Anyone have something rigged up to pre heat/defrost their MR?

[N9THX]

I'm considering getting an 800w Quartz mains heater for £9.99 on Amazon to put between the seats during the night on a timer. With a wire running to the mains and timer in the garden shed.

At 5.00am an electronic timer (about £5) in the shed will turn it on for 20mins before i need the car, hopefully i'll have a warm car and a defrosted screen by 5.20am when i need to go to work.

Can't really leave the car running as two four inch tailpipes will wake the neighbours and some scrote would probably nick the car, not to mention the fuel wasted sat idling.

Anyone have any better ideas? De-Icer is ok for the outside but i'm getting ice inside and out.

[Phill P]

Thought about getting one of these years ago. Kenlowe hotstart

http://www.kenlowe.com/pre-heaters/cars/index.html

[RST]

If you're going the route of running a cable...

I used to sit a small dehumidifier (mine was about £100, 5 years ago) in the car and leave it running for a few hours every now and again. It tended to dry the insides out and the small dessicant dryers also heat up the air in the process. Tended to stop moisure build-up in the first place so frost on the inside of the windscreen was less of an issue. Getting rid of the trapped moisture in the first place seemed to work better for me. Otherwise I just scrape the windows and clear all the snow off the car then start the engine when I clear the windows proper.

Might be worth looking at -you can use the dehumidifier for loads of things (dries washing excellently indoors).

[g.lewarne]

800w inside a car? hmmm sounds risky to me!


a small oil filled radiator heater would be much much safer!

[jasongtr]

wont help the temp but surely a cover or at least a shower cap cover would stop the ice and alloy you to drive off straight away, then you dont have any electricity usage, or the risk of something dodgy happening with an unattended mains heater in your car

[John145]

Fitted single bed sheet works a treat for me! Leather gloves make life easier as well, fingers don't free when taking the sheet off.

[N9THX]

As far as unattended goes, most heaters have a tip switch on the base that'll kill the power if it falls. Besides, i'd velcro or secure it to a place away from being in close proximity to any surface.

I've tried the sheet over the car the past few nights, it works fine until i take the cover off, 2 mins driving and the screen is frozen solid, i need to get the screen heated really so this can't happen so easy.

[cosmos]

800w sounds like it will cost in electricity and melt any nearby plastic. Am liking the small oil filled radiator suggestion wonder how small and how much these are.

[N9THX]

It's 800w but can run at 400w too. Should be ok sat on the centre tunnel behind the handbrake pointed at the screen.

[g.lewarne]

how about covering the car in an electric blanket? much much safer and will also keep the inside warm!

uses less juice too and any fire risks are on the outside!

[jasongtr]

what? an indoor electrical appliance used outdoors? rather him than me

[g.lewarne]

yep, my bad, thought it was in a garage. scratch that!

how about a small fan heater, and at the mains plug still use a timer so it only runs for 20 minutes before you are due to leave?


still think a quartz heater not a good idea

[alanmr2turbo]

or you could try stop being a wuss

[loudandproud205]

i was looking for heated front screens at one point as there was a big group buy but i never found the mr2 turbo listed

[cogboy]

I used to have a '76 Pontiac Trans Am with T-tops that got a bit 'moist' inside during the winter months. I ran a cable out to it and put a fan heater on the parcel shelf, aimed at the windscreen. Dried the car out nicely, defrosted the windows and never set it on fire even once. Didn't have a timer, just switched it on when my alarm clock went off. Job jobbed. Do it.

[Razor04]

well these T-bar owners lose out all ways
rainwater dripping in, ice inside and out
and a weaker bodyshell


tintop ftw

[N9THX]

You wait until our one week of summer, then we'll be laughing!

[pbmr2]

in the mountains in france many people use sump/block preheaters that run from the mains.
they are water proof so it doesn't matter if it rains etc.

the idea is they run on a thermo' to prevent the coolant from freezing overnight, then ramp up the heat at a preset time so it's warmer for driving.
turn the key and the coolant in the block is already at most of the normal running temp. clears the screen in seconds.

however there is a huge cooling system on the mr2 so you'd be pumping a large amount of freezing cold coolant into a warm engine on startup.

spose it depends on where you live and what the local winter temps are like. in the mountains it doesnt get above freezing for 3+ months solid. with -30 or more over night.

[RST]

Late thought, you could try this style of heater...

http://www.gil-lec.co.uk/products/Heati ... 3304178612



....you probably won't need much to keep the frost out in a small cabin. I keep on meaning to get a couple of these for the house as I'm electric storage heating but work away from home during the week, I'd rather leave a couple of these on while I'm away.

[Steve Horrocks]

New shape golfs come wih anoption to have a plug on the front of thwe car to plug it in a night to get engine up to temp (ish) ready for a cold morning set off.