After freezing my t!ts off in the VRS for the last 4 winters, I decided to tackle the Fabias slow warm up time by fitting an engine pre-heater from a company called 'Defa'. They seem to sell a lot of gear in Scandinavia and mainland Europe where it gets a fair bit colder than the UK.

They make a complete system that plugs into a mains power point to trickle charge the battery, warm the interior with an electric heater and pre-heat the engine simultaneously. It can also have a timer fitted to the car that switches it on automatically, adjusting pre-heat time depending on outside temp with an overide remote that works from 500m range if you are going out before the timer is ready.

I just bought a pre-heater and connection lead that I control from a timer in the garage. At sub zero temps it takes about 1.5 hours to warm up the coolant to around 40 deg C, which is much warmer than a 'summer start'. At -4 deg C the other morning the car started without the glow light and was blowing warm air straight away. By the time I had scraped the windows the windscreen was mist free and the interior was warmish, not the icy blast you usually get from a diesel Fabia for the first few miles in winter.

My commute is 8 miles of 30 and 40 roads and on a cold winter morning it was taking up to 7 miles to get the temp gauge to 90 deg C if the drive was slow and you had the interior heater on hot with the fan on II to try and defrost your fingers. Warm-up is now typically 2.5 to 3 miles and fuel economy is improved by 15% after pre-heating. The biggest improvement is in safety and comfort really, with the screen mist free and the interior warming up straight from start up.

The 'Defa' unit has a 600w element and works by convection only. It has no moving parts to go wrong. You could get the engine a lot warmer in less time with a Kenlowe heater but these are huge in comparison, are more difficult to fit and can have their pump impeller seize up needing a cooling system drain down to remedy.

The unit took about 2 hours to fit. Be prepared to lose most of the skin off your knuckles . You will need to remove the lower engine cover and drain the cooling system. It interupts the pipe from the oil cooler to the water rail on the front of the engine and you need to drill a hole somewhere in the front bumper to mount the power socket.

The full set up including a 10 metre lead cost around £150 including next day delivery from Germany, that's £100 cheaper than the Kenlowe.

For more info, have a look here:- DEFA WarmUp - Start page

UK importers website here:- Dometic

Here are some pictures:-

Edited 13 December, 200817 yr by vrsfab

I think that is a good idea and very practical.

I hate getting into the car in the morning and getting frozen for miles untill it heats up.

The leather is the real killer.

Nice to put a few pictures up too.

Cool idea that (excuse the pun...)

Looks like a fantastic bit of kit and thanks for posting it up mate. Have you got any details of UK stockists as I am drawing a blank on their site. It's something I would really be interested in for the vRoomster.

Looks like a fantastic bit of kit and thanks for posting it up mate. Have you got any details of UK stockists as I am drawing a blank on their site. It's something I would really be interested in for the vRoomster.

Dometic are the UK importer, although it doesn't show up on their website anywhere. You will need to give them a call.

Dometic

That's really neat. It was one of the ideas I spotted when looking for a heater, but I failed miserably to find one at the time. It would be interesting to compare the different heaters (neglecting the super Kenlowe). That little bit of heat does make a huge difference to safety.

That's really neat. It was one of the ideas I spotted when looking for a heater, but I failed miserably to find one at the time. It would be interesting to compare the different heaters (neglecting the super Kenlowe). That little bit of heat does make a huge difference to safety.

The Defa connecting lead and socket can handle 13 Amps, so adding your sump pan heater too would give me a warm supply of oil aswell as coolant.

Can I ask how much the sump heater was please?

So much for Global Warming

Good install there, this has to be kind to the engine, and the fuel saving should offset the electricity used.

Sump heater was £50 in August - may be a bit more now as pound may be down vs Canadian dollars (see link on original thread). I'm pleased and it does seem save more on fuel than the elctricity costs (I did wonder and was anorak enough to work it out). Perhaps the big advantage of the DEFA system is that it can be removed (I think from the photos). Once you stick the pad on your sump, it's there for good. Doesn't matter to me as I expect to keep the car for another 5 years, but may be important to some.

How well did the DEFA system work over the cold period at the start of 2009, and again during the last bout of wintery conditions at the end of 2009 and the start of 2010?

How well did the DEFA system work over the cold period at the start of 2009, and again during the last bout of wintery conditions at the end of 2009 and the start of 2010?

Really well thanks. I was preheating for just over an hour most days using a cheapo mechanical time switch. We had 5 or 6 really cold mornings at -8deg C and the engine was warm enough not to need the glow plugs. The heater was blowing warm air at startup which made defrosting really quick and the cabin is noticably warm when you get in after scraping. When preheating the car reaches normal temp after 3 miles on a 30mph crawl to work but would take 7 or 8 miles without the heater. I think it's been worth it if only for the safety and comfort aspect on those dangerous snowy and icy mornings.

Thanks for the update.