Anyone tried an in car heater?

Such as http://www.cn-ice.com/car-heater-p-91.html?gclid=CLHjz9uDmJ8CFWlr4wod513HJA

As I see it, you can start the car, then run this to heat up the interior, which will defrost the windows quicker. As a derv driver, it takes an age to get any warmth through the blowers on a morning.

You would need a pretty strong battery to cope with the load from the heater element, but you could balance this by not running the fan and / or air con while it is running.

The one in the link is pretty ugly but you get the picture.

I've ordered one of these and it should arrive in the next few days (just wait for the cold snap to finish!).

I found the same one for under £15 delivered, although there has been a 3 week delay in them actually sending it out.

I have a diesel and was fed up of being cold on the way to work. I'll let you know how good I think it is as soon as I can.

erm there ok however bout 3 years back there was a big problem with them as they set on fire and set the car wiring loom on fire

erm there ok however bout 3 years back there was a big problem with them as they set on fire and set the car wiring loom on fire

I was hoping for a bit less heat than a car fire........

Well you wanted to be warm!

I bought one a few years back..waste of space..it only blows out look warm, and the cable gets very warm !!!

Thats nearly 17 amps, does anyone know what size fuse is for the cigarettte lighter? you wouldnt want to set fire to your car wiring!

I could be wrong, but i thought the max the 12v plugs in cars supported was 150W... I don't have my octy yet, but that was the spec for both my Saabs, the X-Type before that and the Pug 406 before that... Can't remember any further back than that :-)

norm a 20a fuse in the cig lighter, but i wouldent use them you said yourself wires got warm, the wire is not thick enough to support one thats why they set on fire :| Halfords banned them because of this fact!

My handbook states that the cigarette lighter fuse is 25 amps, so it should handle 300W. However, it states that the 12v power socket can be used to supply electrical accessories up to 180W.

My neighbour has a 220V pre-heater in his 4x4 this thread http://ww.honestjohn.co.uk/forum/post/index.htm?t=36513 seems to suggest that some VAG engines can have them too

My heater arrived yesterday and I tried it out this morning. It wasn't quite so cold today, about 1C, but I can still confirm that the heater was USELESS.

Even with the very slow warm up time on my 2.0 Diesel, the car was still pumping out a lot more heat that the heater in less than 2 miles from start up.

It arrived in a jiffy bag, un-boxed and without any instructions (although I suppose there wasn't a lot to say, but you expect these sort of things to have something even it is the usual warning messages).

It was pretty cheaply constructed and part of the plastic casing was slightly damaged, presumably in the post.

My advice would be to use the money to buy some thicker socks and a better pair of gloves.

Thermo underwear is excellent, not only during driving but also walking from car to the office entrance

There was a lady on our local radio station who swears by putting a hot water bottle on top of the dash ?!

If you have a pink fluffy cover on it though this may have to be removed to aid thermal efficiency.

My heater arrived yesterday and I tried it out this morning. It wasn't quite so cold today, about 1C, but I can still confirm that the heater was USELESS.

Even with the very slow warm up time on my 2.0 Diesel, the car was still pumping out a lot more heat that the heater in less than 2 miles from start up.

It arrived in a jiffy bag, un-boxed and without any instructions (although I suppose there wasn't a lot to say, but you expect these sort of things to have something even it is the usual warning messages).

It was pretty cheaply constructed and part of the plastic casing was slightly damaged, presumably in the post.

My advice would be to use the money to buy some thicker socks and a better pair of gloves.

Thanks for the feedback, I'll give it a miss. Hot water bottle option looks worth a shot. You could defrost the window then sit on it to keep warm.

Maybe a sideline for custom Briskoda water bottle covers?