What style space heater ?? Ceramic, for safety/easy handling? Something with a fan? Put on the seat next to me? What if I have a passenger -- back seat or floor in front of passenger? (I want to be safe...am a little nervous to put a heater on the back seat. Maybe if I put something insulating and safe under and / or behind it, like a thin piece of wood ?) I just don't know how to do this well. thx for suggestions.
If the fan speeds up it's taking less energy not more, think of a hoover, when you block the end the thing speeds up, no load on the blades. It's not advisable to use recirculated air unless the sole point is to heat the car with nobody in it. You'll find that the windows will steam up if you drive with recirc on as it recirculates your damp breath through the heater, even with AC on but less so.
My old Gen 3 was the same, top half of the screen misted up for at least 10 minutes, SWMBO's Gen 2, my old Prius+ and the Gen 4 have no such problem all three demist up within a couple of minutes.
I have a car heater that works off the 12v socket that SWMBO used to use on one of her previous cars before she got the Gen 2, the only problem is, it's 150W, which is 12.5A and the Prius 12v sockets are rated at 10A max so I couldn't use it on the Gen 3. I couldn't find a 120W one, but even if I could I doubt it would be powerful enough as the 150W one was weak.
For comparison, the electric heat built into the Prius (for early heat before the engine coolant is warmed up) is about 700 watts as I recall, and I've never been able to notice when it's on.... -Chap
I had hoped this thread would be all about Toyota's cabin heat pump. I know it's early ... but has anyone had any experience with it yet?
Just had this issue with Pearl S. Wouldn't heat the cabin well in spite of the the coolant being at 50C and higher. Turned out it was being in "eco" mode that did it. Put the car in "normal mode" (use the "power mode" button, turn it on then off, and the car will be in "normal mode". You will find you get a lot more heat into the cabin. I found this was the only way to get out of "eco" mode. Press the "eco" button twice does not cycle eco on and off. Also, as already posted, block the lower grill using pipe insulation (the foam type that looks like pool noodles). Got to put mine on Pearl S this morning. I find I can leave the upper grill open without warmup problems. The engine IS probably the most efficient way to heat the coolant. It's about 60% efficient at extracting heat from fuel (the other 40% goes to turning the wheels and charging the battery). If you add "other stuff" to do it you have "other stuff" to fail. Oh, and because you posted in the 4th gen forum area, those of you with 4th gen Prius don't have to worry. You HAVE "grill blocking" built in, but I suspect the same applies to "eco mode" as it does with the 3rd gen. I knew "eco mode" messed with the A/C system for cooling, but never thought it did so for heating! It seems it does!
Just press ECO once to get out of ECO mode. Twice just puts you back into ECO . Yup. I can use ECO to shut off the engine at a traffic light and then turn it off when the light goes green. Using ECO, I could get stealth mode at -10°C. (although I do have a photo somewhere of stealth mode at -40°C)
When in "eco" pressing the "eco" button does nothing. When not in "eco" pressing the "eco" button puts Pearl S into "eco" mode, and pressing again does nothing. As I posted, I had to press "power", then press it again to get to "normal" mode (no indication on dash of mode). To get the engine to stop I've just been turning off the heater (A/C auto off). However, I'm not sure why this works, as I just discovered the "Heat is ON", with A/C auto off. Song lyrics too! All this in "eco" mode. Maybe now that I'm in "normal" mode it will work differently. Edit: Tried this morning and the "eco" button does switch in and out of "eco" mode. Didn't last week for -some- reason.
I'm lost 'n confused. How does this all work, and what should I do for the various scenarios / goals? I'm driving Gen3. Let me know if I should re-post this in the Gen3 forum .. ps, I'm always in either PWR or Normal modes. I'm currently deciding between the two.
The three modes are mostly remapping of the throttle control. In "power" mode, for example, the power comes on sooner with throttle movement, and in "eco" mode it comes on later or slower (more throttle movement to get the same power setting). At min and max throttle they are the same in each of the three modes. The result is the car is a bit more "fun" in "power" mode and it's easier to control to get very good mileage in "eco" mode. Now for the "except". "eco" mode changes the level, for want of a better description, of the A/C system. And as I learned last week, also of the system when heat is called for. It seems to be mostly the fan speed that is controlled, but may be more than that.
Yes. Maximum A/C compressor power usage is also reduced (I can't remember the number but I think @HTMLSpinnr posted it before) so in the summer, cooling capacity is also reduced to save on power usage.
