Quick Heat on Astra J
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I think it consists of a series of resistors that heat up the air of the cabin, so you don't have to wait for the engine to warm up. Keep in mind though, that i've read over the net, that it isn't much efficient. With quick heat you will have warm cabin air (not hot) around 5 minutes after starting the car instead of 7 to 10 minutes without quick heat in normal cold conditions (around 0 degrees celcius).
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It takes me about 5 to 7 mile before you feel any heat as such. Might be warming up before then, but you don't notice it. I have NEVER had such a SLOW heater!
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My J is the first diesel I've owned and I have to say one thing I've noticed is that the engine is great when warm, but when cold it's a totally different story it's really sluggish. It also takes longer to warm up the engine and consequently longer to heat up the cabin than previous cars I've had. As far as I know this is down to it being a diesel and an efficient one at that, rather than being an issue about Astras specifically.
Anyway, my work takes me to the very cold Nordic countries now and then and we were talking about this in Sweden this week. Outside our office there (and in a lot of car parks and homes) there are power sockets at every parking space and people have electric engine heaters fitted to their cars. It's a fairly simple heating element which is usually stuck to the sump, which you just plug in and set on a timer so it warms the oil and hence the engine before you get in and start up (on some cars it fits in-line with the coolant system instead).
Here's a video about it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4KWTIZYCMI
There are three parts to the system, but you don't have to have all three. The main thing is the engine block heater, but as shown in that video you can also add an interior heater and a battery optimiser. The way I see it, even if you only have the engine heater you'll still benefit from faster warm up of the interior because your engine is up to temp sooner.
I haven't done the maths, but the idea is that the few pence of electricity you use is more than outweighed by the decrease in fuel consumption during those first 10mins of driving. Also the improved engine life could be worth a fortune to you if you keep your car a good number of years. Again I haven't fully researched this, but the guys in the office were saying in temps around -10C you need about an hour of pre-heating, and I think at about 0C half an hour would do it. Half an hour at 300W is going to cost something like 3pence which to me seems well worth it to start with a warm engine. Of course here in the UK we wouldn't use it as much as our Swedish friends have to, but as the video says (and my personal experience backs this up) at anything below 10C it's worth pre-heating the engine block, and for us that's most mornings throughout winter (bear in mind the winter we're having now is milder than usual).
The kit costs something like £160 I've been told, and looks simple enough to fit yourself if you're reasonably competent at that kind of thing (basically you glue the heater to the sump, route some wiring and mount a connector in your front grille). You just need to have an ordinary power socket within reach of your car and possibly a timer. In my case I could simply run the cable out through my letter box to my car on my drive and plug it in in the hallway using a simple plug-in timer from Argos. Here's the website for anyone who wants more info: http://www.defa.com/en/html/automotive/warmup/
I've also seen in Germany that the Astra is available with a Webasto heater as a factory-fit option. This is self-contained in the car and uses petrol/diesel fuel and the car's own battery power instead of needing to be plugged in, but it's way more complicated to fit, very difficult to retro fit and costs around £2,000! For anyone who has access to a power socket near their car I think the Defa kit is way better value for money.
I would be interested to know if anyone on here has tried kits like these and what your thoughts are...
Anyway, my work takes me to the very cold Nordic countries now and then and we were talking about this in Sweden this week. Outside our office there (and in a lot of car parks and homes) there are power sockets at every parking space and people have electric engine heaters fitted to their cars. It's a fairly simple heating element which is usually stuck to the sump, which you just plug in and set on a timer so it warms the oil and hence the engine before you get in and start up (on some cars it fits in-line with the coolant system instead).
Here's a video about it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4KWTIZYCMI
There are three parts to the system, but you don't have to have all three. The main thing is the engine block heater, but as shown in that video you can also add an interior heater and a battery optimiser. The way I see it, even if you only have the engine heater you'll still benefit from faster warm up of the interior because your engine is up to temp sooner.
I haven't done the maths, but the idea is that the few pence of electricity you use is more than outweighed by the decrease in fuel consumption during those first 10mins of driving. Also the improved engine life could be worth a fortune to you if you keep your car a good number of years. Again I haven't fully researched this, but the guys in the office were saying in temps around -10C you need about an hour of pre-heating, and I think at about 0C half an hour would do it. Half an hour at 300W is going to cost something like 3pence which to me seems well worth it to start with a warm engine. Of course here in the UK we wouldn't use it as much as our Swedish friends have to, but as the video says (and my personal experience backs this up) at anything below 10C it's worth pre-heating the engine block, and for us that's most mornings throughout winter (bear in mind the winter we're having now is milder than usual).
The kit costs something like £160 I've been told, and looks simple enough to fit yourself if you're reasonably competent at that kind of thing (basically you glue the heater to the sump, route some wiring and mount a connector in your front grille). You just need to have an ordinary power socket within reach of your car and possibly a timer. In my case I could simply run the cable out through my letter box to my car on my drive and plug it in in the hallway using a simple plug-in timer from Argos. Here's the website for anyone who wants more info: http://www.defa.com/en/html/automotive/warmup/
I've also seen in Germany that the Astra is available with a Webasto heater as a factory-fit option. This is self-contained in the car and uses petrol/diesel fuel and the car's own battery power instead of needing to be plugged in, but it's way more complicated to fit, very difficult to retro fit and costs around £2,000! For anyone who has access to a power socket near their car I think the Defa kit is way better value for money.
I would be interested to know if anyone on here has tried kits like these and what your thoughts are...
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Not sure if it uses the same system at all ..... but I have noticed on my Insignia, especially this morning -7 ...... that when I put the windscreen blowers on (when the car is cold) they instantly blow warm air (not hot, just luke warm) onto the screen and the screen clears from ice/frost in under a minute !! 
I really was actually surprised by this, saves me scraping the windscreen now (Y)
I have also found by the time I am at the end of my road, the cabin has already started to warm up, it does seem miles better than my VXR heaters, and there weren't too bad.
James
I really was actually surprised by this, saves me scraping the windscreen now (Y)I have also found by the time I am at the end of my road, the cabin has already started to warm up, it does seem miles better than my VXR heaters, and there weren't too bad.
James
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I believe most modern cars are designed to immediately circulate coolant from the engine cylinder block through the cabin heater even though the thermostat is shut and there's no circulation through the radiator. The block starts to heat up fairly quickly, so demisting is quickly available. Very much a safety and comfort feature.Not sure if it uses the same system at all ..... but I have noticed on my Insignia, especially this morning -7 ...... that when I put the windscreen blowers on (when the car is cold) they instantly blow warm air (not hot, just luke warm) onto the screen and the screen clears from ice/frost in under a minute !!
I have also found by the time I am at the end of my road, the cabin has already started to warm up, it does seem miles better than my VXR heaters, and there weren't too bad.
James
MM
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Ah right cool (Y).
My Astra VXR never had this, would just blow cold air until it was warmed up, nightmare for getting rid of ice on the screen :'(
James
(Y).My Astra VXR never had this, would just blow cold air until it was warmed up, nightmare for getting rid of ice on the screen
:'(James
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I noticed today that my 2.0 CDTi doesn't seem produce enough waste heat on idle to warm my car up :lol:
I pulled off a short trip up the motorway today where the engine temp had climbed to ~80c. After 2 minutes in very slow traffic with my climate control at 22c, my engine temp had dropped to 70c.
I pulled off a short trip up the motorway today where the engine temp had climbed to ~80c. After 2 minutes in very slow traffic with my climate control at 22c, my engine temp had dropped to 70c.
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The only time I've noticed a car do that before is when the thermostat is stuck open. All the Astras that I, my dad and my friends have had have all stayed exactly on 90C once they've had time to warm up, except when the thermostat got stuck on my dad's old one then it behaved like you describe. They were all petrols though.
There is another system as well, that is used to heat up the car(s), especially diesels. It is actually a burner, that burns fuel and directs the hot energy to the cooling circuit of the engine. So, the engine is warmed up more quickly and because the "cooling" liquid of the engine is warm, you have warm cabin as well. Webasto is a company that produces such heaters for cars trucks etc. Many times it makes noise like a turbine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=26gthpzuohg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9D5btyUS2o
MusicLoverUK, i think the system you are describing is called a parking heater and the heating system with fuel burner is called Auxiliary heater.
I think, Astra J comes only with a parking heater (the quick heat)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=endscreen&NR=1&v=26gthpzuohg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9D5btyUS2o
MusicLoverUK, i think the system you are describing is called a parking heater and the heating system with fuel burner is called Auxiliary heater.
I think, Astra J comes only with a parking heater (the quick heat)
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