Fast car heat, or waste of money?

[Red Squirrel]

I had an idea, and not sure if it would work or not. Basically setup something in the trunk consisting of one or more deep cycle batteries, a 1000w inverter, a charger, and a power cord going in the car through the slot in the seats to power a heater that is near 1000w but under, maybe a 900w heater. Every now and then I'd plug the charger in to charge the battery. Basically when I start my car I'd also fire up that heater. Electric heat tends to be quite instantaneous, while the heat of the car has to wait for the motor to heat up which can take 15 minutes to half an hour even with the block heater plugged in.

The idea behind this would be faster deicing of windows and a warmer cabin right off the bat. Think this idea would work, or is that wattage of heat just not enough to cut it?

Has anyone ever tried this before? Also I know I could plug it in the lighter socket, but I'd like to be able to activate it without the car having to be running, and I'm sure that would be quite hard on the battery too so I rather use a separate battery. Also the challenge would be the placement of said heater, so that it's safe.

 

[CurseTheSky]

It sounds like a lot of extra weight in the car without too much gain. It also sounds like a fire hazard, since at one point or another you may be leave it unsupervised for a few minutes.

Do you store your car inside or outside?

 

[Red Squirrel]

I store it outside, and yeah the firehazard part is something I'd have to figure out. They do make heaters made for cars so maybe they are designed in a way where it can just be plopped on top of the seat safely, not sure. I probably would be leaving it unattended, at least in the morning, so yeah, want something safe.

I did not consider the extra weight, though would it really have any significant impact on gas mileage? We're talking maybe 75 pounds, if that. Batteries are pretty heavy though.

 

[sdifox]

why not just a block heater?

 

[Bignate603]

why not just a block heater?

This. If the block is pretty warm the car's heat will start to work significantly faster.

 

[MagnusTheBrewer]

Teh ghetto solution is a twelve volt hair dryer, noob.

 

[Kaervak]

Teh ghetto solution is a twelve volt hair dryer, noob.

Actually, you can put a 100w trouble light under the oil pan for a couple of hours. I do however second getting a block heater. I'm still trying to hunt one down in a junkyard for my car since they're so damn hard to find elsewhere.

 

[PhoKingGuy]

VWs have an optional inline coolant heater for the diesels. Its wired to either its own battery, external power or car battery and can be programed to run warm coolant through the car at regular intervals. Its mainly used to freezing climates but its kinda the same thing you're talking about.

 

[BUTCH1]

1000 watts out of a 12V system would be around 75 amps or so, battery would not last long providing that much current. Why not just run an extension cord to your garage and power the heater off regular old 120V AC?..

 

[Red Squirrel]

why not just a block heater?

Oh I have a block heater but that does not heat the inside of a car, it just heats the motor a bit so it's easier to start. That's pretty much standard here.

The reason I thought of the batteries is so I could also fire up this system anywhere I go, like at work etc.

I never considered how hard this amperage would be on the battery though, that's a good point. Would it be less hard on it if I got two in parallel? Now we're talking way more weight added though... maybe this is not such a good idea afterall but still curious to know if it's viable. But it's sounding not so hot.

I might just run an extension cord from the garage like mentioned too, at least I'd have a nice warm iceless car in the morning, and just have to deal with ice/snow 3 times instead of 4. The morning is usually the worse anyway. The beauty with this is I could set it on a timer. Just need to find a very safe way to place the heater so I don't wakeup to a burning car smell and a bonfire in my driveway.

 

[Red Squirrel]

VWs have an optional inline coolant heater for the diesels. Its wired to either its own battery, external power or car battery and can be programed to run warm coolant through the car at regular intervals. Its mainly used to freezing climates but its kinda the same thing you're talking about.

That actually sounds pretty nice. Really I don't get why something like this is not standard. Nobody likes having to de-ice the car multiple times a day, and get into a very cold car in general. I doubt such system could run all day while parked at work, but it could be set to at least run during lunch, and be plugged in at night at home.

Guess the other solution is, eat lunch at work, and avoid 2 times of having to scrape the car.

 

[GoatMonkey]

Aren't there some cars that already have electric heat? Maybe some hybrids?

 

[bruceb]

You need one of these engine coolant preheaters

http://www.maesco.com/products/kim/kimtank/kimtank.html

 

[The J]

I've always wondered if it was possible to mount a small 12V heating pad on the engine that would heat it up when you start the car and then deactivate when the engine warms up a bit. It wouldn't heat up the engine entirely on its own, like a plug-in heater might, but would be supplying extra heat while the engine is started and warming up. Could it be connected through the thermostat so that it shuts off when the thermostat opens?

Though I don't know how feasible this would be since I don't know how powerful a heater we'd need. Thoughts?

 

[bruceb]

It would not work. The only way to heat the engine is from the Inside thru the coolant. Your way would be trying to force heat thru a large chunk of iron. Not feasible.

 

[JulesMaximus]

I had an idea, and not sure if it would work or not. Basically setup something in the trunk consisting of one or more deep cycle batteries, a 1000w inverter, a charger, and a power cord going in the car through the slot in the seats to power a heater that is near 1000w but under, maybe a 900w heater. Every now and then I'd plug the charger in to charge the battery. Basically when I start my car I'd also fire up that heater. Electric heat tends to be quite instantaneous, while the heat of the car has to wait for the motor to heat up which can take 15 minutes to half an hour even with the block heater plugged in.

The idea behind this would be faster deicing of windows and a warmer cabin right off the bat. Think this idea would work, or is that wattage of heat just not enough to cut it?

Has anyone ever tried this before? Also I know I could plug it in the lighter socket, but I'd like to be able to activate it without the car having to be running, and I'm sure that would be quite hard on the battery too so I rather use a separate battery. Also the challenge would be the placement of said heater, so that it's safe.

1/2 hour? Dude, my car starts cranking out warm air within a couple miles. There is something wrong with your car if it takes that long to warm up.

 

[bruceb]

You seem to forget he lives in Ontario, Canada ... winters are very severe up there. But I would not rule out cooling system problems, like wrong ratio of antifreeze (50/50 is the norm, but if it gets way below 0º F, then maybe go 55/45 or 60/40 for deep cold areas)
or a stuck open thermostat.

 

[yh125d]

I dont understand how canadians can exist without being able to park in a garage

 

[Red Squirrel]

Keep in mind I want to heat the inside of the car, I don't care about the engine as far as this project goes - the block heater does that job. The block heater also does not heat the inside, hence the secondary source of heat. The idea is to try to speed up defrosting the windows so I can get going faster. Windows frost/get snow on them in the morning, at lunch and after work. It just gets annoying to have to clear it off all the time.

This IS an old car, I'm sure newer car heaters pump heat faster, I don't think there's anything wrong with my heater. It just takes a while to heat up. I'm guessing car heaters get their heat from the engine. The engine is basically a giant heat sink, and when it's sitting outside in the cold it cools off fast.

But yeah if this does not work, then it was worth a try, just figured someone might have already tried something like this before.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I dont understand how canadians can exist without being able to park in a garage

A garage only really helps in the morning, you still have to deal with snow/frost/ice during the rest of the day. Though what would rock is underground parking but that's rare, at least where I live.

I actually have a garage but it's very small, and It's full atm. Next year I hope to use it. I'll probably run a sub panel there and also turn it into a shop, and heat it.

 

[yh125d]

A garage only really helps in the morning, you still have to deal with snow/frost/ice during the rest of the day. Though what would rock is underground parking but that's rare, at least where I live.

I actually have a garage but it's very small, and It's full atm. Next year I hope to use it. I'll probably run a sub panel there and also turn it into a shop, and heat it.

Yeah, I supose it may be different up there. The only time we really get wintry precip is evenings/overnight so we can do fine with just a garage most of the time

 

[sdifox]

I dont understand how canadians can exist without being able to park in a garage

I park outside... no biggie.

 

[sdifox]

Oh I have a block heater but that does not heat the inside of a car, it just heats the motor a bit so it's easier to start. That's pretty much standard here.

The reason I thought of the batteries is so I could also fire up this system anywhere I go, like at work etc.

I never considered how hard this amperage would be on the battery though, that's a good point. Would it be less hard on it if I got two in parallel? Now we're talking way more weight added though... maybe this is not such a good idea afterall but still curious to know if it's viable. But it's sounding not so hot.

I might just run an extension cord from the garage like mentioned too, at least I'd have a nice warm iceless car in the morning, and just have to deal with ice/snow 3 times instead of 4. The morning is usually the worse anyway. The beauty with this is I could set it on a timer. Just need to find a very safe way to place the heater so I don't wakeup to a burning car smell and a bonfire in my driveway.

block heater keeps your block from freezing, which helps a lot in speeding up car heater. You could just get one of those seat mats that you can plug into the cig lighter jack and keep that indoors so it is not ice cold when you come out.

my car has heated seats so no biggie . I park outside, the garage is just too much hassle.

 

[Bryf50]

Why not just get a remote starter. Seems a much simpler way to solve the problem. Just start the car 5-10 mins before you leave and it should be fine by the time you get in. If your worried about wasting gas think about the weight and cost of all the equipment needed for you electric heater idea.

 

[LTC8K6]

They have remote starters now that will start your car every so often for a preset amount of time, or start it and warm it up at a preset time in the morning, etc.