Temperatures have been in the high teens and low 20s (Fahrenheit) when I begin the morning commute in my new Prius. So far I've resisted the temptation of letting the car warm up before I climb in, but it seems to take FOREVER for the heater to get warm enough to make my feet comfortable. More than half of the commute (roughly 25 miles out of 50) is on secondary roads, which gives me pretty nice gas mileage, but that seems to mean that the heater doesn't get a chance to warm up for a long time. Is there anything I can do, other than wearing outdoor boots and changing into shoes when I reach my office? Would blocking the grille with pipe insulation, as described elsewhere on Priuschat, help? Thanks in advance, --Joe
Hmm... around 0°C (or thereabouts) and with the grille blocked and the car driven the night before (say... a 8-10 hour difference since I last stopped the car the night before), the car blows warm air to my feet within 25 blocks uphill or about 5-8 mins. For the first 7 blocks, the climate control is off. In between it's luke warm. The grill block might help the engine warm up faster. An EBH will definitely help get heat faster since the engine's pre-heated.
Sounds like the first thing to do would be the grill block. (It is also the lowest cost approach). If no joy (or not enough joy), then the block heater should get you to a solution.
Thanks -- and some more questions. Guess I should try blocking the grille before anything more drastic or expensive. When I lived in Maine and northern New Hampshire, EBHs were pretty common, but that seems a bit drastic this far south. Should I turn up the blower fan? And what about recirculating the air vs. bringing in fresh air? --Joe
Hi BoltonJoe, Nice to see another MA Prius owner! Welcome to Priuschat. It got down to 14F the other night around here, so I know it was colder where you are(assuming from your name). Definitely block the grill AND get an engine block heater in and you will see a lot of difference. As long as the temp stays below 40F and you're not doing any steep hills your coolant temps should be OK. I don't have a garage so I use an extension cord. May look wierd to the neighbors but it works for me. How's your mpg doing? Mine's lousy in this cold, but it will jump back up in the spring. I can't wait for spring.
Yeah a whole piece of pipe insulation is <$2 with taxes and you only need ¼ to ½ of that roll. Well every bit helps right? The faster your engine gets to operating temperature, the more heat you get and the less fuel you waste. No. Keep the fan speed low. Recirc. If anything, just leave it in AUTO. It'll keep the fan off til it's warm enough then it'll start blow warm air to your feet.
I leave the climate control system on "auto". My grill is blocked. At an ambient of -20C Pearl will blow nice hot air after 6 blocks. The fan comes on after 4 blocks, but blows cool air (coolant temp at 45C). Once the coolant is at 50C or so the air it blows is nice and hot. This is in the city. If I have to wait at a light before it's warm it doesn't continue to warm past 40C coolant temp, so I get no heat in the cabin. Until the light changes and I get to drive. If you let the car idle to warm it up you probably will not get heat until you drive it. I don't.
Progress report--Doh! I'm a Prius newbie, and this thread proves it. This morning was even colder than yesterday. But I didn't turn on the heat until the car had driven several miles, and I remembered to set the air to "recirculate." And, guess what? My feet weren't frozen. BTW, even in cold weather, without blocking the grille (yet), my mileage per gallon has been increasing with each fill-up (only two so far). I've gone from 39.3 to 43.8. And I still haven't quite reached the 800-miles (broken-in) point. Maybe it's the smugness that's keeping me warm! --Joe
