It is getting to be winter, and you may be dreading this. One of the reasons you may hate it is that your car does not have a central heating system anymore. This may leave you feeling cold and frustrated as you trudge through the snow in your cold car.
Another reason you may want it in your vehicle is because you wish to use this as an alternative to garage your vehicle instead, or you may be living in the car and want to learn how better to warm yourself during these colds, hard months.
Keeping that in mind, can you use a space heater within your car?
Technically, you CAN use a space heater designed for residential areas in your vehicle with a converter. Still, it will be much safer and more efficient if you use a 12V heater than a 120V heater in your car charger.
Plus, the car battery in itself would not be suitable for keeping a space heater charged up, as this will drain its life much quicker than expected.
It is important to note how you can do this without a space heater when heating your car. Are there alternative methods and ways to do this without an average space heater?
We will be going over this and the best car heaters below, so keep reading to find out everything on this subject.
Is It Safe To Use A Space Heater In A Car?
One of the many things you will always go over in life is your and others’ safety. This is to ensure you do not hurt yourself or others around you.
However, it is not 100% safe OR efficient to use a residential space heater within your car. There are quite a few reasons for this: your car battery will begin to drain much faster.
Reason 1: Car Battery Issues
A standardized car battery has 600 watt-hours of charge, which means that if you were to run a 200-watt heater for your car, it would last roughly 3 hours before needing to be charged again.
Even so, the car battery in itself will more than likely get around 50 charges until it no longer works also.
Reasons 2 & 3: Efficiency & Safety
The second reason is efficiency as well as safety. We already know the safety, but being efficient is key to keeping warm.
If your car battery runs out within those 3 hours, how will you stay heated for the remaining hours that you will be in your car? This is especially true if you are traveling.
Some people may not need that time and think they will get by with just a 10-minute drive here and there, but realistically, the time and energy it will take to jump your car are not worth it in the long haul.
How To Keep Yourself Warm In A Car Without Heat
Since it is not wise to use a portable space heater within your car, the question now is, how CAN you keep yourself warm in the car without heat? There are many ways you can do this, so let us go over them:
Insulation can do a wide variety of things. First, it increases energy efficiency. If you have a car you want to keep warm during winter, try to insulate both your car and garage for better warmth. There are many ways to protect your automobile:
1. Use A Tension Rod & Makeshift Curtains
Blankets are thrown over the rod and clipped to it by clips or clothespins.
Hang your curtains in front of all of your windows, but bear in mind that you will not be able to see any cars or people coming to and from your vehicle, so this may not be the best option.
2. Insulate Your Car With Cardboard
Essentially, cardboard acts as a form of insulation and allows your space to maintain temperature for a more extended time because of its air pockets between the two layers, which slows the heat transfer from one side to the other.
3. DIY Insulation
Make sure to get every crevice and corner, especially places in the car that cause a drought system that is completely covered up.
Use Reflectix: This insulated is coated with aluminum and polyethylene. It comes in a roll, so it is reasonably easy to go over each window, use a sharpie to measure each window, including the windshield, and cut your makeshift lines out. It is essential to count them twice BEFORE cutting; that way, you get a more accurate display.
Insulating your seats: With all that padding in car seats, your chairs are not insulated. All you will need is a lightweight camping mattress or pad.
Go the extra mile: If you KNOW how to take your car apart and put it back together, then another viable option is to use Noico RED.
This insulates your vehicle better, as this foam is a closed-cell polyethylene self-adhesive foam. You will want to consider using this on the floors, doors, and possibly the roof.
Get A Space Blanket
Aside from insulation, having a space blanket that goes alongside this is another viable option, which is relatively inexpensive. Many sleeping bags like this are called a “zero-degree sleeping bag,” which overall reflects your body heat at you.
Retain Heat Throughout The Day
Retaining heat throughout the day can quickly be done by storing any form of heat when the sun is strongest.
If you are cooking or have a fire outside, heat some bricks and take them in the car for the night, which can help your car remain warm throughout the day.
Just make sure to put something the bricks can go underneath, like a towel or cardboard layer, so the seats do not get ruined in your car.
Why Don’t Car Companies Put Space Heaters in Vehicles?
One might ask why car companies do not use space heaters in vehicles. Since we ALL know that cars will become relatively cold, wouldn’t it make more sense to do just that?
Since space heaters use a lot of electricity, putting a space heater in an automobile would not be the wisest choice.
Not only that, but many cars nowadays come with heated seating and have electric heaters. Once the engine operates, heat will be transferred to the passengers when the coolant is free.
So, Why Are They Not Insulated?
This is an excellent question to have. We talked briefly about how you can better insulate your car, but why are they NOT protected?
Since vehicles are not made home, it makes much more sense why they do not insulate the cars.
Realistically, it would be a waste of money to do this on their part because cars are meant to be driven around in a relatively short amount of time (even if it were a road trip) as opposed to being lived in.
Of course, some people live in their cars or spend most of their time there. If this were the case, it is best to learn how to insulate the vehicle properly.
Residential Space Heaters vs. 12-Volt Electric Car Heaters
So what is the difference between a residential space heater and a 12-volt car heater? There are quite a few differences, so let us go over each.
1. Residential Heaters Are More Effective Than 12-Volt Heaters
No wonder people wish to get a residential space heater for their cars! It is a relatively much better option overall, as electric car heaters are not very popular.
However, a space heater is to run on AC power, which means it runs on a 120V AC (up to 1800 watts of power) instead of a 12V DC (up to 180 watts of energy) what a car space heater goes by.
This can fluctuate up and down depending on what battery charge level or what the system can handle.
2. Residential Heaters Uses AC Power
On top of that, when you use a residential space heater, you would need to plug it into an inverter because it converts DC power into the AC power that the heat requires.
However, some space heaters are designed specifically to be used as electric car heaters. In that case, you will look for it being run on DC instead of AC.
If that were the case, then you do not need an inverter, but so you know, these specific heaters tend to provide little heat if this is the route you wish to take.
If you yearn to find a powerful 12V car heater, it will require a direct connection to the battery due to how much electricity they draw out.
3. 12-Volt Heaters Will Not Drain Your Car Battery
As we mentioned before, using a 120V space heater will drain the battery quickly rather than going through something much smaller, which is where our 12-volt car heater comes into play.
4. Residential Heaters Will Warm Your Car Quickly
Lastly, when you need to warm your car up before a cold morning commute, using a 120V space heater may be the better option.
However, newer car models are coming out with an automatic starting system, so it may be best to start the car up for 5-10 minutes before leaving instead of going through this hassle.
Generally speaking, it is much less of a nuisance and less dangerous to use a 12V space heater than a 120V heater through an inverter.
We will be going over the best options for you to choose from for a heating system for your car, especially if you do not wish to insulate your automobile.
What Are Some Of The Best Car Heaters?
Just know that when it comes to a 12-volt car heater, it may seem as if it will not heat the car in its entirety. This is because they are not supposed to heat the vehicle thoroughly but only HELP it heat up.
Most car heaters produce only 150-180 watts of heat. In some cases, it may not help the car heat up faster due to your location.
Some space heaters are suitable for 30+ degree weather, whereas others are good no matter the climate.
That being said, here are some of the best car heaters for your car. We have done extensive research for you and read many reviews from other users, so this list goes from first to last on what we believe are the best.
| NAME | HEAT OUTPUT | 12-VOLT | INSTALLATION |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wagan HealthMate | Good for body only | Yes | Easy |
| Happybuy 8KW Diesel | 8KW | Yes | Moderate |
| Nessagro RoadPro | 300-watts | Yes | Moderate |
| Funwill Car Heater | 150-watts | Yes | Easy |
| ROYADVE 12V | 180-watts | Yes | Easy |
| STYCC Car Heater | Low (unspecified watts) | Yes | Easy |
Although this is not necessarily a space heater, it will do wonders to keep you warm in the seat of your car itself. Wagan HealthMate heated seat cushion can warm up to 114 degrees.
All you need to do is plug it in to a 12-volt DC outlet. There is no auto shut-off or on, so manually plug it out unless you want the car battery to drain.
Some users have mentioned that this product is only okay and works slightly, whereas others say it is excellent and works very well.
This car heater is environmentally friendly and produces low fuel and power consumption, so it should last you for a longer time than others out there.
Although this product has many things that come with it, they mention how the heater is an easy installation.
Although many users are relatively happy with Happybuy, there are also a few complaints, including mentioning how it runs like a 2KW instead of 8KW, but it still works relatively well in terms of heat.
Another common thing in reviews is that users say the glow plug has failed, but after a replacement, it works well. One of the things the manufacturers can work on is getting a better glow plug for their product.
This little heater has mixed reviews, with many saying it is good and others saying it is not worth the money. However, Nessagro RoadPro is a ceramic heater with a 25 amp power rating and 300 watts of heating.
Not only that, but this heater comes with a 30-day warranty, so if it is not something you are looking for, look to see if you can return it. The wire is a 12-gauge 15′ wire and is easy to install.
Conclusion
To come to a complete summarization of what we have learned today, it is possible that you CAN use a space heater to heat your car, significantly since many car heaters do not help very much.
Still, they are not recommended due to your vehicle’s battery drainage.
However, there are many better alternatives to help heat your car. These things include insulating the vehicle as a whole, which may require professional work, or using objects already heated up to help your automobile stay hot, such as a brick (but put a towel underneath, so it does not ruin the seating.)
All in all, you can guarantee that your car can get heated up in no time with the tools we have given you above, so make sure you use this article as a future reference!
