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I have a very short drive to the train station each morning (which I do cycle when time/parenting responsibilities allow) which means the car doesn't heat up enough to clear the screen. I have had a look on Amazon and every single one I have seen gets dreadful reviews – can anyone recommend one that works? Ta.
Surely you mean you have to wait for a while before moving rather than the screen doesn't get clear by the time you get to the station or are you a letterbox driver?
Anyway the two methods that work --at opposite ends are chuck a fan heater in on an extension cord for 20 minutes prior to leaving
Fit an eberspacher /webasto standalone unit on a timer/remote.
If it plugs into the cigarette lighter then it doesn't work.
taxi?
Hot water bottle.
Take it to work and fill it up before your leave...assuming your train commute isn't 3hrs long it should still be hot enough when you get home and the car is less cold, generally.
Buy a Mondeo*. Problem solved.
* other non-Audi cars with heated windscreens are available.
A kettle of hot water poured steadily over the outside of the windscreen/windows.
And no, the windows won't crack, unless it's like -20.
I used a hot water bottle last winter its better than nothing but not much faster than sitting in the car with the engine running until the car warms up 5-10 minutes in my Peugeot 107. I've just switched to using a 1 litre Sigg type drinks bottle filled with boiling water, I put this on the dashboard with the blower on max and it warms the air enough to demist the inside of the glass in a couple of minutes.
I looked into this a couple of years back and couldn't find anything that got good reviews either. I ended up just getting one of the big reusable desiccant sachets from Tesco. Seems to work well enough to the inside of the windscreen doesn't get much condensation (or ice) and clears after a couple of minutes (before you set off driving obviously...). You do need to remember to stick them in the microwave to recharge them regularly though (I did it every night during the last winter cold spell).
Surely you mean you have to wait for a while before moving rather than the screen doesn’t get clear by the time you get to the station or are you a letterbox driver?
Yes this. Generally :-O
Buy a Mondeo
Yeah our other car (Volvo) has a quick clear screen and I love it. Definitely on my list of must haves when we eventually get rid of the knackered old second car that I use.
FuzzyWuzzy - that sounds like a good solution - I'll look into that.
Electric car with instant heater?
My wife and I find that Mondeo's heated windscreen is extremely distracting when driving in the dark and into low sun, because of the way the elements cause additional glare. It's not like it demists the windscreen any faster, when the car has aircon, an electric element in the heater so the blower is hot before the engine is warmed up anyway. When there is a frost you have t de-ice all the side windows anyway.
Yeah our other car (Volvo) has a quick clear screen and I love it.
Pinch that one then and leave your wife with the cold one.
Pinch that one then and leave your wife with the cold one.
Even if I could, I wouldn't want to leave the newer car in the train station car dump. It has marginally less chance of being damaged on the school run (although someone drove into the back of it yesterday when I was dropping the girls off and left without leaving any details).
My wife and I find that Mondeo’s heated windscreen is extremely distracting when driving in the dark
I don't find them at all distracting and never had TBH - I had a Puma with one of the earliest ones and it wasn't an issue and on the Volvo it's even more subtle.
Additional heater is common accessory in Nordic countries. They consist of wiring a small plug to bumper, optionally a battery charger, wiring another plug to passenger footwell and removable smallish heater unit bolted side of center console. Look for Defa or Calix brands.
Typically there is power outlet outside house for this purpose, often with timer. Junior drivers learn to disconnect the cord after paying for power outlet once.
Webasto / Eberspächer are nice too but will kill battery if the car is not driven enough.
is it just condensation?
i use some of those dehumidifier packets.
Desiccant pad ordered - I'll see how that one works out ta.
If the car has air con, turn that on full blast at the windscreen, it dries the air and thus demists the car, its the only reason I'd use it, even in summer. (it doesn't work in my scenic anyway).
If you dont have air con, you can get some rain x anti fog wipes. Clean the inside of the windscreen thoroughly first, wipe the inside with the wipe and then wipe it off with a clean cloth or rag and it dramatically reduces the time to demist it.
those anti fog wipes are rubbish because as soon as you whipe the screen it does into big blobs of water that you want get off and your worse off than when you started
its the only reason I’d use it
remind me never to buy a used car from you...
I start the car 5 minutes or so before leaving if its proper frosted up, but I have a longer drive so I'm not exactly doubling the rate at which I'm murdering the baby robins with emissions. I'm sure I'll be informed about premature engine wear by doing this, but I'm cool with that, on the six days a year it happens.
Electric car with instant heater?
I can set our Zoe warming up before leaving the house in the morning and ten minutes before getting back to it on an evening; it's one of the best things about it 🙂
I'd get a Zoe but for the silly battery rental cost. For the same (probably less) money I could get a very nice Focus or Fiesta with a heated screen.
It’s not like it demists the windscreen any faster, when the car has aircon, an electric element in the heater so the blower is hot before the engine is warmed up anyway
I find the exact opposite, they considerably speed up clearing the screen, and I don't have any glare issues.
fitted an electric windscreen to my land rover.
great for removing the frost from the inside on a regular basis.....left to its own devices with the engine on and the blower on max it might defrost by April.
no glare.
Depends on screen angle to the sun i find.
the hire focus i had with one was sodding awful for seeing the wires/glaring
when the car has aircon, an electric element in the heater
I am not aware of any cars that have this feature (I don't know why as it seems to make sense to me). From what I understand, they get the heat from the same source as a standard car heater (ie the engine's heat).
audi famously had one that liked to catch fire
resulted in a large recall.
I use a desicant pack that I got from Amazon, I think. It helps but doesn't sort the issues completely. I have to remember to stick it on the dashboard when I get out of the car in the evening, and I should probably 'recharge' it more often. I might buy another one to double up on the effort.
Following on from the cupboard with condensation thread.....I wonder if one of those tubular heaters stuck in the car with a timer would work? Stick it on a timer, so it's on for 30 mins before leaving the house....you'd obviously have to be able to run a mains lead into the car.....
Like this:
I've heard that cat litter works. Put some in an open bag under your windscreen (apparently).
There's a webasto in my van (it came with it) - impressive and would fix the OP's problem, but totally useless for me as the van is generally parked 10 mins from home, and although it has a timer I don't drive the van regularly. It's used most often when we sleep in it tbh, and it's not designed as a cab heater.
Sounds to me like you may have a damp issue in your car but with short journeys your car isn't getting chance to dry out.
We have the same with our Mazda. Sunroof has a tiny leak when raining parked downhill. There's mositure somewhere and if we don't run it on a longer trip then its a bugger to deal with the condensation in the winter. End up breaking out the small fan Fan heater if we end up with ice inside or dehumidifier to try and combat.
I watched a Mythbusters type thing about demisting and something about cold air being dryer has more ability to absorb water so more effective at defogging your windshield.
I used to use a 300watt kitchen skirting board fan heater in a Transit to preheat in winter.
when the car has aircon, an electric element in the heater
I am not aware of any cars that have this feature (I don’t know why as it seems to make sense to me).
It's not unusual but it rarely features in the car marketing specs for reasons known only to the manufacturers. We were talking to a dealer yesterday about a new car for Mrs R and he'd never heard of it either; yet my car has it and it's brilliant. Not that that helps with your problem...
Sounds to me like you may have a damp issue in your car but with short journeys your car isn’t getting chance to dry out.
Most probably - it is getting on a bit and rarely gets driven more than a few miles at a time (it only has 57k on the clock at nearly 12 years old and much of that was one in the first 4 or 5 years of it's life and its now very much the second car.
I watched a Mythbusters type thing about demisting and something about cold air being dryer has more ability to absorb water so more effective at defogging your windshield.
I thought it was warm air that can capture more moisture (hence massive tropical rainstorms) but opening windows to let cold air in (being drier as it can't hold moisture) helps as it replaces the relatively warmer / wetter air inside????
My wife and I find that Mondeo’s heated windscreen is extremely distracting when driving in the dark
Depends on the screen, the OEM one in my focus was barely visible, the replacement from autoglass is much thicker wire (and seems to be shinier copper too, the old one was a dull red). The new screen also seems to have a bit of a lens distortion effect, can't put my finger on it, but everything looks subtly different.
I thought it was warm air that can capture more moisture (hence massive tropical rainstorms) but opening windows to let cold air in (being drier as it can’t hold moisture) helps as it replaces the relatively warmer / wetter air inside????
Absolute Vs relative humidity.
Warm air is generally wetter as it has more capacity. So when they say 90% humidity that means the air is holding 90% of it's capacity. But when you cool it the capacity drops but the absolute humidity remains the same so the RH goes up.
Until you get condensation, that's how Air Con works, and dehumidifiers, blow warm air over a cold plate and all the water condenses, then blow it back over the hot plate to return it to the desired temperature.
So if you want to dry something out, put the air con and the heating on at the same time.
Same reason your skin dries out in winter, you're sat in a room with the heating on the same temperature as it is in summer, but the absolute humidity is still the same as it is outside where it's 0C (unless you live in a very well sealed house).
Remote Eberspächer heater on my T4 multivan. So obviously you need to buy an 18 year old German Spec LHD VW T4 Multivan.
Toasty warm in 5 minutes and can set it going from my bed, or set a timer if I can be bothered (I can’t) 👍
I have the same problem on my 2 minute drive to drop Micro Sims at nursery. I use a dehumidifier bag, leave it on the dash over night and it keeps the car dry enough that you don’t get too much condensation. It’s not perfect just acceptable. I then put it in the airing cupboard over the week end every few weeks. I demist the car fully whilst waiting for nursery to open.
Just noticed your post I missed whilst reading down, I think you will find that the cheapest option and acceptable.
perhaps it is that cold air has the ability to capture more moisture.. warm air is more saturated so less ability to remove mositure.
AC too.. my Subaru and Mazda both cycle the AC compressor when the air is set to windscreen.. was really annoying when the subarus AC clutch was on the way out and I'd get an intermittent screeching. Was an easy fix but I couldn't connect the dots without google.
Having not read the above, I use a bike drinking bottle with hot water from tap for iced windscreen. Then you don’t need to take the bottle back. Hold breath whilst in car turning it on so as not to compound the problem.
Whilst crossing a frozen America in old cars with no heater we found piping hot burritos were excellent on the dash.
If you have air con, always have it running - cars mist up fast if you only use it occasionally, as moisture will be in the venting system. Also ensures the air con seals are properly lubricated.
Don't have an issue, and my car is 16 years old.
Iced windows, pour warm water over it (like has been suggested) - works a treat, get in, drive.
remind me never to buy a used car from you…
Why?
(if you're trying to be smart, Im fully aware that the aircon needs to to be run regularly to move the oil about in the system to keep all the seals gas tight)
I though car aircons didn't work if the ambient temperature was below about 4c?
It was interesting this morning - I warmed the car up really well last night and blasted the aircon out at full temp to try to drive out some moisture. I got in this morning and the screen was perfectly clear but the moment I started the car up, the aircon blew on the screen and it misted up. It didn't take long to re-clear but it does show that the aircon is holding lots of moisture.
Log onto your car and set it to heat the screen and inside up to 21c about 15 minutes before you set off.
Fill a bottle with hot ish water (hotter than warm, definitely not boiling) pour over windscreen & or side windows, get in car drive off mist free.