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Model specific boards => Golf mk6 => Topic started by: AdrianM on 03 November 2009, 09:16
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Not sure how many people would have this on the forum considering most of you are living in the UK which generally has very mild winters, but in Norway it gets freaking cold sometimes.
Any suggestions and recommendations?
My local dealer has an £800 offer on a Defa Warm-up system that comes with a built in engine warmer, cabin warmer, battery charger and remote with a free installation offer.
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Not sure how many people would have this on the forum considering most of you are living in the UK which generally has very mild winters, but in Norway it gets freaking cold sometimes.
Any suggestions and recommendations?
My local dealer has an £800 offer on a Defa Warm-up system that comes with a built in engine warmer, cabin warmer, battery charger and remote with a free installation offer.
I ordered it for my new car. The dealer quoted ~5000SEK which would be roughly £427. Mine does not include the battery charger and remote, just the block and cabin heater + everything that I need to plug it in over night. Overall, the price you got quoted sounds reasonable to me.
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How cold does it actually get with you guys, in winter mornings? The coldest I've noticed here in the past couple of years was -10C.
Rolfe.
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any links to these kits?? I would defo be interested :smiley:
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How cold does it actually get with you guys, in winter mornings? The coldest I've noticed here in the past couple of years was -10C.
Rolfe.
I think it got to -18 in Glasgow around 10 years ago. The river that ran through our garden had actually frozen for the first time ever!!!
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Depends where in Sweden you live. Anything between -35c to +10c in the winter. I live in the middle and temps average around -7c on a normal winter morning.
I usually plug my car in whenever the temperature drops below +10c. Let it run for a couple of hours and you have a nice warm engine and cabin.
Don´t know if you have retailers in the UK selling DEFA products but more information can be found here: http://wup.defa.com/en/wup_products_preheaters.html
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In 1985 when we built our own house in Spean Bridge the temperature during January got down to -25 our new central heating system was on its knees waving a white flag and we all spent 3 days with our clothes over our pyjamas to try and keep warm.
Even the River Spean froze for 2 weeks and that was almost unheard of.
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How cold does it actually get with you guys, in winter mornings? The coldest I've noticed here in the past couple of years was -10C.
Rolfe.
I think it got to -18 in Glasgow around 10 years ago. The river that ran through our garden had actually frozen for the first time ever!!!
Well, we're a good 750 feet above Glasgow here, and we tend to get it that bit colder. But not exactly Scandinavian cold.
It does sound as if the Scandinavians are applying the science at temperatures we'd just swear at and scrape the windscreen, though.
Rolfe.
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The UK is not very well equipped for 'extremes'.
Drivers in Russia can get to work in -25c and ten feet of snow but UK motorways grind to a halt with half a centimetre of slush!
For £427 I would deffo consider a warm car on a winter morning, though :laugh:
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I just set my Mrs alarm clock half an hour earlier and she has the car running, defrosted and roasting inside :grin:
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Not sure how many people would have this on the forum considering most of you are living in the UK which generally has very mild winters, but in Norway it gets freaking cold sometimes.
Any suggestions and recommendations?
My local dealer has an £800 offer on a Defa Warm-up system that comes with a built in engine warmer, cabin warmer, battery charger and remote with a free installation offer.
I ordered it for my new car. The dealer quoted ~5000SEK which would be roughly £427. Mine does not include the battery charger and remote, just the block and cabin heater + everything that I need to plug it in over night. Overall, the price you got quoted sounds reasonable to me.
Yes, after reading a little it seems like a good deal for the entire package including the wireless control unit. I'm a little concerned about any new holes the installers will put in the car though especially for the interior heater and the mini-plug for the charger. I've been trying to find out how long if can run off the battery if disconnected from the 230V mains supply if can run at all on that. I've mailed my dealer with the questions and see what he says - hopefully he has one fitted I can look at.
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any links to these kits?? I would defo be interested :smiley:
This is the full package http://wup.defa.com/en/wup_applications_cars.html
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How cold does it actually get with you guys, in winter mornings? The coldest I've noticed here in the past couple of years was -10C.
Rolfe.
I'm just a little SW of Oslo so not far up North but I'm near the mountains so I've seen temperatures down to -30C here in the winter, but not often thankfully. It's not uncommon to get several weeks worth of -15 to -20 although an average of Dec, Jan and Feb is probably around -5C.
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Is this something that should be seriously considered ? Or is it only for areas in countries that are totally baltic ?
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Is this something that should be seriously considered ? Or is it only for areas in countries that are totally baltic ?
Well, it depends whether you like a cold car in the morning. :) Even in the UK it can be cold and icy enough that you have to scrap the windows; according to the blurb, besides comfort, those cold starts aren't good for the car or fuel economy.
You need easy access to a power socket though so those always parking on the kerb should forget about it.
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Is it doing damage to the engine when its cold ?
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Not in our climate. As long as you let the engine warm up sufficiently before booting it.
Otherwise the engine warmer would be an option in this country.
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Not in our climate. As long as you let the engine warm up sufficiently before booting it.
Otherwise the engine warmer would be an option in this country.
Thats what I thought and thats what would always do anyway.
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I suppose its just nice to get into an already warmed car. Especially at sillyo'clock in the morning.
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This sounds quite attractive. My car is normally garaged within touching distance of a power point, so it's definitely practical.
Do they work on a timer, or do you have to go out in the cold before breakfast to switch them on? Did I see something about a remote?
Rolfe.
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I used to have a nifty pre heat gizzmo (which came std) on a 1995 BMW, you could set it to go off at a particular time (for 20 minutes) and it would use the battery power to warm the inside of the car up. Iced up windows would just be wet when I left the house in the mornings. You were advised not to use it for in sucsession without switching on the engine as it would drain the battery.
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This sounds quite attractive. My car is normally garaged within touching distance of a power point, so it's definitely practical.
Do they work on a timer, or do you have to go out in the cold before breakfast to switch them on? Did I see something about a remote?
Rolfe.
This Defa has several options including 2 pre-set "leaving times" and how long before that that it should start its warm up (1,2 or 3 hours). You can even set it to auto so it decides based on the outside temperature and the time you've told it you're going to need the car.
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How good does this sound!! :grin:
unfortunately my car gets garaged at night, so probably not needed :sad:
But a great sell on point :smiley:
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This sounds quite attractive. My car is normally garaged within touching distance of a power point, so it's definitely practical.
Do they work on a timer, or do you have to go out in the cold before breakfast to switch them on? Did I see something about a remote?
Rolfe.
This Defa has several options including 2 pre-set "leaving times" and how long before that that it should start its warm up (1,2 or 3 hours). You can even set it to auto so it decides based on the outside temperature and the time you've told it you're going to need the car.
You could also just plug it in and put the timer on the socket, i.e. in your garage. That is how mine works. Starts 3 hours before I leave for work every morning. Wouldn´t worry about the miniplug as my dealer has hidden it away in the front bumper where you cannot see it. On all cars I´ve had the mini plug has been placed not to intrude on the overall esthetics's.
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-35c >?
Wow! I can see why you're looking for a heating kit!
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How good does this sound!! :grin:
unfortunately my car gets garaged at night, so probably not needed :sad:
But a great sell on point :smiley:
Just have a rad that comes on half an hour before your regular grind.
The best thing I ever did, start my own company. I just go in now and again to check on the money makers. No grind for me.
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The garage responded to my mail and they said this Defa will only work on a 230V supply and not off the battery alone. Bit of a bugger for me as I'd like it to preheat so I get a warm car after work as well as in the morning. They've offered to show me a car with it fitted this afternoon. Not sure if I'm that interested in it now though - maybe I should look for one that uses the cars fuel supply instead.
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Might be easier to just get an alarm fitted that also has a starter on it which starts your car via remote control.
Although I don't know how they would get round the "clutch" having to be depressed to start it.
http://www.clifford.com/Products/RemoteStart.aspx (http://www.clifford.com/Products/RemoteStart.aspx)
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Might be easier to just get an alarm fitted that also has a starter on it which starts your car via remote control.
Although I don't know how they would get round the "clutch" having to be depressed to start it.
http://www.clifford.com/Products/RemoteStart.aspx (http://www.clifford.com/Products/RemoteStart.aspx)
After a visit to the dealer I decided to sign up for the full Defa warm up with engine warmer, cabin warmer, battery charger - it hooks up to the mains via a tiny socket - and of course the wireless controller. I couldn't win really; either I have an electric system that warms the car while in the garage overnight or a fuel driven one that could heat the car during the day so it was warm when I left work. Couldn't really run a fuel based one in the garage and at least with an electric one there's a chance that we will get power connectors in our car park (used to have that at our old office building). They will fit it next Friday. Takes about 4 hours apparently.
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Well, I had the complete Defa warm up system fitted on Friday; this is with the auto battery charger, the engine warmer, cabin heater and wireless controller. The internal heater is quite unobtrusive and is fitted against the passenger side wall of the center console, quite far back so it doesn't interfere with the passenger's legs. The tiny black socket for the external 230V cable is hardly noticeable and is fitted to the lower grill. I'm fairly happy with the performance so far although it's only been down to 0c the past few days. The wireless controller is very cool and is powerful enough to talk to the car from within my house even if the car is in the garage 40m and 3 walls away - it can even tell me the current engine temperature, now how cool is that? ;)
The only gripe I have is that the buggers at the garage managed to crack my windscreen during the install (wtf? :huh: ) so it has to go back in next Thursday for a windscreen replacement. I'm going to ask for either a hefty discount on the Defa stuff or some free bees for my trouble!
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There must be other systems available,i used to have a works transit van,that had a pre heat system built into it,i even had a hot water supply in the back complete with a hand washing bowl :grin:,i think that worked off the battery it had a little control system in the cabin you just set it for 30 mins before you wanted to use the van.