Hot water, scraper or de-icer?

Jenni_D

Grumpy_chap said:

Idiot_Savant said:

sheslookinhot said:

Have those leaving the car with the engine running for 10-20 minutes considered that they are polluting the atmosphere?

I wonder how many people will be willing to do that with an all electric car, and risk using up precious battery charge. It remains to be seen.

I understand that several EV models have a feature to set the car to heat / defrost while still plugged into the mains, so achieving the comfort advantage without sacrificing range.

The Volvo PHEV I have on order (company car) has that feature.

born_again

Idiot_Savant said:

sheslookinhot said:

Have those leaving the car with the engine running for 10-20 minutes considered that they are polluting the atmosphere?

I wonder how many people will be willing to do that with an all electric car, and risk using up precious battery charge. It remains to be seen.

Also EV have heaters that pump out heat from turning on. Not having to wait till the engine heats the coolant enough to produce some form of heat in the car.

Ditzy_Mitzy

Start engine, turn on heated windscreen and wait.  My drive is somewhat sheltered too, which seems to mitigate frost forming in the first place.  

Grumpy_chap

The best thing is to rely upon the Chauffeur to deal with these kinds of matters, or the Butler in the event that the Chauffer is not working. 

coffeehound

facade said:

I roll out the extension lead and plug in a fanheater inside the car before breakfast. That defrosts all the windows and warms the interior nicely by the time I'm ready to go.

I used to do this too.  An extra advantage is that since it warms the whole interior, it thaws frozen door seals and locks as well

Grumpy_chap

coffeehound said:

facade said:

I roll out the extension lead and plug in a fanheater inside the car before breakfast. That defrosts all the windows and warms the interior nicely by the time I'm ready to go.

I used to do this too.  An extra advantage is that since it warms the whole interior, it thaws frozen door seals and locks as well

How do you get the fan heater in the car if the door seals and locks are frozen?

facade

Grumpy_chap said:

coffeehound said:

facade said:

I roll out the extension lead and plug in a fanheater inside the car before breakfast. That defrosts all the windows and warms the interior nicely by the time I'm ready to go.

I used to do this too.  An extra advantage is that since it warms the whole interior, it thaws frozen door seals and locks as well

How do you get the fan heater in the car if the door seals and locks are frozen?

You could leave the plug dangling out, but it would get wet.

I've had remote locking for ages so no need to worry about frozen locks, just the oh so cautious gentle prizing open of the door by pulling the edge/frame NEVER the handle- modern plastic rubbish just breaks in your hand. I  spray silicon on the door rubber every now and again though in the hope it wont stick when frozen.

I do remember using a chef's blowtorch to gently warm the lock barrel on the Landrover though

Idiot_Savant

Grumpy_chap said:

The best thing is to rely upon the Chauffeur to deal with these kinds of matters, or the Butler in the event that the Chauffer is not working. 

I'd be changing him for a new one if he's not working.

coffeehound

Grumpy_chap said:

How do you get the fan heater in the car if the door seals and locks are frozen?

Ha, fair point.  I used to set it up the night before when living out in the sticks, with tape over the cracked-open window, but yes in the urban environment you do need to open up a door to set it up in the morning.  Did briefly consider mounting a bulkhead electrical connector to enable mains to be connected without needing to open the car but didn't go that far.

I prefer the idea of dry heat over splashing water around that can end up re-freezing and causing more problems.  Plus it doesn't upset the neighbours.  Glycerin is another good thing to prevent door seals sticking, btw.

Ditzy_Mitzy

facade said:

Grumpy_chap said:

coffeehound said:

facade said:

I roll out the extension lead and plug in a fanheater inside the car before breakfast. That defrosts all the windows and warms the interior nicely by the time I'm ready to go.

I used to do this too.  An extra advantage is that since it warms the whole interior, it thaws frozen door seals and locks as well

How do you get the fan heater in the car if the door seals and locks are frozen?

You could leave the plug dangling out, but it would get wet.

I've had remote locking for ages so no need to worry about frozen locks, just the oh so cautious gentle prizing open of the door by pulling the edge/frame NEVER the handle- modern plastic rubbish just breaks in your hand. I  spray silicon on the door rubber every now and again though in the hope it wont stick when frozen.

I do remember using a chef's blowtorch to gently warm the lock barrel on the Landrover though

Your account brought back horrible memories of owning a pillarless hardtop coupe during a very hard winter.  The car had a stupid feature built in whereby the side window would automatically retract by about 3/4" when the door handle was pulled and go up again when the door was closed.  The window glass, of course, would freeze onto the seal in cold weather, meaning the window wouldn't retract.  The door could still be pulled open, but doing so forced the glass out of its top channel, then it would retract and have trouble closing again.  I grew to hate the thing!  The only redeeming feature of the pillarless doors was that they looked flash when opened with the windows down.  That really was it!