Heater/defroster heat strip

Was working on a clothes dryer this AM and noticed the nichrome wire was larger than in a car defroster. could a longer wire from a dryer be used to be a defroster/miniheater in a car? An alternator should keep up with a length of this on humid mornings here in the swamps of Florida. anyone try this? Love to loose those ugly heaterhoses.

 

P_(W) = I_(A)× V_(V)


If the dryer element is drawing 10 amps, at 220V, it's running 2200 watts.


To produce 2200 watts with 14.4 volts, you need 152.78 amps, and that is just for the heating element.

I guessed at the amp draw of 10. Depending on the actual draw, you can scale from there.

 

This is the problem in a nutshell. At 12 volts, it takes a LOT of amps to run electric heaters.

 

If you get it to work, your car will have that fresh dried clothes smell to it.






Or maybe that fresh burnt up smell

 

The wire won't hardly get warm but it will kill your battery. There are 12 volt electric heaters but they are lame.

There was some discussion on this before. Someone knew where they could get 12 volt heaters in 450 watt or 600 watt sizes and wondered which one was best.

Here is how you find out. Look around your house and find the smallest electric heater you can find. It will probably be 750 watts. Put it in your car and plug it in. See how long it takes to heat up the car. Remember, when the car is moving it will be losing heat so it will only be half as effective.

To run this size of little lame ass heater you will need to install an alternator twice as big as the one you have now. It will cost several hundred dollars.

Or, you can use the FREE hot water that your engine produces ALL THE TIME for NOTHING.

A typical V8 engine throws away enough waste heat to heat a 5 room house.

 

750 watts, at 120 volts is 6.25 amps.
750 watts, at 14.4 volts is 52.08 amps.

Remember, your alternator is not producing maximum output, save but at maximum rotor speed.

A 750 watt heater would leave you stranded, long before you ever got warm.

 

Truck stops sell a small electric heater/defroster that plugs into a cig lighter.

I bought one for an off topic car that was too difficult to change the core.

I stayed just as cold with the electric heater as without (thought it would at least take the chill off,but....)

I live in Fla also, so wasn't using in extreme cold,but I threw it out after the fail

Run the hoses down low instead of across the top of the engine

 

Thanks,forgot that idea.

 

Finding a practical way to use that could make a fella rich.

 

These are still around;

 

probably easier to find one from a VW ...

 

industry around here is starting to do it . as they run generators as the grid is so overloaded . so they try to use as much from the waste as possible .