If the heating system in your car breaks, is a little 12V plugin an effective budget replacement?
Written by Chris WilliamsPublished: 25 February 2022Updated: 18 March 2022
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Heater dialSome aftermarket car accessories aren’t any good. Little 12V plugin car heaters definitely fall into the ‘no’ section of the ‘yes’, ‘no’, ‘maybe’ car accessory Venn diagram.
In this guide we’re looking at why this is the case, and what to do if your car heating system does unfortunately breathe its final breath long before the car does.
Electric car plugin heaters
A vehicle’s heating system works like a radiator: the hot engine coolant passes through and heats the heater core. A blower then makes the warmth flow into the car interior.
Little plugin heaters use the in-car 12V plug. While it’s fine for your iPhone, when it comes to powering a heater it’s not a great electrical source, meaning that these small units are unable to pump out much heat. There are no real applications for these heaters; they are woeful compared to the proper heating system. They are not something we recommend.
What to do if your car heater breaks
It shouldn’t. Vehicle heating systems are very reliable and not often a source of issues. But they aren’t immune and rather annoyingly, getting them fixed can be quite pricey. This is mostly down to labour costs. Heating systems are simple in principle but lie buried behind the dashboard and therefore take a long time to access and refit.
The most common things to go wrong on car heating systems are the blower and the heater core. Replacing a blower is easier and tends to cost somewhere between £200 and £400, at either a dealer or independent mechanic. But heater cores take longer to replace and therefore push towards and sometimes over £1000.
However, if your heater is blowing cold air or nothing at all, that doesn’t necessarily mean the heating system is completely bust. It could simply be down to low coolant levels, a stuck flap, or a blown fuse. By comparison, these are much easier and cheaper ailments to fix.
If the loss of heat doesn’t bother you but the ability to stave off moisture does, there is an option for you. Dehumidifiers are an effective and budget-friendly means to keep moisture at bay inside a car. They are bags of silica or charcoal that can be left in a car for weeks to slowly soak up moisture. Once full, they can be left outside in the sun to dry out before being used again. Below are our two top picks:
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Hillington’s dehumidifier bags are the same size, filled with the same silica gel, and capable of absorbing the same volume of water as the Gadlane bags. However, there’s a couple of extra features that are rather neat.
The first is the dot on the bag. When the bag has absorbed all it can, the dot goes blue. You then ‘recharge’ it (about once a month) and the dot goes pink. The second useful feature is the inclusion of non-slip pads that you can use to stop the bags sliding off a dashboard, for example.
Activated bamboo charcoal is fantastic for air purification and drying. The charcoal is porous, allowing moisture and odours to be absorbed. A pair of 500g bags is good for a hatchback or small family car, but you can use them around the house too. They are reusable, all you need to do is expose the bags to sunlight for a couple of hours each side at least once a month.
