[llninja]

I was freezing cold in my garage, then realized I already owned a really nice space heater, my gen1 volt.I started the car while plugged in, opened all 4 windows and the hatch, set the fan as high as it would go and it warmed my garage nicely.

Amazingly, the guessometer didn't drop at all. Words of warning, make sure you disable the ICE from starting while plugged in with one of the config settings. I'm not sure if ERDTT might turn on if the garage got cold enough.

 

[edk-austin]

lol, like my $40K, 1KW home backup generator

 

[canehdian]

I'm tempted to do this at the cottage with AC if it's unbearably hot. Get a length of ducting and some plastic and bridge the car cabin to a window of the cottage. Voilà! Portable AC unit.

Also 1kW backup power unit via trunk inverter.

 

[llninja]

Unfortunately, I think if I were to attempt to use AC in the garage, it might be counter productive. The AC compressor would generate cold, but doesn't it's heat exchanger generate heat outside the car cabin, but in the engine bay, thus negating the cooling effects of the AC? Maybe I need to build a fancy duct with a fan to blow the warm air out the garage window like many indoor portable AC units. But that's like buying a 20K bobcat in order to grow farm fresh tomatoes in your garden - at some point the cost and work overwhelms the benefit.

 

[canehdian]

Yeah, in a closed space, AC won't work. Well, it will also work as a heater for you
You basically would have a dehumidifier, if you collected the condensation as it dripped from the bottom of the car.

Car would need to be outside and pump the air inside in order for that to work as a cooling device.

 

[llninja]

Speaking of pumping hot and cold air around, I've always wondered why they dont' put in vent pipes for ovens and refrigerators. it seems that ovens could vent the excess heat into the house in the winter and push the air out of the house during the summer while refrigerators could bring in cold air from the outside in the winter and seal itself off from that vent in the summer.

So in the summer, maybe someone can rig a hole in the wheel well are to send cold from a volt parked outdoors into the house. There have been plenty of folks who camp with their AC on all night (before that dreaded software update that also added the triple honk nanny warning)

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

We have an unheated garage. With a combination of the Volt, a Prius and occasionally opening the doors on any warmer days, the temperature has only dropped to the high 30s. I guess I could try using the Volt to heat the garage on weekends. It'd be off-peak electricity...

 

[llninja]

We have an unheated garage. With a combination of the Volt, a Prius and occasionally opening the doors on any warmer days, the temperature has only dropped to the high 30s. I guess I could try using the Volt to heat the garage on weekends. It'd be off-peak electricity...

I'll be heating my garage whenever I need it. I'm one of the lucky souls who has the same low rate whether it's day or night. I think I'm paying something like 8.9 center per kWh and with taxes and fees (and meter charge) it averages to something like 12 cents per kWh.

 

[ItsNotAboutTheMoney]

We have an unheated garage. With a combination of the Volt, a Prius and occasionally opening the doors on any warmer days, the temperature has only dropped to the high 30s. I guess I could try using the Volt to heat the garage on weekends. It'd be off-peak electricity...

I meant low 30s. It gets freezing, but not _proper_ cold.

 

[hiperco]

I was freezing cold in my garage, then realized I already owned a really nice space heater, my gen1 volt.I started the car while plugged in, opened all 4 windows and the hatch, set the fan as high as it would go and it warmed my garage nicely.

Amazingly, the guessometer didn't drop at all. Words of warning, make sure you disable the ICE from starting while plugged in with one of the config settings. I'm not sure if ERDTT might turn on if the garage got cold enough.

You lose efficiency due to conversion losses by using energy from the battery, it would be wiser to just run electric space heaters in your garage.

 

[accelerus]

When it gets cold here in N. Texas (rarely) I got a 7 dollar attachment for my dryer exhaust:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004YWK2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Really only good for electric dryers, but it's a flippable vent that can direct the dryer exhaust in your garage vs outside. Easy/cheap/works, and the dryer has a built in timer

I'd rather go this route for easy heat in the garage during winter time than have to mess with powering up the volt and remembering to shut it off too.

 

[llninja]

You lose efficiency due to conversion losses by using energy from the battery, it would be wiser to just run electric space heaters in your garage.

Efficiency aside, if I bought a $40 space heater, how many years would I have to use it to recoup $40 worth of losses due to efficiency? Plus a space heater would take up precious space unless I get one that is wall or ceiling mounted that costs more. Finally, if I run any power tools or an air compressor, I run the risk of popping a circuit breaker having the space heater on the same circuit. I have done a dance with an electric oil heater where I turn it off while using a power tool and turn the heater on when done with the tool, but it's a major pain in the ***.

No I'm just not going to worry about efficiencies with something I use maybe once a week or so.

 

[llninja]

When it gets cold here in N. Texas (rarely) I got a 7 dollar attachment for my dryer exhaust:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00004YWK2/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Really only good for electric dryers, but it's a flippable vent that can direct the dryer exhaust in your garage vs outside. Easy/cheap/works, and the dryer has a built in timer

I'd rather go this route for easy heat in the garage during winter time than have to mess with powering up the volt and remembering to shut it off too.

My dryer is in the house, not the garage. I'm not sure I want all that lint flying around. I've seen a contraption that you pour water into that helps trap the lint, similar to the way rainbow vacuums use water instead of a bag filter. But I don't even have a dryer hose behind my dryer. There's just a 6 inch pipe and the dryer pushes against the wall for a perfect fit. In the wall there is a 90 degree turn and about 3 feet before it goes out of the house.

 

[flyingsherpa]

You lose efficiency due to conversion losses by using energy from the battery, it would be wiser to just run electric space heaters in your garage.

And those conversion losses end up as... HEAT! Exactly what you're looking for anyway

 

[hiperco]

And those conversion losses end up as... HEAT! Exactly what you're looking for anyway

Only helpful if you're in the garage while it's charging

 

[llninja]

Only helpful if you're in the garage while it's charging

Reread the original post and you can olainly see the goal was to have a space heater for the garage, implying that I'd be in the garage to enjoy the heat.

 

[bluzer1]

Kudos for the tip Ilninja!
Had to do some detailed work in the garage and at nearly -20C outside and the attached garage being insulted but not heated it was below 0!
Turned on the car, put fan/temp on high, and opened the two doors facing me.
It raised the temp by about 15 degrees to ~12 and kept it there for the 2 1/2 hours I was working.
The app showed the SoC went from full to 83%, but well worth a few KWh.


Envoyé de mon iPhone en utilisant Tapatalk

 

[llninja]

Kudos for the tip Ilninja!
Had to do some detailed work in the garage and at nearly -20C outside and the attached garage being insulted but not heated it was below 0!
Turned on the car, put fan/temp on high, and opened the two doors facing me.
It raised the temp by about 15 degrees to ~12 and kept it there for the 2 1/2 hours I was working.
The app showed the SoC went from full to 83%, but well worth a few KWh.

Envoyé de mon iPhone en utilisant Tapatalk

Even at -12, I'd be inside the house enjoying a hot chocolate.

 

[colchiro]

Unfortunately, I think if I were to attempt to use AC in the garage, it might be counter productive. The AC compressor would generate cold, but doesn't it's heat exchanger generate heat outside the car cabin, but in the engine bay, thus negating the cooling effects of the AC?

Maybe that would heat up the garage quicker than just resistive?