WARNING. Thinking of not specifying the 3 zone climatic ?

[Californication69]

Warning for all parents who are thinking of purchasing a t7 California.
Make sure you specify the 3 zone climate control.
My two grandsons, were ill, made by the ineffective air conditioning system in my California beach with just aircon in the front.
My VW commercial sales guy said the 3 zone climate wasn’t worth having as it was always conflicting with the front.
I called him out and said this is absolutely b3llsh7t.
The temperature in the rear 3 seats was at around 28°c
The van had been running for an hour with the front vents, running at max speed 12 on the coldest setting, yes the air coming from the front 4 vents is cold, and it cools me down in the drivers seat as you can have vents facing your face and nether region.
So for one or two people in the front, no problem.
But youngsters in the back.
They were cooked.
The sweat was dripping off them.
Had to make 3 stops on a 40 minute journey.
The outside temp was 34°C
And could only get the rear air temp down to 28°c
Yes, had recirculating on.
Opened all windows and sliding doors to get the hot air out for 20 minutes.
I had all the blinds down. For all the day.
The Cali is grey.
I have switchbot with 3 temperature devices.
The 2.5 year old was holding a bottle of water out of the fridge like his life depended on it.

I’ll be making a formal complaint to VW customer service Monday morning.

Next Cali will be a white top.
And 3 zone climatic control.

It’s seriously dangerous without the 3 zone.
If you have kids/ pets who travel in the back in france or Spain in the summer.
And you haven’t spec’d 3 zone.
Dont bother. They will suffer heat exhaustion.

This needs to be a sticky on the T7 forum page tbh.

The 3 zone has the extra air condenser / conditioner / motor in the rear with vents in the rear also.

Seriously cannot believe VW thought this was a good idea to not have the 3 zone as standard.
Absolutely bonkers.

Added the below as was asked on another thread
- - - - -

No roof flaps in rear.
None.
Only 2 vents in the lower back quarters.
The one behind driver (RHD) blows whatever temp air is in, in. As per the dashboard “rear” blower.
Does nothing really.

The one behind passenger side blows the diesel heater air. (Warm & hot, but never cold)

 

[Beach Nut]

You're right, the basic aircon option isn't good enough for keeping rear passengers cool in the kind of temperatures we're getting in the UK at the moment.

I've tested this out for myself by switching off the rear in ours which is a Beach but has the extended aircon specced as an option. And ours is white, lord knows what a dark coloured one is like.

 

[Roger Boeken]

Warning for all parents who are thinking of purchasing a t7 California.
Make sure you specify the 3 zone climate control.
My two grandsons, were ill, made by the ineffective air conditioning system in my California beach with just aircon in the front.
My VW commercial sales guy said the 3 zone climate wasn’t worth having as it was always conflicting with the front.
I called him out and said this is absolutely b3llsh7t.
The temperature in the rear 3 seats was at around 28°c
The van had been running for an hour with the front vents, running at max speed 12 on the coldest setting, yes the air coming from the front 4 vents is cold, and it cools me down in the drivers seat as you can have vents facing your face and nether region.
So for one or two people in the front, no problem.
But youngsters in the back.
They were cooked.
The sweat was dripping off them.
Had to make 3 stops on a 40 minute journey.
The outside temp was 34°C
And could only get the rear air temp down to 28°c
Yes, had recirculating on.
Opened all windows and sliding doors to get the hot air out for 20 minutes.
I had all the blinds down. For all the day.
The Cali is grey.
I have switchbot with 3 temperature devices.
The 2.5 year old was holding a bottle of water out of the fridge like his life depended on it.

I’ll be making a formal complaint to VW customer service Monday morning.

Next Cali will be a white top.
And 3 zone climatic control.

It’s seriously dangerous without the 3 zone.
If you have kids/ pets who travel in the back in france or Spain in the summer.
And you haven’t spec’d 3 zone.
Dont bother. They will suffer heat exhaustion.

This needs to be a sticky on the T7 forum page tbh.

The 3 zone has the extra air condenser / conditioner / motor in the rear with vents in the rear also.

Seriously cannot believe VW thought this was a good idea to not have the 3 zone as standard.
Absolute morons.

I would not activate recirculation all time, only shortly to cool down vehicle when starting trip. Humidity will raise fast and oxygen go down , you really need fresh dry air to cool down and stay comfortable.

 

[WelshGas]

I would not activate recirculation all time, only shortly to cool down vehicle when starting trip. Humidity will raise fast and oxygen go down , you really need fresh dry air to cool down and stay comfortable.

Not quit correct. Humidity will fall. The recirculated air from the cabin will be cooled and basically the excess water/humidity is condensed out. If that didn’t happen you would get fog out of the vents.
Doesn’t matter if the system takes in fresh air from outside or is on recirculation.

 

[Roger Boeken]

Not quit correct. Humidity will fall. The recirculated air from the cabin will be cooled and basically the excess water/humidity is condensed out. If that didn’t happen you would get fog out of the vents.
Doesn’t matter if the system takes in fresh air from outside or is on recirculation.

You are not wrong but still it makes a difference and outside air should be preferred over recirculation.
I believe the airco cannot keep up with the moisture from the 4 passengers breath and sweat.
This is what VW says : SSP_208_d2_page60

Does air recirculation mode have any draw-backs?
In air recirculation mode, there is no air exchange. The air will be “used up“.
Therefore, air recirculation mode should not be used any longer than is necessary, and for no
more than 15 minutes.
In air recirculation mode, the atmospheric humidity in the passenger cabin rises due to moisture released with the air respired by the occupants. When the dew point of the interior air exceeds the temperature of the windows, the windows will inevitably mist up.
In the Defrost setting, therefore, air recirculation mode is automatically disabled.

 

[WelshGas]

You are not wrong but still it makes a difference and outside air should be preferred over recirculation.
I believe the airco cannot keep up with the moisture from the 4 passengers breath and sweat.
This is what VW says : SSP_208_d2_page60

Does air recirculation mode have any draw-backs?
In air recirculation mode, there is no air exchange. The air will be “used up“.
Therefore, air recirculation mode should not be used any longer than is necessary, and for no
more than 15 minutes.
In air recirculation mode, the atmospheric humidity in the passenger cabin rises due to moisture released with the air respired by the occupants. When the dew point of the interior air exceeds the temperature of the windows, the windows will inevitably mist up.
In the Defrost setting, therefore, air recirculation mode is automatically disabled.

During Winter - Yes. When external temperatures are likely to be below internal temperatures.
During Summer with external temperatures of 30c or more, no chance.

 

[sticky1]

Warning for all parents who are thinking of purchasing a t7 California.
Make sure you specify the 3 zone climate control.
My two grandsons, were ill, made by the ineffective air conditioning system in my California beach with just aircon in the front.
My VW commercial sales guy said the 3 zone climate wasn’t worth having as it was always conflicting with the front.
I called him out and said this is absolutely b3llsh7t.
The temperature in the rear 3 seats was at around 28°c
The van had been running for an hour with the front vents, running at max speed 12 on the coldest setting, yes the air coming from the front 4 vents is cold, and it cools me down in the drivers seat as you can have vents facing your face and nether region.
So for one or two people in the front, no problem.
But youngsters in the back.
They were cooked.
The sweat was dripping off them.
Had to make 3 stops on a 40 minute journey.
The outside temp was 34°C
And could only get the rear air temp down to 28°c
Yes, had recirculating on.
Opened all windows and sliding doors to get the hot air out for 20 minutes.
I had all the blinds down. For all the day.
The Cali is grey.
I have switchbot with 3 temperature devices.
The 2.5 year old was holding a bottle of water out of the fridge like his life depended on it.

I’ll be making a formal complaint to VW customer service Monday morning.

Next Cali will be a white top.
And 3 zone climatic control.

It’s seriously dangerous without the 3 zone.
If you have kids/ pets who travel in the back in france or Spain in the summer.
And you haven’t spec’d 3 zone.
Dont bother. They will suffer heat exhaustion.

This needs to be a sticky on the T7 forum page tbh.

The 3 zone has the extra air condenser / conditioner / motor in the rear with vents in the rear also.

Seriously cannot believe VW thought this was a good idea to not have the 3 zone as standard.
Absolute morons.

I’m really sorry to hear this, I have been turning on the rear aircon to support the front even without passengers in the rear.

 

[m10chkcalifornia]

I’m really sorry to hear this, I have been turning on the rear aircon to support the front even without passengers in the rear.

Same here. Its a large space to cool and the heat from behind makes it uncomfortable in the front for us. So rear aircon is great. I also had a good hack in the extreme heat. I plugged a small 9” domestic fan into our power bank and had it on in the back. Besides the usual cooling effect of moving air it also made the whole interior a more comfortable temperature - moving the cold vent air around a bit more. OP - you could give that a try?

 

[Californication69]

Same here. Its a large space to cool and the heat from behind makes it uncomfortable in the front for us. So rear aircon is great. I also had a good hack in the extreme heat. I plugged a small 9” domestic fan into our power bank and had it on in the back. Besides the usual cooling effect of moving air it also made the whole interior a more comfortable temperature - moving the cold vent air around a bit more. OP - you could give that a try?

I’ve got a EF Delta 2, and an awesome Caframo Sirocco II
Great call, I’ll see where best to mount it for some additional air flow for them.
Thanks

 

[Roger Boeken]

During Winter - Yes. When external temperatures are likely to be below internal temperatures.
During Summer with external temperatures of 30c or more, no chance.

Indeed in summer windows will not mist up but all the rest stays valid.

 

[Up10]

I’ve got a EF Delta 2, and an awesome Caframo Sirocco II
Great call, I’ll see where best to mount it for some additional air flow for them.
Thanks

I'm sure you probably also did this, but sliding the seats as close to the front may also bring the rear passengers into the cooler zone.
I like the Fan idea. Great shout.