aftermarket electric heating

[richmoylan]

Hello, I was wondering if many people have used electric heaters in their corvairs and what they did with the original heater channels and vents? I was thinking of installing one of those electric heaters on eBay that are advertised for campervans I thought about installing it behind the rear seat and putting some pipes down to the channels that run on the sides of the floorpan so I could still use the vent controls to decide which way the hot air should blow.

Would their be any issue with this and any issue with blocking the vents that come through the firewall?

[Scott V]

on a cold day the electric heaters will only put out enough heat to take the chill off . if its a real cold day........the electric heaters wont do much - heating wise.

the stock heater works real good if all the parts are installed like when it left the factory.

your engine needs to be sealed up w/all the tin in place. it also needs to be clean......a greasy/oily/dirty/leaking engine will make a stinky heater.

-Scott V.

[66vairguy]

Electric heat is not efficient. However some folks don't seem to mind being cold and say the electric heaters are fine.

Basically an electric heater that will run off a Corvair electrical system, and allow other Corvair electrical items to work, is only going to put out about 200Watts - if that. Your common household hair drier puts out over 1,000 Watts and that would barely heat up a car on a cold Winter day. If you only plan on driving in 50F plus temps, then an electric heater will take the chill off and maybe clear the windshield IF it's up close to the front of the car. If you run the hot air through the duct from the back seat a lot of thee heat will be dissipated before it gets up to the front of the car.

I had one fellow who was going to install a BIG separate alternator, but when I worked out the horsepower needed to make it all work he decided the power loss and cost was not worth the effort.

When the engine oil leaks are fixed, the ducts and heater box are repaired (and cleaned) the Corvair heater works very well.

[richmoylan]

I guess I should try sort out all the heater duct parts then.

Thanks for your replies

[lostboy]

I have a little truck can heater that works ok if it's above 40. Anything colder and it's worthless.


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