Car heaters 101

[sciphi]

It's hilarious how many complaints there are this time of year about how heaters don't work well for the first 10-20 minutes in brand-new cars. Reading the complaints, they always list how they have the heater on full tilt when the car is started. Amazing how many folks don't get that the heater is connected to the engine in a gas-powered car.

So, here's my Car Heaters 101 course:

To get good heat in the car when driving to work in the morning, shut off the heat for the first 4-5 minutes. This lets the heater (engine) heat up. If you need to defrost the windows, run the defrost as needed, then turn it off until the 5 minutes have elapsed.

Class, dismissed!

 

[SLCraig]

My Honda takes forever to build heat when it's really cold out, but I agree, people have no idea how it works and therefore just complain about it.

 

[rjundi]

Heated seats do wonders. Both our vehicles have them.

 

[Cujet]

Of course, these are the same people who start the car in the garage and let it warm up for half an hour.

 

[abycat]

The off-shore diesel version of a mercedes B200 has an electric heater for when the car is cold. Its inline with the heater core so you dont even know its there. I wish all cars had them. It would sure stop people from idling in the cold. Well maybe not me but alot of others.

 

[MCompact]

The cars in my garage with the best heaters are my 1975 '02, my 1995 3er, and my 1999 Wrangler. Any of the three warm up quickly and pump out enough BTUs to handle most any winter weather.
The quickest car to produce heat was my 1988 M6; warm air started coming out of the vents after a half mile of driving.

 

[TFB1]

Originally Posted By: sciphi
they always list how they have the heater on full tilt when the car is started.


Having it on a upper setting when cold blasts the air through the core with little heat transferred to the moving air, but if the blower is set to the lowest setting, most heaters work fairly well within a couple minutes at down to freezing... Of course it's similar to wind chill, 60*(F) air doesn't feel warm at all when being blasted out of the ducts at 70mph(at this blower speed the temp is probably more like 35*), but in a 30* car, 60* air from the ducts at maybe 5mph isn't bad...

 

[IndyIan]

The odd time I'm not dressed for the weather, my trick is just to drag the brakes a bit once I'm up to speed. I hold about 1/3 throttle and just pulse the brakes to pull the speed down from 55 down to 50 and repeat a few times. Probably isn't all that great for the car to heat up the engine that fast but it works.
Also I'm out in the sticks so it doesn't annoy anyone behind me.

 

[01rangerxl]

Originally Posted By: abycat
The off-shore diesel version of a mercedes B200 has an electric heater for when the car is cold. Its inline with the heater core so you dont even know its there. I wish all cars had them. It would sure stop people from idling in the cold. Well maybe not me but alot of others.


I wish my truck had one of these.

I don't even turn the heat on until the coolant temp is over 150*. That by itself takes several minutes. The lump of cast iron under the hood does not warm up very quickly. Once at 150* I turn the heat on low, and then it usually needs another few minutes to get up to full temp.

Once the t-stat opens though, the heater will cook you.

 

[The Critic]

The Prius does take a while to warm enough to deliver hot air. Unfortunately the 3rd gen models do not have the thermos that the 2nd gen had. On mine, I usually run the car extra-hard for the first few minutes so the engine is used as much (and as hard) as possible to get it warm.

 

[javacontour]

I try to explain this to my wife, but to no avail most times. My car, it's warm in three miles. But I set the temp to max, the fan to min, and drive sensibly.

 

[The_Jeff]

My boss has an escape hybrid that will idle when cold to make heat. Would be really clever of ford if it also forced it to charge the battery more than its fractional standard parked SOC.

Turbo volvo warms up nice and quick, even if I don't run it in boost. Has an oil-to-coolant cross-cooler.

I want for the days when the HVAC controls were on the left side of the steering wheel. Wife is always turning the fan up from (1) when she thinks I'm not watching. I get that it's cold. Wait a minute.

 

[mikered30]

How do the volt and leaf make heat?

 

[Jarlaxle]

Probably heat pumps.

My Cherokee gives warm air in about a mile of 25-35mph driving. The heater setting does not seem to matter much.

 

[NateDN10]

Originally Posted By: mikered30
How do the volt and leaf make heat?

I'm not sure if they use resistive heat or a heat pump, but it's definitely not from residual motor/battery heat.

 

[lexus114]

My 71 Maverick took forever to put out hot air. But when it did, it would roast you out.

 

[Smokescreen]

Grill block, block heater and heated seat cover means I have heat real quick even at -20F (-30C) on my back and seat...and within 2kms I have heat out the vents. I would never have it any other way.

 

[demarpaint]

Originally Posted By: sciphi
It's hilarious how many complaints there are this time of year about how heaters don't work well for the first 10-20 minutes in brand-new cars. Reading the complaints, they always list how they have the heater on full tilt when the car is started. Amazing how many folks don't get that the heater is connected to the engine in a gas-powered car.

So, here's my Car Heaters 101 course:

To get good heat in the car when driving to work in the morning, shut off the heat for the first 4-5 minutes. This lets the heater (engine) heat up. If you need to defrost the windows, run the defrost as needed, then turn it off until the 5 minutes have elapsed.

Class, dismissed!


LOL my wife takes the same route to work everyday, here trip is now about 22 miles each way since she changed jobs. When she's driven approximately 5 miles to a small lake alongside the parkway I tell her to turn the heater on. Now if safety conditions warrant the defroster that's another story.

 

[mechtech2]

Pre heating the engine is nonsense to me.
Many cars use flaps to control the air flow, and the coolant is always circulated through the core anyhway.
Drive 4-5 minutes with the heat shut off? Are you kidding?

 

[mechtech2]

Pre heating the engine is nonsense to me.
Many cars use flaps to control the air flow, and the coolant is always circulated through the core anyhway.
Drive 4-5 minutes with the heat shut off? Are you kidding?