What Does Your Car's Snowflake Button Do?

A car's console can be a cluster of immediately recognizable iconography that we as a society seem to understand without explanation. As well as indecipherable script that may as well be pictograms from an ancient alien civilization.

Between common dashboard warning lights and other important symbols, trying to figure things out can feel a bit overwhelming — even if you're able to use an iPhone camera to translate some of them. Though thankfully, that snowflake button you've probably been wondering about (assuming your car has one, as it's not necessarily universal across all global manufacturers and models) isn't a vital component that can affect your car's performance or risk your safety.

That being said, it's still an important function. Particularly when the weather outside starts to get particularly warm or humid. On some cars it'll be a snowflake, but others will use the letters "A/C." Yes, that's right, the snowflake symbol is just visual shorthand for your car's air conditioning system. Why a separate button, though?

Many cars allow drivers to turn on the internal fan system without also activating the A/C or heater. This can be useful for those kinds of days when it's not particularly hot out, but a breeze passing through the interior would be nice. It's also a useful way to speed up the process of clearing out smells that may have found their way inside.

Pushing the snowflake (or A/C) button is what turns on the air conditioner pump, which starts pulling warm air out of the cabin and pushing cooled air inside. This process is powered by both the car's alternator and engine, which is why we often feel a drop in "oomph" if the A/C is turned on while we're driving. Though it needs to work in tandem with the fans, turning them off while the A/C is still engaged will turn everything off. Just keep in mind that many A/C systems will remain on until you push the button to turn them back off. This means if you shut it off by switching off the fan, the A/C will kick in again the next time you go for a drive and turn on the fans.