“A little fire, the middle of the road, a little fire can save you ...” - a line from the song “Picnic” would have been especially relevant a couple of decades ago: an open flame of a blowtorch in the absence of civilization was considered, perhaps, the only way to defrost oil thickened in a pan or diesel fuel turned into jelly in fuel tank. We'll talk about more civilized means.
ENGINE HEATERS
There are both autonomous and engine-dependent systems. Their main task is either to warm up the engine as quickly as possible before it starts, or to maintain the desired temperature Range in the process of its operation (modern diesel engines with high efficiency and low heat output). By warming up the cooling circuit of the motor, some systems can also heat the interior. And the usefulness of such a device cannot be compared with the traditional "auto start": during a cold start, the engine experiences a serious additional load, which increases the wear of its parts, fuel consumption, battery charge consumption and emission exhaust gases. Engine heaters include four types of such systems.
Heaters are very versatile, as they are able to autonomously warm up both the engine and the passenger compartment.
STANDARD HEATERS
If the Webasto system is mentioned in the car manual, this does not mean at all that this system is autonomous. Often in standard equipment you can find engine heaters that can only work when the engine is running. These devices are primarily intended for accelerated warm-up and maintaining the engine temperature within the operating range. Regular heaters are often equipped with cars with diesel units that do not warm up well in cold weather. Some services sometimes take on the conversion of a regular Webasto heater into a starting preheater.
STANDALONE DEVICES
Systems evolve: for example, the Thermo range Top Evo became more efficient, more reliable and more compact
Among all types of heating systems most widespread in Russia received autonomous liquid heaters. It is thanks to such systems that the name "Webasto" has firmly entered our everyday life and has long become a household name. Similar devices for this moment are the most versatile among analogues. Their main advantage is the possibility of simultaneous heating and power plant, and the car interior without starting the engine. The principle of operation is quite simple: the heater is installed in engine compartment and runs on fuel from the tank, pumping coolant with its own pump through the cooling system, including the radiator of the heating system. The burner, warming up the combustion chamber, warms up the antifreeze passing through the circuit, thereby warming up the engine. After reaching a certain temperature, the fan of the standard “stove” is turned on, as a result of which warm air. In cases with diesel units, in order to avoid “gelling” of diesel fuel, heaters powered by gasoline are often used, for which an additional tank is installed. The efficiency of the heater is obvious: for example, for an average operation cycle of 20 minutes, the heater Thermo top Evo 4 provides the best possible warm-up of the engine and significantly increases the temperature in the passenger compartment, consuming only 0.17 liters of fuel! Controlled system different ways: using a timer, key fob or phone. Another highlight of the device is its role as an engine heater, which allows you to maintain the optimum operating temperature of the engine, thereby increasing the efficiency of the interior heating system.
The fuel mixture, igniting, heats the antifreeze circulating in the circuit
ELECTRIC PREHEATERS
These devices include all types of heaters that are powered by a 220 V network. The design of the most simple systems more like a boiler built into the engine cooling circuit. Moreover, the presence additional pump not necessary: a heating element, installed at the lowest point of the system, allows the heated liquid to circulate up the cooling jacket, while the colder one goes down. There are also more complex systems consisting of a whole range of devices: modern heaters allow you to effectively heat the engine and the interior of the car at the same time, while recharging a dead battery.
Such heaters are especially popular in the Scandinavian countries, but in Russia they are still rare: this is primarily due to the inaccessibility of the household network in city parking lots.
Webasto can be controlled from the car interior, from a key fob or using an application on a smartphone
BATTERY HEATERS
This type of heater is even rarer, but definitely worth looking into. The design is very interesting: a special "thermos" is built into the cooling system, the volume of which is comparable to the volume of a car's coolant. During engine operation, a built-in pump pumps into it hot antifreeze, which retains its warmth for two to three days.
Thus, before starting the engine, the prepared antifreeze replaces the already cooled liquid and heats the entire system. Such heaters are simple and reliable in maintenance, but inefficient when the car is used rarely.
INTERIOR HEATERS
These systems can be divided into autonomous and auxiliary. The former can be used both independently and in a place with a standard heating system, the latter can provide effective interior heating only when the engine is running.
Heaters in the shortest possible time warm up the cabin space without any help from the engine
The design of the stove is simple: the “burner” burns fuel mixture and distributes heat throughout the cabin with a fan
AUTONOMOUS HEATERS
Spending the night in a car with a running engine is extremely unsafe (high risk of carbon monoxide poisoning) and ineffective, especially in the case of diesel engines. This is partly why they became popular. autonomous heaters. As the name suggests, the main task of such systems is to provide fully autonomous heating of the car interior, which can be done both in advance, before starting the engine, and while driving or parking. Such heaters are most often used by either truckers or travelers, making it easy to stay in transport for a long time, while saving fuel and battery power. For example, heater Webasto Air Top 2000 ST, designed to heat the interiors of minivans and minibuses, consumes from 0.12 to 0.24 liters of fuel per hour, while consuming 14-29 W of electricity. During the night, such a heater can use up from 1 to 2 liters of fuel (3-liter diesel engine during this time it will “burn” 9–10 liters of diesel fuel). Structurally, these systems are similar to starting preheaters: the heater can work, powered as from a standard fuel system(gasoline or diesel), and from additional tank. A fairly compact heater is usually located in the cabin, and traffic fumes are taken under the bottom of the car. The fuel supplied through the nozzle burns in the combustion chamber, the heat from which is distributed throughout the cabin with the help of an electric fan.
ADDITIONAL ANTIFREEN HEATERS
If standard stove unable to do his job in hard frost, then in this case you can resort to installing an additional liquid heater. Such a heater is a kind of understudy regular system heating: a unit consisting of a heat exchanger and a fan crashes into the car's cooling system. The circulation of antifreeze in this case can be provided either by a standard car pump or an additional one. Available for sale Various types such systems that differ in power, size and control. But such systems have nuances: the lack of an external air supply can lead to fogging, and with a slight heating of the motor, it is possible low efficiency heating (in this case, it is necessary to install an engine heater).
In addition to hatches and panoramic roofs make the interior brighter and more pleasant, they also complement the air conditioning system, improving air circulation
Webasto has become popular in our country thanks to its thermal systems. But few people know that the main specialization of Webasto Group is roof systems, which account for 80% of total sales. In 1932, the company designed the first folding car roof, which could be folded with a few movements. Since then, Webasto has developed and marketed for the first time both sunroofs, sliding sunroofs and panoramic roofs. Today Webasto leads the international market by developing and producing both traditional systems, and roofs with solar cells, as well as extremely lightweight panels for hatches made of polycarbonate.
Dear friends, winter is ahead, cold, which means that the first minutes of being in an unheated car interior become one of the most unpleasant. But this time can be reduced to a minimum, for this just use our simple advice you may be making very common mistakes.
It is good for those who have an alarm with auto start installed in the car or autonomous heater, for example, Webasto. Therefore, the easiest way not to freeze in the car is to install a webasto or autorun. If you don’t have such an opportunity, read on for our recommendations on how to warm up the car interior faster in winter.
Many drivers, immediately after starting the engine, turn on the heater fan for maximum speed. And this is the first mistake, because it's cold outside, the antifreeze is also cold, naturally, the air blows cold, albeit a little warmer than outside. But why not do this, many will ask. And the answer is simple: in the first minutes after starting, the main task is to warm up the engine as much as possible, and turning on the stove “to the full” you take away those few grains of heat that would help to do this as soon as possible. Another mistake that many people make is to direct the entire flow of heat to the windshield so that the ice crust thaws as soon as possible. Yes, the crust will indeed begin to thaw a little earlier, but the risk that the windshield may crack due to temperature changes increases greatly, so the air in the cabin needs to be warmed up evenly.
How to do it right: after starting the engine, wait a little for the engine to start warming up. After that, smoothly turn on the heater fan (first the first speed, then the second, etc.), while directing the air flow either to the glass + legs, or to all the deflectors in general (if such a possibility is provided).
By the way, climate control modern cars mobile works just like that.
In some modern cars, electric interior heaters are installed from factories. For owners of cars with this system, all of the above is not relevant (with the exception of the advice not to direct the maximum flow of hot air to the windshield).
Another tip for those who have heated seats in the car. After starting the engine, turn on the heating of all seats, even if you are driving alone or alone in the car. Heat from other seats will help warm the air in the cabin faster. Remember only one thing: the power of the generator is not unlimited, therefore, by turning on several energy consumers (especially such powerful ones as heated mirrors, rear and windshield, heated seats) you will drain your battery even on the go, so if your trips mostly run through city traffic jams and are short in duration, “save electricity”.
Here are the various heaters. Chinese made, working from the cigarette lighter, we would not recommend. Firstly, their power is still too small to somehow significantly speed up the process of warming up the car interior, and secondly, often, the quality of these devices leaves much to be desired, so there is a risk short circuit and fire.
That's all for today. Good luck to everyone on the road!
One of the most pressing issues for motorists in winter time years was and remains the question of efficient heating of the cabin. And this is not surprising, because when it is -25 degrees outside the window, and things, nevertheless, do not wait, then, willy-nilly, you want to quickly sit down in such a native and warm interior favorite car and turn on the heated seats.
Some motorists turn on the heater fan to the maximum, barely starting the engine. What they are counting on in severe frost overboard and cold antifreeze in the car's cooling system is unclear. The air, of course, will not be as icy as on the street, but it will definitely not be able to warm. Yes, and the engine will warm up more slowly, since the grains of the newly accumulated heat will be immediately spent on warming up the air in the cabin. direct the flow to windshield at top speed the fan should not work either: the ice will start to move away a few seconds earlier, but when really warm air comes out of the air ducts, the glass may not withstand and crack due to too much temperature difference inside and outside the car. To prevent this from happening, the glass should be heated not locally, but evenly, together with the air in the cabin.
It is wiser to turn off the fan altogether or leave it on. minimum speed. You can increase the speed as it warms up. Just don’t set the maximum as soon as the arrow of the temperature gauge breaks away from the lower division, and the car is still standing still or is already pushing in a traffic jam: the indicator will instantly return to its original position. And the air temperature control will not give anything: even with the knob turned to the limit in the red sector, the system will start to give out the corresponding flow only after it has warmed up properly.
On many machines with modern "cold" engines, interior heaters are used. Without them, in winter, in the sluggish urban movement, heat can not wait at all. If your car has such a system, then the warming flow from the deflectors will flow almost immediately. In this case, the procedures described in the two paragraphs above can be forgotten.
Current Auto News
The easiest way for owners of climate control. Adequately tuned system with automatic mode figure out how to act. Usually, immediately after launch, it works on low speed, then gains strength, sending slightly warmed air to the windshield, and then, after reaching comfortable temperature, opens the flow to the feet.
And in any case, it will be more efficient to start moving, allowing the car to warm up for a few minutes on idling. While driving, both the engine and the interior will warm up faster.
It's getting colder outside. And what could be worse than the first minutes in a car frozen through the night? Today we will talk about how to warm up a cold interior as quickly as possible.
Set up streams correctly
If you have modern car with a turbo engine, then you may have an interior heater. In this case, there are no problems. But in the vast majority of cars there is no such heater. At the same time, turbocharged engines generally warm up extremely slowly, so for them correct algorithm warming up the cabin is doubly important.
So, typical mistake when warming up the cabin, it consists in the fact that the drivers turn all the knobs to the maximum, switch the air flows to the windshield and turn on the recirculation. At the same time, many mistakenly think that some kind of heater will turn on, the stove and the interior will be filled with heat. Not really. In order to warm up the interior as quickly as possible, you need to act exactly the opposite, or rather, the way automatic climate control works.
Turn off the fan and let the engine run to warm up faster. Do not turn on the fan to the maximum, as soon as the arrow moved from dead center- so you just cool the engine again, and warm air will not go into the cabin. It is best to wait for the moment when the engine has already warmed up noticeably, if not to working 90-110 degrees, but at least to 60-70 degrees, and only then gradually increase the blowing speed.
If you need the windshield to thaw, we direct air flows onto the glass, and then we open the flow to the flow and into the legs. In this case, it is necessary that the air is taken in from the outside - so the air flow will be greater. It is not necessary to set the temperature to the maximum, otherwise the windshield may crack due to the temperature difference inside and outside the car.
Useful bonuses
At idle, the engine will warm up for a very long time, plus, warming up at the entrance, you seriously pollute the air in the yard (at the same time, the environmental characteristics of the engine do not matter, since the catalyst starts working only when it warms up to operating temperature around 300 degrees) where children play. In order for the engine to warm up quickly, it is best to let the car stand at idle for a couple of minutes, and then slowly start moving without raising the tachometer needle above 2000 rpm - under load, the engine will warm up much faster. This is especially true for low-volume turbocharged engines.
For maximum quick warm-up the interior, it is better to use the air recirculation mode, when air is taken from the passenger compartment, heated and re-supplied to the car. But they should not be abused. It is most effective only in the very first minutes of warming up the cabin. Then it is better to switch to the air intake from the street. Firstly, this will get rid of misted windows, and secondly, the air flow will be stronger, while with a more or less warm engine, the air temperature from the deflectors will be as high as during recirculation.
If even with the air intake mode from the street the windows sweat, you need to turn on the air conditioner. Contrary to the fears of many, the air conditioner will not break down due to the fact that it is started in the winter, but it will reduce the humidity in the cabin by driving air through the dehumidifier. Moisture in the cabin appears due to your breathing and due to water accumulated on the floor mats.
If you have a heated windshield, seats and steering wheel, then, of course, they also need to be turned on along with heated mirrors and rear window.
As for portable heaters powered by a cigarette lighter, their benefits are minimal. They cannot be compared with the heat that is given off to the cabin from the engine, so spending money on them does not make sense.
If there is an autorun
Autoplay is a useful thing. If it is, consider yourself lucky. So, if it is, and the frosts on the street are very strong (below minus 20 degrees Celsius), it is better to program the car to start every 3 hours for 10-15 minutes. This will be enough to start in the morning for sure.
If the frosts are not so strong, then it is enough to start the engine from the key fob 10 minutes before the exit. At the same time, in the evening it is better not to direct air flows onto the glass - during heavy snowfall it will melt, and then (when the engine is turned off) it will quickly freeze to the glass, and it will no longer be possible to shake it off with a brush. You don’t need to set the stove to the maximum - it’s better to either turn it off altogether so that only the engine warms up, or set the minimum speed and not the highest temperature.
