5 ms·

Uh, you don't loose range to heating in an ICE engine. The heater is just a secondary radiator, so it actually improves engine efficiency. Old trick for driving

Uh, you don't loose range to heating in an ICE engine. The heater is just a secondary radiator, so it actually improves engine efficiency. Old trick for driving an under-powered car over the Rockies in the summer: open the windows and turn the heater on.

cmrdporcupine 4y ago
You don't lose "range" on an ICE vehicle but you definitely lose mileage efficiency. But ICE vehicles also just throw off insane amounts of wasted energy in the form of heat all year long and in the winter some of it gets converted into comfort. People are just accustomed to throwing that money away, I guess.
- frosted-flakes 4y ago
  Not all of them do. My diesel VW struggles to maintain coolant temperature in really cold weather, and even in summer the radiator fans almost never turn on unless the AC is used. When it's -25C out it takes 10-15 minutes before I get full heat out of the vents (hooray for heated seats), and if I pull up to a stop light with the heater on the coolant temperature immediately starts to drop. And there's nothing wrong with my car; they're all like that. And the fuel efficiency reflects it: I normally get about 5 L/100 km (46 mpG).
  - cmrdporcupine 4y ago
    yeah I recall my old VW Jetta TDI taking longer than I thought it should to heat up in the winter. Which I always found strange considering the amount of BTUs in diesel and how well my (at the time) diesel oil furnace was at heating up my house right away and also how small the cabin was. In any case, my Chevy Volt heats up the cabin pretty fast. Though once it gets below -10C the stupid thing kicks on the ICE even though it doesn't need to. Something to do with regulations around ICE drivetrain components and temperatures. It just uses it to heat up coolant lines for the ICE itself, even when I have no desire to use the ICE.
    - frosted-flakes 4y ago
      All those BTUs get turned into motion, not heat.
petee 4y ago
Fun history, the '60s Corvair had an optional fuel-fired heater, which my dad swore by as a great holdover in the winter while waiting for the engine to warm up.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
5e92cb50239222b 4y ago
People around here put warm non-flammable fabric in front of radiators and cover their engines in winter because it significantly improves gas mileage and doesn't push the engine into overheating — the air is cold enough (-30°C and below) that it's not an issue.

cmrdporcupine 4y ago

You don't lose "range" on an ICE vehicle but you definitely lose mileage efficiency. But ICE vehicles also just throw off insane amounts of wasted energy in the form of heat all year long and in the winter some of it gets converted into comfort. People are just accustomed to throwing that money away, I guess.

frosted-flakes 4y ago
Not all of them do. My diesel VW struggles to maintain coolant temperature in really cold weather, and even in summer the radiator fans almost never turn on unless the AC is used. When it's -25C out it takes 10-15 minutes before I get full heat out of the vents (hooray for heated seats), and if I pull up to a stop light with the heater on the coolant temperature immediately starts to drop. And there's nothing wrong with my car; they're all like that. And the fuel efficiency reflects it: I normally get about 5 L/100 km (46 mpG).
- cmrdporcupine 4y ago
  yeah I recall my old VW Jetta TDI taking longer than I thought it should to heat up in the winter. Which I always found strange considering the amount of BTUs in diesel and how well my (at the time) diesel oil furnace was at heating up my house right away and also how small the cabin was. In any case, my Chevy Volt heats up the cabin pretty fast. Though once it gets below -10C the stupid thing kicks on the ICE even though it doesn't need to. Something to do with regulations around ICE drivetrain components and temperatures. It just uses it to heat up coolant lines for the ICE itself, even when I have no desire to use the ICE.
  - frosted-flakes 4y ago
    All those BTUs get turned into motion, not heat.

petee 4y ago

Fun history, the '60s Corvair had an optional fuel-fired heater, which my dad swore by as a great holdover in the winter while waiting for the engine to warm up.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]

5e92cb50239222b 4y ago

People around here put warm non-flammable fabric in front of radiators and cover their engines in winter because it significantly improves gas mileage and doesn't push the engine into overheating — the air is cold enough (-30°C and below) that it's not an issue.