Not true on the defrost function. Take a poll and you'll be surprised at how many people are ignorant on how the compressor works. It's like when a car is running hot, I'm surprised how many people don't know to turn OFF the A/c compressor, crank up the heat, and roll down the windows to prevent overheating.

The average person isn't educated enough about cars and A/C to know it just turns on a compressor. They definitly aren't smart enough to know it pulls moisture out of the air, or that it can run with the temperature set either cold *or* hot. (Which is why more and more vehicles are getting rid of the button and just putting on a temperature dial).

Thus, the average person *might* be smart enough to know they could use it to defrost in the winter, when it's cold. But they wouldn't think to do it when it's warm out.

I hate to tell you how many cars I see in DFW in the spring and fall at the stoplights, windows down....and the telltale A/C drip. And I know some of them have the compressor button.

I'm not criticizing anyone on the board, or singling out any nationality. As vehicles got more complex and dependable, people just don't care to learn new things. The electronics and "bling bling" is much more interesting--there's more of an "entertainment" payoff factor learning how the Dolby Surround Sound and DVD player works than understanding the A/C. And there's reality shows to watch and video games to play, much more entertaining than learning mechanical car operations.

As an aside, one of the "evil crusadings Texins" died last week....he rejected textbooks for the state (which affect the nation) because they had 20 pages of Marylin Monroe, and only one page on George Washington. And you expect people to know how heat transfer works in the car?