Anybody had any experience with these plug in car heaters I have seen advertised. Are they any good? I have seen various styles/models. They seem to be 150w/200w how long would it likely to take to drain the battery flat using one of these things, on a medium sized battery.
Car Heaters - plug in ones
Nov 07, 2003
6 Replies
Well 200W gives you about 16 amps current draw (200/12). Given a 80a/h battery about 5hrs in theory. Probably a good deal less in practice. Never tried one though.
You can hardly feel the heat they give out ! They are useful when the heater fan packs up because they can help with demisting.
In the winter I put a small fan heater in my wifes car for half an hour before she leaves, but obviously that is mains and two kilowatt !!
Lorries use a little diesel powered furnace to keep warm overnight.
MrCheerful
MrCheerful
My mothering law uses a hot water bottle to keep warm at night.
I had one last year, bought on-line after my heater matrix was discovered to be by-passed, but it looked the same as the ones advertised in a newspaper. I wouldnt bother the heat output is a joke, i think a travel hair dryer would give out more heat Also the plug gets very very hot and melted the connections inside the plug, which then blew-up the cigarett lighter in the car.
PA
A decent car heater will be roughly the equivalent of 5000 watts or more at full output.
150-200 watts would be a total waste of time. Try running an extension lead out to the car and using a 150 watt light bulb - most of its output is heat. And a stationary car will have much less heat loss than one which is moving.
Crap,bought one and it worked for three weeks before the thin filiment burnt through.Bought it away from home to far away to return it for the price.Took it apart to resolder it[I'm an electronic engineer] and was suprised how cheap and flimsy it was inside.Don't touch them.
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