Has any one here put an electric heater that plugs into the cigarette lighter in the VW?

I am looking at putting one in the beetle, save a bit of money on original type heaters.

How did you go with putting them in and is there any advice that you would give to me on installing it.

I think this might have been raised before, like a 12v hairdryer plugged into the system. And i think the consensus was that it used too much electricity for the generator to handle. Not sure though, maybe someone could clarify.

The original type heater wouldnt be that expensive, it would be relatively cheap to source some good used heater boxes, and all the piping and ducting is cheap cheap cheap. It works pretty well too

I have never seen a 12 volt hair dryer, but they would probably use too much power for a generator... but what about an Alternator??
I know normal household hair dryers use about the same amount of power as a small electric heater... so they do chew the electricity...

Also, finding heater boxes in good condition is getting harder all the time... as they are now getting very old.. unless You can find some that have been replaced...

PS.. I will be fitting heater boxes to My beetle shortly.. it was -2C degrees in Scone this Morning... and heater boxes are a necessity with temps like that.... otherwise I would stay in a nice warm bed.... until summer

thanks guys.

if no one else can shed some light i might have a chat to an auto sparky.

if that fails then its heater boxes for me.
dam, that would mean new exhaust too.

Its the old story. Its always the same Lee

P = V x I

So if you have a 55 amp alternator
55 x 12 = 660 watts

That is the MAX you can get out of it before you start drawing out of the battery.

So now deduct
head lights
spark
indicators
control circuit
wipers
indicators

you get the idea.

If you think a 120 Watt heater will keeep you warm...........

Just buy a blanket

hahaha

cheers barry.

think it is the heater boxes/blanket for me.

thanks for the help.

Ever heard of a eberspacher heater. They are a fuel based heater that uses a heat exchanger and fan for instant heating. They are used in germany all the time on VW's, and actually burn normal petrol from your tank. They seem pretty efficent too.

Finding one in austraila might be a bit more difficult though.

Cheers,

cheers iswinkels

i think that i will have to settle with a blanket.

never had this problem living on the sunshine coast.

dam army had to ship me to antartica (nowra really), but hey i am a queenslander and if it aint sunny i'm freezing.

Those eberspacher things are spose to be pretty good.

Pretty pricey though.
Still not sure about having a burning fuel supply in the car with me though. I mean you are not allowed to have a gas bottle in the car with you.

Bundy is pretty cheap.
You could buy a REAL nice hip flask and...........

hahahah

my driving is pretty dodgy as is barry.

No need to test the theory.

Put a 12v heater from jaycar at wooloongabba, into my twin cab last year. It works but pretty p_ss poor, but what do you expect for around $39. you would be better with the heater boxes

Those eberspacher heaters would NOW be expensive with fuel Over the $1 per Litre mark....

What about a 12 volt electric blanket or 12 volt electric slippers????

cut a hole in ya roof and then line the inside of your car with foil.........hey hey, up there for thinkin', down there for dancin'.

[Edited on 1-6-2004 by robnjo]

Electricity is funny stuff....
Have a look at this....
You can calculate most electrical things from this...

51 ampere alternator x 13.8 volts = 703.8 watts

or 703.8 watts
----------------- = 51 amperes
13.8 Volts

Check this out:

Just in case someone needed a chart like that

Lee

sorry to highjack your post but im intested in the costs to replce all the heater components as i have none and it gets a bit cold in adelaide in winter.
Cheers
Danielle

another thing that seems rarely mentioned, electricity in a car is not free,,
you will notice, especially in reasonably standard low powered dubs, that when you put the headlights on, the revs at idle drop slightly, this is the extra drag from the alternator or generator supplying the current, & the wattage to the lights is only approx 120W or so, from this you can imagine the power loss / fuel economy loss from using a 12v heater at 150W especially at night! As long as you accept this proviso, the 12v heaters are not too bad

u could score heaterboxes that are good maybe $100-200, Ducting from shroud to heaterboxes, boxes to chassis (as long as your channels aren't rusted out :thumb ) about an extra $50 used. All up you could get if for cheap or free if u scrounge around.

This is assuming your exhaust is tight - otherwise you might find the heater a bit dizzying . If not, budget in some exhaust gaskets and some exhaust donuts. These are cheap items.

I bought an eperspacher at the nats from the swap meet. It was factory fitted to a type 4. I havent had time to play around with it yet, it is missing the fuel pump and timer/switch. it has two fresh air inlets two heated air outlets and an exhaust out let I will post a pic next day or so !

just put in a Subaru Engine and have all the heat you want for free

You can buy used heater boxes from the wreckers from $50.00 each..... good ones are getting hard to get...
New Ones are expensive... approx $160-$200 each....
You could just get the drivers side done... it IS the most important side...

Its most important to have the heater system air tight [when installed] to keep the air circulating over the engine and keeping it cool....

Best of Luck
Lee