How does cabin heating work?

[Firn]

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.

I don't think i have ever had to turn it on. I have checked it once or twice, but thats about it.

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[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.

 

[WXman]

LOL, same thing, one is >0degC.

Not the same thing at all. One is moisture on the inside of the glass. The other is ice on the outside of the glass. Also, frost happens even above 0C/32F.

What I want to do is simply defog the windshield, which requires dry air. In other words, compressor should be on. Doesn't matter at all which vents the air is coming out of, as long as it's conditioned air.

Now if I get ice on the outside of the glass, then yes I'll use defrost setting. That'll come soon. Getting close to November.

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.

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.

At least I'm not the only one.


Interestingly, I just looked in my 2025 owners manual and it states:

"When E-Heat is on, an electric heater warms the cabin and keeps the windows from fogging. Turning E-Heat off saves battery power, which extends your driving range. The electric heater is the only source of heat to warm the cabin."

Hmmm.....

 

[TaxmanHog]

Not the same thing at all. One is moisture on the inside of the glass. The other is ice on the outside of the glass. Also, frost happens even above 0C/32F.

What I want to do is simply defog the windshield, which requires dry air. In other words, compressor should be on.




At least I'm not the only one.


Interestingly, I just looked in my 2025 owners manual and it states:

"When E-Heat is on, an electric heater warms the cabin and keeps the windows from fogging. Turning E-Heat off saves battery power, which extends your driving range. The electric heater is the only source of heat to warm the cabin."

Hmmm.....

I think the editor(s) in charge of revisions didn't capture the distinctions with the 24+ heat pump functionality.

 

[TaxmanHog]

in the 30 years of F150 ownership, the HVAC system controls have always been problematic, it's a FORD problem, I'm hoping the whizz-bang tesla kids coming to work for Ford have re engineered it for T3

 

[WXman]

I think the editor(s) in charge of revisions didn't capture the distinctions with the 24+ heat pump functionality.

That is very possible but even if I get in the truck and open up the climate settings on the screen it says the same thing.

 

[RLXXI]

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

No extra noise or vibration. Heat pump works by simply reversing refrigerant flow.

 

[RickLightning]

No extra noise or vibration. Heat pump works by simply reversing refrigerant flow.

I guess the people that reported both noise and vibration are imaging things?

 

[P-38]

No extra noise or vibration. Heat pump works by simply reversing refrigerant flow.

You must not have heard the fans go to high speed to warm up the refrigerant when it's below 30. It's definitely more noise and a slight vibration from the fans running flat out.

 

[RickLightning]

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/forum/threads/first-night-with-the-heat-pump.23871/

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/...-heat-pump-noise-vibration.22363/#post-447143

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/...heat-pump-comparison-tests.22593/#post-439108

 

[RickLightning]

You must not have heard the fans go to high speed to warm up the refrigerant when it's below 30. It's definitely more noise and a slight vibration from the fans running flat out.

One of the challenges for people living in warm climates is understanding the behavior of features in a cold environment. "Heat pump works great" when you live where winter is 35 degrees may not apply when the temp is -20 degrees.

In Feb, we were in Idaho skiing, and the hotel had no charging. In the morning, the truck battery, after remote starting, was 15.8 degrees. With an 89.5% SOC, and 99.5% SOH, energy was 96.13kWh which works out to 107.4 at 100%. 130kWh at 99.5 SOH yet we were "missing" 23kWh...

 

[El Duderino]

I agree that there is noise I can hear and vibration in the steering wheel I can feel when the heat pump kicks on. Not unacceptable but noticable.

 

[RLXXI]

You must not have heard the fans go to high speed to warm up the refrigerant when it's below 30. It's definitely more noise and a slight vibration from the fans running flat out.

That's a possibility. Our climate during winter is much more forgiving than the northern climate.

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