Air conditioning vent placement

[navyseal334]

Can anyone speak to the adequacy of air conditioning with the sunroof installed?

I've got kids in rear facing carseats that bake in the summer when the air conditioning can't hit them directly.

I've got a 2023 suburban on order with the sunroof which changes the location of the air vents in the roof and am wondering if I should ditch the sunroof to get the standard placement for the vents.

Any thoughts are appreciated.

 

[ColeBlooded]

Worst case scenario, you have to get the sunroof tinted. I had it done in a previous vehicle and I could leave the shade open year round. I used 20% ceramic tint.

 

[navyseal334]

I'm in AZ and UT where the summers are hot and the sun strong.

I picked up at 2022 Honda Odyssey back in the spring and the air conditioning is crap; it is hard to cool the car off in a trip of less than 20 minutes. Compounding the problem is the vents are at stomach level on the walls = no direct airflow for backward facing carseats and the person in the middle is out of luck.

With the air vents in the roof in the Suburban, I imagine either the circular vents (no sunroof) or the long vents (with sunroof) will do better but having all the vents on the side (above the door handle) with a sunroof makes me wonder if the person in the middle is still going to suffer more than no sunroof where the circular air vents are closer to the middle of the car.

Though looking at pictures, it looks like vent placement with a sunroof may have a better angle to get airflow on kids in rear-facing carseats than the no-sunroof vent placement which sits further forward.

 

[swathdiver]

Remote Start is our friend for hot days.

 

[Chad G 1979]

Remote Start is our friend for hot days.

that, and dropping all the windows upon entry to exhaust the rest of the hot air helps too. i will start driving up to about 20 mph to allow the airflow from outside to help pull the heat out and then raise the windows again. this helps immensely for me anyways.

 

[Seamus]

My experience with a 2021 Suburban was very good with NO sunroof. Vents were placed well to cool second row and rear area for dog, and cooled the cabin quick in a black truck. We are in Florida and sunroofs are a no go here due to greenhouse effect. My Sierra Denali ultimate package came with a sunroof and find it ridiculous that i am paying for something I never use and have to use limo tint on to mitigate the heat.

 

[firstGT]

I can't speak to the middle seat, unless you mean middle row, as we have the capt chairs. But I did sit in the middle row once and found the air vents a little lacking. I don't know how they compare to the round ones though honestly.

At least it's better than the damn 4runner rental we had in Tucson when it was 110+. 2 vents for rear seats and they're at knee level.

 

[Banks22]

I have 2 kids in car seats, captain chairs with sunroof. My oldest complains she gets too cold back there so I think it’s good.

 

[navyseal334]

I have 2 kids in car seats, captain chairs with sunroof. My oldest complains she gets too cold back there so I think it’s good.

Do your summers get pretty hot?

And does the sunroof let heat vent through the cover when closed at all?

I appreciate any color you can share...

 

[Brand0n]

Middle row with sunroof seems sufficient / normal. Our oldest in the third row passenger side seat does complain about how cold it is after a few minutes due to the lower vent placement. That’s usually when we kill the rear HVAC altogether and everyone is happy. Car is also heavily tinted all around which helps significantly…

 

[Banks22]

Do your summers get pretty hot?

And does the sunroof let heat vent through the cover when closed at all?

I appreciate any color you can share...

I’m in michigan but I would say we had a pretty nice summer 80’s and 90’s. Usually always had sunroof shade open and they complained it was to cold, everything else is tinited minus the sunroof glass. I never noticed heat coming thru the sunroof shade.
I think you’ll be fine. I would get the sunroof and if your worried get it tinted with ceramic tint and that cuts down on the heat coming thru.