I'm in Toronto, this few days I need to crank the dial all the way to the right (mine is dual manual), still have the airmix wide open (cold air), still no need to push on the recir (yellow light button next to the air cond.), and I like to put on the heated seat too. In the midest of winter, you may want to put on the recir to warm up the car faster in the morning, then switch it off. I rarely close the airmix, as that make me feel too dry hot, but in extreme snow storm, I did. Hope that helps. Peter