Bought car with heated windscreen, doesn't have one

AdrianC

Where's the heat for that coming from, lukewarmwaterweasel? The coolant certainly won't have enough that quickly.

Gloomendoom

AdrianC wrote: »

Where's the heat for that coming from, lukewarmwaterweasel? The coolant certainly won't have enough that quickly.

My car has a 1kw electric heating element built into the heater for instant heat. It still doesn't clear a screen as fast as embedded heating elements though.

Iceweasel

AdrianC wrote: »

Where's the heat for that coming from, lukewarmwaterweasel? The coolant certainly won't have enough that quickly.

I am reliably informed that I have:

"an electric (PTC) heating element in the HVAC system. It's the way diesel motors can get some cabin heat quite quickly."

takman

facade wrote: »

I've done that for years too

Even suggested it on here before now, 15p worth of electric is a lot more MSE than running the engine for 10 minutes, or crashing the thing because you can't see.

However, I'd love a heated front screen to stop it misting up in the rain, and for when it is frozen up at work. As mentioned before, you really do wonder why only Ford think you'd want something so genuinely useful, the other manufacturers still fit expensive useless gimmicks like coloured dashboards, alloy wheels and extra foglights instead.

Actually I've just worked it out and one of my car uses 0.2 gallons an hour at tick over which works out at 14.67p of fuel for 10 minutes. It doesn't have heating elements in the front screen but it does have a quick clear button and that will easily clear all windows in less than 10 minutes.
The climate control system also means that the windscreen never mists up when driving under any conditions as the A/C is always on.

But from a MSE perspective let's say that it costs 20p of fuel to clear the car windscreen. If the fan heater cost £15 to buy then you would need to do it everyday for 8 years (saving 5p everyday) before your in profit and saving money. So I don't think it's a particularly good from a money saving perspective.

Gloomendoom

takman wrote: »

Actually I've just worked it out and one of my car uses 0.2 gallons an hour at tick over which works out at 14.67p of fuel for 10 minutes.

How much fuel does it use in the 10 minutes after just being started in sub zero temperatures? Just because it doesn’t (presumably) have a manual choke knob, doesn’t mean extra fuel isn’t pumped into it until it is up to normal operating temperature.

takman wrote: »

But from a MSE perspective let's say that it costs 20p of fuel to clear the car windscreen. If the fan heater cost £15 to buy then you would need to do it everyday for 8 years (saving 5p everyday) before your in profit and saving money. So I don't think it's a particularly good from a money saving perspective.

But if you are on an Economy 7 tarrif and already own a fan heater that is also used for other purposes apart from heating your car, does it then become much more attractive from a money saving perspective?

From an environmental perspective, it’s a no brainier.

Nebulous2

Ganga wrote: »

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Can also crack the glass,screen de-icer is safer.

I've been using a kettle of hot (not boiling water) to do that for over 30 years without ever cracking the glass. The only issue I have is I sometimes get a row for leaving the kettle inside the front door instead of returning it to the kitchen.

takman

Gloomendoom wrote: »

How much fuel does it use in the 10 minutes after just being started in sub zero temperatures? Just because it doesn’t (presumably) have a manual choke knob, doesn’t mean extra fuel isn’t pumped into it until it is up to normal operating temperature.

That 0.2 gallons an hour is taken directly from the display in my car. After it is warm it will read 0.1 gallons an hour.

Gloomendoom wrote: »

But if you are on an Economy 7 tarrif and already own a fan heater that is also used for other purposes apart from heating your car, does it then become much more attractive from a money saving perspective?

From an environmental perspective, it’s a no brainier.

Yes I agree their is an environmental benefit. Also in those circumstances you will save money but it's still only going to be very small amounts considering you only need to do it when it's really cold. It's definetly not something that would be any good for the majority of people.

If you really wanted to save money and the environment you could use a scraper and cloth on every window.

firefox1956

I just chuck an old sheet over the windscreen & tuck it into each of the front doors then close them............
Works.

debtdebt

It's in the winter that I always miss my Range Rover with the Webasto fuel burning fuel heater. Either timer or remote controlled. You could turn it on to pre heat the cabin and engine before you even got into the car. That coupled with heated seats/steering wheel and winter tyre made you feel unstoppable in the cold.

marfy

takman wrote: »

Are you sure you should be driving a car at all?. Your not a very confident driver, you can't drive a car controls in a different place and you can't park the car a different way.

I started driving lessons at the age of 40, passed both tests first time and have been driving safely for 10 years. The reason I'm not very confident is due to some other drivers being quite arrogant and drive very badly. I am used to driving a Corsa and drive fine as usually it's only town driving. I'm not a confident person in general and I like what I know.

As for parking the car, we have a shared driveway with out neighbor (our houses are side by side) and our driveway is an L shape with a hedgerow around it. To park my car the other way would mean doing a reverse turn in the road then reversing all the way back, maneouvering around my husband's car then reversing to the front door. So kindly don't judge until you know the facts.