Hi folks,

 

firstly wanted to to say how helpful on here people have been so far - much appreciated

 

So a quick question as I’m struggling to find a clear answer ...

 

My wife would love to be able to pre-heat the car on very chilly mornings (she’s someone who really feels the cold) - and I understand on the continent the Superb has an auxiliary heating option through the app that’s disabled in the UK.

 

What I’m not clear about is if you can get the heater fitted and the app enabled somehow in the UK.  Can anyone help by letting me know what we need to fit - and even better recommending who might fit them (we’re south coast / Bournemouth)?

 

Or at least put us out of our misery and let us know it’s not possible?

 

Cheers

You can certainly get the heater fitted after purchase, though I doubt you’ll be able to get it activated on the ŠKODA apps.

At least one manufacturer, Webasto, does have an app for their system, of course not integrated in the ŠKODA apps.

There’s been some discussion in the Octy3 section recently: 

 

 

Essentially I think the upshot is it’s quite an expensive retrofit. But I also think someone on that thread mentioned somewhere in the southwest doing it - Plymouth maybe?

Someone posted the following company on HJ's website the other day:

https://www.defa.com/electrical-preheating/

I obviously cannot recommend them as I've never used them. Perhaps our Scandinavian members can help?

Had Defa in several of my cars and they are very good.

 

You can get just the interior heater or complete systems with engine heaters, battery chargers, app control etc.

 

Much cheaper that Webasto but not as powerful. 

That’s very helpful - thanks everyone :)

 

will look at the options - though our budget can’t stretch to something around £1k - so interested to find out if the Defa solution is cost effective.

 

Cheers

A few years ago my father had a Kenlow Hotstart.  DIY fitted and warmed both the engine and interior, not sure if they are still available.

 

Only works where you can plug in  . . . . . Charging stations?

Thanks - I’ll take a look

 

Understood that will need to plug in - though luckily we will keep the car on the drive.

 

Made me think that this will probably be a standard feature though on the PHEV due later this year as it’ll have a big battery on board!  Maybe I keep things simple and wait to upgrade to that in a few years ... the car we’ve already will have heated seats and steering wheel to help

 

Thanks for all the suggestions folks, much appreciated!

One thing to consider is how much you actually will use the preheat function. It also doesn't get that cold very often in the UK. If you have electric seats and wheel, a min, at most 3 mins is enough to warm them nicely. Say a couple hundred quid or a grand will pay for many many minutes of idling. If yours is a petrol, the modern engines warm up really quickly anyway with integrated and water cooled exhaust manifold. 

 

I give that there is an advantage to reduced engine wear (whether it makes a difference to longevity overall is debatable ) and helps battery lasts longer if you include a battery conditioner. If you only plan on keeping the car a few years, even say 5 years, financially it probably doesn't work out. 

It was discussed here a while ago:

 

Seems like it was going to cost around £2000 to retrofit the webasto.

 

If you can run an electrical cable to the car you could look into something like this:

https://www.calix.se/en/products/cab-heaters

 

Edited 27 February, 20197 yr by ewlmr