Heater On The Bus Today

[redruby]

I don’t think air con is worth the cost but opening the windows might help. They were all shut on the boiling hot bus today. And the heaters were on again. The driver said they needed to go on to stop the engine overheating. Ok , fair enough but it might be an idea to open all the windows at the start of the day. Obviously I opened some but it was already boiling by then with all the heaters on!

[Kidorry]

3 hours ago, busdriver1 said:

For a couple of days each year do you want buses to be fitted with air conditioning and as a result put the fares up?  

Remember that the buses are losing money already. 

I think air con would work for more than a couple of days in winter.

[Guest busdriver1]

1 hour ago, LovePotion said:

Air conditioning could be possible if the bus had no opening windows. When people open the windows, it brings warm air in to the system, which retards it. I have noticed that modern bus doors now have sealed doorways with rubber flaps rather than the old bristle style. This would make it easier to keep warm air out.

Air conditioning is an expense that operators cant really afford for the few days a year when it would be really needed. There is the cost of ongoing servicing as well as the extra purchase price. For the couple of days a year its needed the cost would be prohibitive, in fact some have been cascaded in with Air con and it had been disconnected for that very reason.

[dutch]

Aircon also consumes lots of energy.

[redruby]

1 hour ago, LovePotion said:

Those little cable charger sockets must cost a lot of money, as the electricity is on all of the time. I never see anyone using them either.  There is no point in taking your tablet charger with you to plug it in on a 5/10 minute journey.

I’ve used them.  I don’t think they are in many buses though and don’t think they will be anything near the cost of running and maintaining air con. 
I do wish there weren’t buses that didn’t have to have the heating on to cool the engine though 🥵

[dutch]

There should be a powerful fan by the coolant radiator that assists to cool that off when engine is working hard.

Our car has one of these fan and it comes on frequently on a hot day when city driving. 

These fan don't cost much and it's a cheap lazy poor substitute to switch on cabin heaters to reduce engine coolant temperature.

[Guest busdriver1]

5 hours ago, dutch said:

There should be a powerful fan by the coolant radiator that assists to cool that off when engine is working hard.

Our car has one of these fan and it comes on frequently on a hot day when city driving. 

These fan don't cost much and it's a cheap lazy poor substitute to switch on cabin heaters to reduce engine coolant temperature.

As has been stated, the heaters do NOT get switched on. The engine generates heat and this is transferred to the saloon by convection. Drivers do not have control of the heaters. Ventilation systems use ambient air so if its a hot day, the air circulated will be hot. This does not mean the heaters are on.

Buses have cooling fans and if they didnt work you would know all about it.

Edited July 19, 2022 by busdriver1

[dutch]

42 minutes ago, busdriver1 said:

As has been stated, the heaters do NOT get switched on. The engine generates heat and this is transferred to the saloon by convection. Drivers do not have control of the heaters. Ventilation systems use ambient air so if its a hot day, the air circulated will be hot. This does not mean the heaters are on.

Buses have cooling fans and if they didnt work you would know all about it.

Hey that's ok. I'm no bus engineer expert and am comparing them to certain cars.

The bus I took today was boiling inside but that was like you said cause the ambient air was hot.

I'm purely guessing here but it would not surprise me if buses were designed to put heater on by default when coolant fluids is overheating going up a steep hill to assist this process.

[redruby]

6 hours ago, dutch said:

Hey that's ok. I'm no bus engineer expert and am comparing them to certain cars.

The bus I took today was boiling inside but that was like you said cause the ambient air was hot.

I'm purely guessing here but it would not surprise me if buses were designed to put heater on by default when coolant fluids is overheating going up a steep hill to assist this process.

That’s exactly what the driver said so I’m sure you’re right.  It was absolutely boiling hot on there, respect to all the drivers out in that heat all day!

[dutch]

I also respect the drivers. But buses do these things automatically. Because if the driver had to do it and would forget or fail to put heater on when coolant is overheating the engine will be toast.