Re: block heaters, A4

[raf40@oes.amdahl.com (Richard Funnell)]

I haven't had the need for quite some time, but it used to be possible to
buy heaters designed to mount inside a car.  I used such heaters for many
years.  On even the coldest days, having the timer bring it on for an hour
or so in the morning made the interior much nicer, and melting the ice off
the windows was a bonus as well.  The units I used mounted under the seat,
if I recall correctly.

>The trick is to get a small ceramic heater(120VAC or whatever), and attach
>its' bottom to a large board about the size of the seat or whatver else
>you're going to put it on.  Run an outdoor(yellow/orange, 3 prong, of
>course, NO LAMPCORDS :) from your house/garage/whatever to the car, and
>each time you get home, set up the heater and plug it in.
>However, DO NOT use the heater to heat the inside of the car to ANYTHING
>even CLOSE to 60-70 deg F.  This would require the heater to be on a lot
>and increase the risk of fire.  You'll need an outdoor thermometer or
>something similar to keep an eye on the temperature inside the car.  I
>believe that most people set up the heater to keep the inside at 40 deg or
>so, maybe lower, just to take the chill out of the interior.  I think that
>you're supposed to use a "low" heat setting so as to not blast anything
>with sudden super-hot air(ie leather on steering wheel, cloth interior,
>etc. and cause damage/fire.  Make sure there isn't anything flammable in
>the car(or course) and you may want to program a position for the driver's
>seat with the seat all the way back.  Aim the heater towards the front of
>the car, not towards the back of the seat(or course)

Richard Funnell,
San Jose, California
'83 urQ
'87 560 SL