12v ciggy timer?

[apmaman]

Since my car doesn't have heated windows, and I hate de-icing and de-misting the front windows on cold mornings I had an idea...

Is there such a thing of a timer for 12v car supplies? Pretty much what you'd use for your house if you went away on holiday to turn lights on etc.

Had the idea of setting one of those mini-heaters on for 30mins before I leave and it could come on automatically. Go out to the car and its nice and clear!

Anyone know of such a thing?

[James_]

Does that come with a free flat battery?

[Llanigraham]

No.

Plus leave one of those 12v mini heaters on in the car and it will flatten the battery in 30 minutes.

[apmaman]

Probably should of said I have a spare car battery it would be used off of.

[silver1011]

You'd be better off trying to route an extension cable from your garage into the car somehow.

That way you could use a normal mains powered socket timer.

Either option would leave me a tad uneasy though, too many things to go wrong and end up with you trying to explain to the insurance company how your car spontaneously combusted

[apmaman]

Haha yeah that would be the best option but I was thinking away from home. I tend to do a lot of nightshifts and can't steal the works leccy. Nearest plug is too far away :'(

[lordrobs]

There is a device that you can buy which charges up while you drive, has an internal timer that you can set so it then runs for a preset time before you need the car.

Can't remember what they are called or who supplies them though. I remember seeing them in Makro but that was years ago.

[cheezemonkhai]

If you're going to route the mains lead, then you might as well stick on a sump heater and heat up the oil and water, then let the car defrost itself in no time while you're sat there.

A very quick scrape of the ice off the windows, turn the heater off, unplug it and go off with a nice warm car and lower engine wear and fuel consumption.

[2SkodaFamily]

Last time I was in Finland, the works car park had an electrical outlet next to all the parking spaces. Apparently you can plug in some sort of heater during the winter. Don't know if that heats the cabin or the engine though.

[lordrobs]

I think this is what you want OP. My linkhttp://www.windowheater.nl/

Charge it during the day, put it in your car at night with the timer set, wake up to a defrosted car, stick it back on charge.

No idea on a uk supplier though but as I say, Makro used to do something similar.

[apmaman]

Pretty much that!

I've seen this too...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12v-Car-Heated-Windscreen-Defrost-Mat-No-Need-Ice-Scraper-De-Icer-NEW-/260895901982?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3cbe9b891e

[lordrobs]

Pretty much that!

I've seen this too...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/12v-Car-Heated-Windscreen-Defrost-Mat-No-Need-Ice-Scraper-De-Icer-NEW-/260895901982?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item3cbe9b891e

A billion sucker marks to deal with everyday. That would send me insane!

[Mute]

120watts of heat (12v x 10amp fuse on the ciggy socket) wont defrost a window in this lifetime :-(

[rwbaldwin]

120watts of heat (12v x 10amp fuse on the ciggy socket) wont defrost a window in this lifetime :-(

Actually, they do. 120W, four inches from the windscreen and 30-45 minutes will just about defrost the swept area of the windscreen.

Is it worth it - NO. Leave it on much longer and it will start to flatten the battery. You still have to defrost the other windows and it doesn't warm the car interior. It needs switching on 30-45 minutes before you are due to set off.

[Mute]

This kind of thing --> http://www.kenlowe.com/pre-heaters/cars/automatic.html is the only real solution on a petrol car. A 240v mains block heater & cabin heater.

Although you can get petrol webasto heaters they're prohibitively expensive, where diesel ones are ten a penny second hand (ok more like £200) the petrol ones are often over £1k, i guess due to the rarity of them.

With a diesel car i'd find a second hand webasto auxiliary heater and use that.

[countryboy]

Alternatively, just put an old bed sheet over the windscreen at night, held in place by the wipers and front doors and the screen remains clear for the morning. Or you could buy one of those car covers.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Magnetic-car-windscreen-cover/dp/B002P7D7KQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1325075094&sr=8-3

Ian

[apmaman]

Yeah I've been looking into it and it doesn't really seem worth it. Wouldn't be so bad if you the car had a few batteries installed from a big ICE install (pun!) and could run of them as you'd have a load of amp hours to play with.

Bed Sheet it is until I get some tarpaulin as it wont get soggy.