. Even my previous 2010 F150, I just set the temp once and never had to touch it. But the worst thing is the fogging of the windows. All my previous vehicles always had some air going to the windshield and side windows in auto mode. On my lightning, auto sends no air there so in freezing weather I have to play juggle the HVAC. Put defrost on full blast for a few minutes, switch to auto for 5 min, repeat this for your entire trip (not fun and noisy). It's so obviously terrible, that I thought it's a bug or wasn't developed fully and that Ford would send an OTA. Cleary, That was during a time when I still believed in Ford's declaration of software updates.

I think there will be a lot of differing opinions on this depending on the climate you live in. If all I had deal with was increasing or decreasing the temp constantly to get the right temp, I would still say this is the worst auto system, but it's fine. But having to deal with keeping the windows defrosted by toggling the defrost on and off is unacceptable.

This echos my experience as well, but with a 24. My previous ICE F150’s worked great. I could set 70F and leave it there all year.

My Lightning seems more than capable of heating the cabin even in demanding situations, but the auto function leaves a lot to be desired.

What is strange, is that preconditioning always seemed to work well. If it is a cold morning and I precondition the cab, it warms up right away. As soon as I unplug and power on, I swear it runs the AC for several minutes blowing ice cold air, unless I turn the temperature way up. Then it overshoots, and I have to turn it back down again.

 

[Henry Ford]

Only 42F here this morning...not even cold yet. But with the truck on "Auto" and temp set to 74F it still never got warm. Also, the windshield gets foggy.

If 74° isn't comfortable, set it to a higher number.

MAX defrost clears windows quickly.

For best comfort turn the HVAC on before you get in the truck. If you leave at the same time every day you can set a departure time.

Yours isn't the first thread focusing on how owners WANT the system to work. I find it more useful to figure out how to operate the system as it is installed.

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