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battery powered heater for a car
[Deleted User]
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does anybody know of a good battery powered heater that you could leave running in your car for 10/15 mins to help defrost the windscreen without having to run the car for ages to get enough heat from the engine?
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However, I only used it once I had started the engine, to avoid any risk of flattening the battery.
150 watts = 150/12 Amps, ie =12.5 amps. At 15 minutes, uses around 3 amp-hours, which shouldn't be a problem for a car battery, but I don't think I'd want to risk it in winter.
Also, I've read warnings about the risk of hot air cracking a cold screen. Again I don't know if it is true. To avoid that risk I used my makeshift fan heater along with the cars ventilation to minimise any shock of hot air - once mixed it was just slightly warm.
Edit. Just to add. This makeshift solution gave very quick results. But I don't know if it was safe or if I was just lucky that I didn't crack the screen.
http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/in-car-ceramic-heatercooler-a75fl
Then please don't bother wasting your money. They are useless!
You're much better off with a decent windscreen scraper and a can of deicer, believe me.
My last car was far inferior for many things, but at least I could manage the damn heat controls!
But filled with WARM water, not hot!
on the dash board. not the windscreen. seems like quite a good idea to me.
what causes cracks is one part or side of the glass heating and expanding too quickly.
hot water is a bitch for this because the thermal contact is so high. like if you point your hand in boiling water it would hurt. but if you put your hand in a 100°C oven you would have minutes before it became uncomfortable.
so it's not the heat but the speed of change. i think you would struggle to crack a windscreen with a hairdryer even if you threw it. i would have no qualms about turning the hairdryer on my windscreen so long as it was from a couple of feet away. the heating should be sufficiently slow that as the surface heats it is able to dissipate through.
The 12v Car heaters are useless.
I did occasionally use a sump heater for while.
You can get diesel heaters for cars. (with timer!).
Do you find it easy to vent the vehicle of smoke?
I appreciate that this isn't the answer you are looking for, but 'good' ones don't exist. They are all shit. Holding up a lit match would generate significantly more heat than anything that you could buy.
Hope this helps.
Yes, i have a flue through the roof. Looks quite snazzy.
Was just about to post the same thing.
Dunno what it's rated at but it's got a 15 amp fuse so the most it can be rated at is 12v x 15a = 180 watts.
When you consider that your average household portable fan is at least 2000 watts, it gives you an idea of how pokey these things are.
The hot water bottle sounds like a much better idea, if a bit of ice-scraping is really out of the question.
Streetwize Silver Car Top Cover - Medium. (£14.99 Argos)
Halfords All Weather Windscreen Shield (£9.99 Halfords)
i have a garage.
i guess they are more expensive. but you can use them for other stuff. so it's swings and roundabouts.
Oh. Can you get your car in there as well?
brilliant.simple and cheap,i've just ordered one from amazon,only 2 quid.