Summer often brings heat waves, and cars heat up frighteningly fast. Even if you’re only parked in the sun for a short while, your car’s interior temperature will soon exceed the actual temperature outside. If you’re looking for a quick way to cool down your car, one Tiktoker has you covered. Pushing Pistons demonstrates his suggestions for a fast way to literally pump out the heat on those hot summer days. His video breaks down the hack into a step-by-step instruction manual so that you can avoid those obscenely hot temperatures as much as possible.

@pushingpistons This #HeatWave is brutal- here’s how to expel heat from your car FAST. #NAPApartner #teamNAPA #cartok #cartips ♬ original sound – pushing pistons

To begin, Pushing Pistons says to roll down the forward and rear windows on the passenger side of your vehicle. Then, push the driver’s side door back and forth to pump out the hot air. Next, he directs drivers to roll down all windows and turn on the air conditioning. He highlights the importance of turning off the air circulation setting and making sure that the cool air is coming from the foot wells.

Once the air conditioning is blowing cold air, roll up all the windows and switch the air conditioning setting back to recirculate. From there, he says it’s fine to adjust where the cold air comes from; you don’t have to keep it limited to the foot well vents.

Why Does This Hack Cool Down Your Car?

You might remember from science class that hot air rises and cool air falls. Pushing Pistons explains that by having cool air enter through the foot wells, it further encourages the hot air to rise. While it feels good to have the cold air come in from the higher up vents and sink down while you’re driving, it’s not the optimal setting when doing your initial cooling. If the air conditioning was set to come in from the higher vents, the cool air would still fall, but it wouldn’t push the hot air up nearly as quickly.

Toggling the recirculation switch is also key. The air in your car is hotter than the air outside, so if you left it recirculating while trying to cool down your car it would take a lot longer. Once you do have consistent cool air, however, it’s more economical to switch the recirculation feature back on because now the air inside your car is far cooler than the air outside of it.

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Author
Rebecca Wright Brown
Rebecca has been her dad’s DIY assistant since she was old enough to walk. Prior to Family Handyman, she worked as a freelance writer and editor across industries.   
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