When I drive for work at the end of my shift I turn on the heater full blast to cool the engine before I park I assume the heating system gets heat from the engine but since this is a prius maybe the heating system works different. My questions are Does the heater get heat from the engine? Would running the heater full blast for 20 min while driving cause and inverter failure? Thanks
The heater does get heat from the engine. Early, before the engine warms up, the heater can get around 700 watts of electric heat. 700 watts is tiny, compared to the heat from the engine, which is around 5300 watts once the engine's warmed up. The 700 watt electric heat turns off once the engine is warm. And it isn't used in ECO mode at all. Nothing you do with the heater will cause an inverter failure.
