Ceramic heaters

[wuvvum]

Does anyone have any experience of these (the type that plugs into your lighter socket)? I've got one which I bought off t'Bay, and it's pants - I've put it in the Espace, but it's a bit of a distance away ('cos the bit of the dash near the driver is all cloth so it won't stick) and I can't feel it at all. Have I just bought a duff one, or are they crap by nature? I don't want to go out and buy another one if it's not going to be any better.

[retrogeezer]

Bought something like that for my sister in law a few years ago when the heater packed up on her clio and yes, it was shit.

[dollywobbler]

Another vote for absolutely shit waste of space.

[Father Ted]

Yes I bought one when I discovered the AX had a bypassed heater matrix.

Utter utter shit. Not a wiff of warm air at all.

 

For a couple of months I ran one of these :-

 

in the passenger footwell - turned it on 10 mins before I set out and it totally defrosted the car, then just kept the passenger window open a crack during driving to stop the carbon monoxide poisoning!

Poundland refils kept it going.

 

Put a new matrix in in the spring (when I could be arsed with the faff)

[FredTransit]

Damn I was just gonna post that for a joke!

[warren t claim]

Probably best not to carry any spare petrol with you then Ted!

[r.welfare]

Forte cooling system sealer did the job on my 405's matrix (which I suspect went as a result of the head gasket going pop before I bought it). Put it in about a year ago, prior to that it was making the carpets plenty damp in the footwells and dropping the coolant down by 2 litres every 1,000 miles or so. A year on and 12k miles on, it hasn't leaked at all.Might be worth a punt to stop you having to strip the dash - mind you, I don't know where Renault site the heater blower on the Espace.

[Timewaster]

Another call for the ceramic heaters being utter shit.Back in the day when I sold tat like that - having had half a dozen angry customers come back and throw the afore mentioned heater at me, I took to warning people what they were like before they parted with their £12.99I'd ask them to hold their hand infront of their mouth and "Hurrrr!" as if about to polish a mirror."Thats about what you can expect from the heater" I'd tell them, and I was amazed how many people still bought them.Strangely, most of them seemed to drive series Landrovers!Regarding the parafin heater, I remember Fatha T telling me about a colleague who rigged one up in his work van and would light it first thing in the morning and go inside for breakfast.Sure enough, one morning his toast wasn't the only thing burnt to a crisp!He let it burn out before trying to retrieve the remains of the heater from the smouldering wreck before makeing an interesting phone call to his boss.

[Tayne]

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[Station]

Just put a pipe from the exhaust into the cabin. Nice, toasty warm air for your drive to work!

[Spiny Norman]

Isn't it just a case of simple physics decreeing that any electrically powered heater will be shite if all its got to draw on is a 12v car battery?

[Mike D]

Isn't it just a case of simple physics decreeing that any electrically powered heater will be shite if all its got to draw on is a 12v car battery?

It would depend entirely upon the current draw

[wuvvum]

Well it's certainly drawing some current - when I unplugged it from the lighter, the metal pins on the plug were too hot to touch. To be fair to it, it's managed to keep the windscreen from icing up, but it certainly hasn't done much to heat up the rest of the car.

[Rocket88]

I don't know if it would work, but would a 12v to 240v inverter allow you to use a domestic blow heater?

[wuvvum]

It might do, but it'd have to be a heckuva inverter - those blower heaters draw at least 1,000 watts, and most of the fag-lighter-type inverters are 150W max. An inverter capable of handling 1,000 watts at 240v would need wiring directly into the battery, and even then I don't know if the alternator would keep up.

[dieselnutjob]

would it be dangerous to run a mains cable into the car and run a mains fan heater in there for 10 minutes before driving off?

[Richard]

My trick of a hot water bottle on top of the dashboard might help a bit in the short term. Once the screen has cleared a bit you can put it on your knee.To produce 1000w from a car battery you would need about 80A assuming the inverter was 100% efficient, which it wouldn't be, so you're right in thinking that idea is a non-starter- as your car would be soon after.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Just put a pipe from the exhaust into the cabin. Nice, toasty warm air for your drive to work!

This just caused me to LOL like a twat, even to the extent of making my eyes water.

 

As for Wuvz' espace, if you whip the back seats out there must be enough room for one of these bad boys:

 

 

Have to turn the radio up a bit like I suppose. Plus if it faces backwards it might give a bit of additional thrust and reduce fuel consumption, or something. Obv you'd have to open the hatchback as well, so best to put a warm coat on.