Is there an auxiliary heater?

[Skinnee D]

If I press the Setup button inside the centre climate control dial it takes me to a tick box to be able to select "automatic auxiliary heater".  I tried to find this in the manual but failed.  Does anyone know what this does?  Thanks

[mcmaddy]

I think that is many for cars in Nordic region where the auxiliary heater can be turned on with the key fob. interesting to see what yours does if you activate it??

[jivemonkey]

I have it too.

I believe it's only on the TDIs as they take an age to warm up. It's the only way to get warm air into the cabin within a sensible amount of time.

edit: This is the beastie: http://www.golfmkv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=113468. Also see http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=200004.0

[karlak]

So.....

If you had a fairly short commute, it may be worth switching this off ?  if the heater is 1KW, then that would be drawing a fair amount of power and affect MPG perhaps.  Perhaps using heated seats where fitted would be better.  Or I could be talking rubbish and it will make no difference at all 

Something for the MPG thread chaps to try out i guess 

[jivemonkey]

So.....

If you had a fairly short commute, it may be worth switching this off ?  if the heater is 1KW, then that would be drawing a fair amount of power and affect MPG perhaps.  Perhaps using heated seats where fitted would be better.  Or I could be talking rubbish and it will make no difference at all 

Something for the MPG thread chaps to try out i guess 

I hadn't actually thought of turning it off...but will do and see if anything happens. It is drawing 80 amps after all, so may make a difference 

[monkeyhanger]

Are we talking about an auxillary heater that pre-warms the engine before you go out and drive, for the scandinavian markets etc, or an auxillary heater as in providing warm air to the cabin so as not to divert engine heat from the engine to warm cabin air until the engine is at running temp or close to it?

Everyone gets the second option, some markets also get the first option. It is very rare that I put the heating on in my car - a cold car keeps you alert first thing on a morning!

[AdmiralGant]

Hi Monkeyhanger.

When you say everyone gets the second option, do you mean its an option you can pay extra for or its standard on every GTD?

I have not found it or if Std fit does it come on automatically when the engine is cold? 

[monkeyhanger]

Hi Monkeyhanger.

When you say everyone gets the second option, do you mean its an option you can pay extra for or its standard on every GTD?

I have not found it or if Std fit does it come on automatically when the engine is cold?

Maybe "option" is a bad choice of words. Everyone gets an auxillary electric heater as standard for sending warm air through the cabin so that even when the engine is stone cold on a winters morning, you will not be waiting for the engine to warm up to provide maximum climate control temp, nor will you be delaying the warm-up of your engine by using the heater. When the engine is up to temperature then it will provide further warmth.

[Skinnee D]

I think that is many for cars in Nordic region where the auxiliary heater can be turned on with the key fob. interesting to see what yours does if you activate it??

I'll try and figure out what changes when it's selected, not noticed anything yet.  I'll have a look at the consumer menu when the engine's running and see if anything comes up on there.  The bottom of page 272 in the handbook mentions an automatic supplementary heater, but the option at the bottom of the A/C setup menu is described as automatic auxiliary heater.   Maybe it's just a way to select/deselect what monkeyhanger described.

[AdmiralGant]

yes I found it today after a second sweep of all the menus and it is a tick in a box for the aux heater. From a cold start it does seem to provide some warm (not hot) air quite quickly. Very good on a cold day with the seat heaters on too.