It might be a very silly question, but I'd still like to ask: does the A/C system in Superb provide heating?

I have a superb TDi CR 140 and mainly do town driving. As everyone knows, diesel engines heat up much much slower than petrol. So the first ten minutes in the car on a cold morning was dreadful.

Somehow in my mind the A/C only does cooling in the summer, and I can only rely on the engine to heat the cabin in winters. This idea was shared by quite a few people I've been talking to.

Then yesterday my friend took me out with his Octavia 1.6 TDI CR. It was a morning cold start, however the cabin was warmed up within a few minutes. I thought he had heated front seats, but the answer was no. Instead, he told me "I just keep the A/C on..."

Air con provides no heat at all. <br /><br />Don't have it in auto though, otherwise it won't provide heat until its started to warm up. Mine gives warm air in 2-3 minutes from cold in manual (a/c on or off doesn't affect my warm up time)

Edited 10 March, 201313 yr by Keith Lard

It also helps prevent the windows steaming up as well as keeping the windscreen pretty clear on cold and wet journeys

So no matter what, I'd better keep the A/C on all the time :-D

I've often wondered why air source heat pumps aren't used on cars. A heat pump would provide warm air after about 30 seconds or so, irrespective of the coolant temperature. Also very efficient at what they do as well. I think there have been a few studies into it now that car engines are so thermally efficient. We might start seeing them in a few years time.

Some cars (not Skodas in the UK, but most VWs) are fitted with adiitional electric air heater, it fits below engine heater matrix and is about 700W-1200W depending on car size. This additional heater can heat cabin air when engine is cold and reduces demisting time a lot. It does not cost much as factory option, but is a pain to retrofit.

Airco kept on "Auto" simply works for many years, makes little difference to fuel consumption unless you drive like a granny or try turning the interior into a freezer. 10yrs flawless operation on the Octavia before it got written off (though I had to retighten/glue the a/c clutch nut as probably nearly everyone else with climate control in that time), On Mk1 Superb, one nice feature is that you can close recirculation after starting engine and it will automatically reopen the airflow once engine is warm enough to supply significant heat to the cabin. Makes warmup even faster.

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Some cars (not Skodas in the UK, but most VWs) are fitted with adiitional electric air heater, it fits below engine heater matrix and is about 700W-1200W depending on car size. This additional heater can heat cabin air when engine is cold and reduces demisting time a lot. It does not cost much as factory option, but is a pain to retrofit.

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I remember reading the technical brochure for my b6 passat, which suggested that the aux heater (standard fit on the diesels) was diesel fired. Will try and dig it out, as had stuff on the balancer shafts as well. In any case, I used to get warm air through the vents after about 2-3 mins.

Diesel fired heater is usually optional, as it is very expensive (high £££s). Aux electric heater is £100-£200 as factory option and almost standard fit on VWs.

Skoda UK seems to be forbidden from installing them, though outside UK it is simply a factory fit option..

This is where I was getting my info from: http://www.volkspage.net/technik/ssp/ssp/SSP_339.pdf

It's on p.70 of the document, and I was judging on the basis of the text in the 3rd bullet point "acts as an additional heater in vehicles with petrol or diesel engines (fitted as standard in diesel engines)". As this is under the heading "Thermo Top V" (which is the Webasto fuel-fired heater), I read this to mean that the aux heater in all diesel passats is fuel-fired. Perhaps this was only standard for very cold climates, or on very early b6 models?

What's in the brochure you linked to is indeed diesel powered heater, and is for cold climates only as standard. In the UK and Ireland you see it as an option, it is called "parking heater" and costs £1090 for the Passat - look it up in online configurator.

I believe current UK Golfs and Passats might be coming with electric aux heater as standard, though. They did a couple years back, and it's been a consistent VW policy on diesels.

I believe current UK Golfs and Passats might be coming with electric aux heater as standard, though. They did a couple years back, and it's been a consistent VW policy on diesels.

Stay tuned, I'm taking the electric heater out of my Jetta and putting it in the superb when it arrives later this month.

The below thread was the Jetta install, I promise to take photos for the Superb this time

http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/220727-option-code-or-part-number-for-ptc-heater-element/

My Mercedes E class has an aux heater , you could tell it was on from the smoke coming up from the bonnet , think it cut in below 7 degrees C

Stay tuned, I'm taking the electric heater out of my Jetta and putting it in the superb when it arrives later this month.

I bought one for the Roomster, but it seems the car was assembled at factory like a Big Mac from bottom upwards and my first attempt to remove heater matrix housing has failed. I gave up for this winter, when it gets warmer it'll be time for 2nd attempt, though this time I'll fit it even if it means cutting some bolts.

Newer models are a pain, as original workspace under the heater matrix housing is now filled with some ECU mounted on long bolts welded to body, the only other way would be to remove dashboard. Superb should still be OK to retrofit in a relatively simple way, retrofit on newer models like Rapid and Octavia 3 will share my Roomster pain.

Edited 12 March, 201313 yr by dieselV6

I'm pretty sure my 2012 (13MY) Superb has an electric heater in the intake as it gets warm too quickly to not have one. It's not a diesel fuel burning heater, like I have on one of my other cars.

The roomster doesn't seem to have one and takes an age.

The problem using an air sourced heat pump on a car is freezing of the evaporator (the condensor in 'normal' operation). It's bad enough on units in buildings, a decent cold day and they keep stopping, but on a car with water spray it would clog with ice and stop working very quickly.

Newer models are a pain, as original workspace under the heater matrix housing is now filled with some ECU mounted on long bolts welded to body, the only other way would be to remove dashboard. Superb should still be OK to retrofit in a relatively simple way, retrofit on newer models like Rapid and Octavia 3 will share my Roomster pain.

If it gets too hard I have a hammer.

Can anybody tell me how do you know there is an aux electric heater in a Superb.Is there a dedicated switch or button,also is there a timer on them ie. can they be set to come on in the morning at a set time,like a webcasts heater. Cheers

Electric one only comes on after engine is started and offers warm air to the cabin in 30s-2min depending on your definition of warm

You need diesel parking heater for timer/preheat/etc. And another £1000 in the wallet :(

If you post a photo of options codes for your car (either from boot under the carpet, or on the inside of "Service Schedule" booklet, make sure to mask the VIN number), I might have a go at checking them, I only remember 7E6 option code for the Roomster, might be different for Superb.

Edit: Mask the VIN out from the photo, or DIY using web link provided in post below.

Edited 13 March, 201313 yr by dieselV6

VAG option code decoder is here: http://igorweb.org/equidec/Default.aspx

If you do post a photo of your option codes, people advise you remove your VIN from the photo.

Thanks for the info lads,

Is this aux heater worth having. I am soon goin to be ordering a new car and was going to spec a heated screen but the heater seems to be a better job. It will defrost all the windows quicker I suspect.

In my opinion, it is worth having, but I do not think it's on the UK options list. It is on Irish one, in the past I imported 2 Skodas from Dublin.

Though if you manage to talk a UK salesman into supplying factory fitted auxiliary electric heater, do let us know as myself and I am sure several others will take it in preference to chippy heated windscreen.

Am in Ireland

Heated screen is @290/300 €

Aux heater only 222€

It wasn't on the UK options list when I bought mine, but I'm pretty sure I have it. Maybe it comes as a pack with the heated windscreen?

As said, there's no switch, timer or anything.

Oh, and no the aux heater won't defrost the window quicker than the heated windscreen. You can see when it's running where the warm air from the vents has worked, and it's a tiny patch when the frost can be wiped off with the wipers.

Edited 13 March, 201313 yr by lowedb

I would spend the €222 on the aux heater - as not every cold day results in a frosty windscreen. So I think you'd appreciate the benefit of warmth on a short commute, rather than the convenience of a windscreen that defrosts. SWMBO has heated windscreen on her focii, and I can clear my screen more quickly using a £1 scraper and a pair of gloves, and we're probably as cold as each other throughout the process. I also get to clear my side windows of course...

My heated windsreen takes about 1-2 minutes to completely clear a hard frost and a lot less when it is misted up or just a light frost.

Heated windscreens chip/crack a lot, I have "tested" 3 so far (in the same car 3 chips/crack on the 3rd one, and no one wants to repair, they just want to replace, excess is £85 every time...). At night they also create glare from light of cars coming in opposite direction. I'll take an aux electric heater any day over a heated windscreen.