Supplementary heater retrofit?

[NikTheGeek]

Is it possible to retrofit the electric supplementary heater that warms the cabin up more quickly? Not the Webasto parking heater that warms and defrosts your car for you - although that would be nice. I'm guessing the electric one is an easier fit. I did phone my local garage who said "not heard of that one" - which didn't instill me with confidence

 

I'd happily pay a few hundred quid to be warmer in the mornings!

 

thanks

 

Nick

[Jaco2k]

Yes, you can. Quite common here up North.

Look for Defa engine heaters - I am typing from phone now, so I cannot immediately find the right link, but there is a part search site.

Edited 2 January, 2019 by Jaco2k

[Jaco2k]

Here we go - unfortunately it is in Finnish, but use Google translate to figure it out.

Part numbers are pretty universal.

https://www.defa.com/fi/autolampo/moottorinlammittimet/etsi-moottorinlammitin-autoosi/

[Jaco2k]

@NikTheGeek give me your car details and I search the site for you - I need engine and if manual or DSG, FWD or 4x4

[DEL80Y]

I fitted an aux electrical heater in my Superb
 sure its doable on Oct
Bought mine 2nd hand from eBay for about £15 
this year I am going to upgrade to the canbus one that completely  works through heating
I just wired mine up direct to battery through fuse and into a rather stupid big switch
Info here for your 

Edited 2 January, 2019 by DEL80Y

[Ootohere]

@NikTheGeek Are you in the UK?

 

Can you park off the road and next to your house and an outdoor extension lead?

 

A £20 Green House Heater set at few degree C above freezing will keep the chill off and the glass clear of ice inside and out for Much Cheapness.

Just remember to unplug before driving off....

[NikTheGeek]

26 minutes ago, Jaco2k said:

@NikTheGeek give me your car details and I search the site for you - I need engine and if manual or DSG, FWD or 4x4

 

Hi Jaco, it's not the Defa heater, it's the factory fit electric heater that Del8oy posted a picture of. Although I phoned Skoda UK who said they don't make them anymore and another Skoda dealer said its not a retrofit, its a factory fit. So I might end up with a Defa one if I can't find one. But hopefully Del8oy will be along again with details of how hard it was!

 

thanks!

 

Nick

[NikTheGeek]

15 minutes ago, DEL80Y said:

I fitted an aux electrical heater in my Superb
 sure its doable on Oct
Bought mine 2nd hand from eBay for about £15 
this year I am going to upgrade to the canbus one that completely  works through heating
I just wired mine up direct to battery through fuse and into a rather stupid big switch

That's the fella. How easy was it to fit?

[Jaco2k]

IMHO, that is not a great option - the better option is the DEFA with the pump that actually warms and circulates coolant.

Those "element" heaters only warm the bottom of the engine, leaving the oil and engine cold on top.

[DEL80Y]

20 minutes ago, Jaco2k said:

IMHO, that is not a great option - the better option is the DEFA with the pump that actually warms and circulates coolant.

Those "element" heaters only warm the bottom of the engine, leaving the oil and engine cold on top.

These dont heat up the engine they are fitted inside the cabin in front of the heater matrix


40 mins top with all the wiring which needs to be really heavy duty through a 100amp fuse from battery.

I  am going to fit the canbus revision one next as 
Use the search engine you will find loads of info on them
 

[Gyp]

23 minutes ago, Jaco2k said:

IMHO, that is not a great option - the better option is the DEFA with the pump that actually warms and circulates coolant.

Those "element" heaters only warm the bottom of the engine, leaving the oil and engine cold on top.

 

Having looked at it, the DEFA one seems to be simply a heater clamped to the bottom of the sump.

 

Am I missing something?

[Jaco2k]

Ah... So maybe I misunderstood completely what you are looking for

I think that this Defa type of heater only makes sense in the Nordics and might be a bit hardcore for more mellow winter temperatures 

[Jaco2k]

3 minutes ago, Gyp said:

 

Having looked at it, the DEFA one seems to be simply a heater clamped to the bottom of the sump.

 

Am I missing something?

You are - there are many different versions, depending on type of engine.

When I put mine in the Octavia, the "official" recommend was just as you said, but I knew that you could get for the same version of engine one with a pump - it is all about chasing part numbers.

[Gyp]

2 minutes ago, Jaco2k said:

You are - there are many different versions, depending on type of engine.

When I put mine in the Octavia, the "official" recommend was just as you said, but I knew that you could get for the same version of engine one with a pump - it is all about chasing part numbers.

 

Ah.

 

i was looking for Superb 1.4 DSG with CZE engine, but I'm struggling to find a pumped version

[NikTheGeek]

It's not an engine heater I'm after, its a cabin heater coz I'm nesh and only take my jacket off if it gets to 30'c. I have the car set to 27 and it never gets there!!

[NikTheGeek]

What did you do for a switch @DEL80Y? And where can I find a canbus one? Ebay lists 2 heating elements but no details. One is £27 and the other is £65

 

thanks

 

Nesh Nick

[Jaco2k]

37 minutes ago, Gyp said:

 

Ah.

 

i was looking for Superb 1.4 DSG with CZE engine, but I'm struggling to find a pumped version

 

I think they don't have pump versions for the smaller engines.

[Gerrycan]

6 hours ago, NikTheGeek said:

It's not an engine heater I'm after, its a cabin heater coz I'm nesh and only take my jacket off if it gets to 30'c. I have the car set to 27 and it never gets there!!

Not heard of the term 'nesh' before.

You would love it here in Adelaide today with a balmy 41 deg C forecast.  

[ChoonDoode]

2 hours ago, Gerrycan said:

Not heard of the term 'nesh' before.

You would love it here in Adelaide today with a balmy 41 deg C forecast.  

 

Give me cold weather (not too cold though) any day of the week, at least you can throw a jumper on. It got up to about 33'c in June and I spent most of the working day keeled over, wearing next to nothing and sweating profusely under an umbrella.

 

@NikTheGeek I can't say I've had much trouble over the past few days getting the car heated up. It's been -1'c when I've been getting in the car. I do have a heated front screen, which probably does make a difference, as I don't have to aim the blower up to keep the windscreen clear. By the time I've driven a few miles, I'm turning the heated seats and the blower off. I must have a good few layers on myself, as I also feel the cold.

 

 

[wyx087]

Cabin pre-heating is the best.  Just use a £15 fan heater, an extension cable and a timer.   You won't get this with aux-heater, you still have to sit in a cold car initially.

 

When I got in my car this morning, it was toasty warm inside. The 2kW heater is able to heat up the entire cabin. Only downside is that unplugging is a bit of hassle, having to feed the cable in to the car. My Nissan Leaf EV is much easier to unplug. All electric cars have pre-heating is built-in, this is where I got the idea initially. 

 

Taken a few months ago, first frosty morning:

[Kenai]

I can imagine a few people's insurance companies would be a bit twitchy if they knew you were slinging 230v fan heaters in your car whilst it's unattended 

[wg100]

Google Calix heaters too. They produce kits with an engine sump heater and electrics to properly wire in a fan heater into the passenger footwell. There is then a socket on the outside of the car which you plug a power cable into overnight. 

For my Scout, an engine heater, battery trickle charger and a timer kit with associated cables, it was around £500 from the UK distributor.

[SashaGrace]

Retrofit heated seats if you don’t have them? A must have in any car I’m buying. Combined with the heated screen I have minimal defrost times in the morning

[Jaco2k]

3 hours ago, SashaGrace said:

Retrofit heated seats if you don’t have them? A must have in any car I’m buying. Combined with the heated screen I have minimal defrost times in the morning

 

Bit off-topic, but...

....is it possible to retrofit a heated screen? I will replace my windscreen for the second time in 1 year of car ownership (it cracked again - the joys of gravel and studded tires) and I was wondering how complicated it would be to get an heated version and what would be needed to make it work.

[ChoonDoode]

54 minutes ago, Jaco2k said:

 

Bit off-topic, but...

....is it possible to retrofit a heated screen? I will replace my windscreen for the second time in 1 year of car ownership (it cracked again - the joys of gravel and studded tires) and I was wondering how complicated it would be to get an heated version and what would be needed to make it work.

 

Wouldn't a lot of the loom already be in place? I'd have thought it would have been a case of plugging a new switch on the heater controls, adding a fuse potentially and the appropriate screen.

 

When I added a rear wiper on my fiesta, all the loom was there. It was just a case of plugging in a 2 way pump with appropriate tubing, the wiper with motor and the stalks with the rear wiper 'bit' on. No running wires or messing with the fusebox.