I have had heated leather seats for years. Won't be without them in winter. They are on permanently on the lowest setting and make my back much better.
Strangely I have never had the 'wetting myself' feeling - I just feel nice and warm.
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Am I alone in remembering the paraffin heaters that were made with a low profile to slip under the sump/engine of a car to warm them up before starting. There was one in every Grandad's/Uncle's garage in the 50s/60s.
It must show something about the forum posters age that the first thought on feeling that warmth is a loss of bladder control... still it waits for us all at the end.
I would not say seat heaters are make or break in car choice but ther do go hand in hand with leather seats which can be cold in the winter. Not so chilly with trousers but a shock for the mini-skirt wearers.
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I have had heated leather seats on quite a few cars including my current ones but never seem to have felt the urge to use the heaters despite sometimes using them in cold places. But then, as pointed out above, I almost never wear mini skirts.
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Wifey must have blue blood or something as she's perpetually cold...she swears by them. Personally i'm completely indifferent, but it wouldn't be in my interests to buy another car without them, if you get my drift.
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>>Am I alone in remembering the paraffin heaters that were made with a low profile ..>>
I can remember my father taking out the Austin 8's spark plugs during the winter and heating them in the oven...:-)
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I had to do that on a 1983 austin maestro.
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Had to do that on cold days on an otherwise reliable 1980 Maxi until I found pouring a kettle of hot water over the inlet manifold worked a treat in the winter to help starting.
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I can remember my father taking out the Austin 8's spark plugs during the winter and heating them in the oven...:-)
I told a colleague, who was complaining about his battery performance during very cold weather we were having, that they suffered due to cold and would work better if warm.
Next day in work he told me he'd put the battery in the oven for a bit and his car had started fine that morning! Thinking about it still sends shivers down my spine.
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Am I alone in remembering the paraffin heaters that were made with a low profile to slip under the sump/engine of a car to warm them up before starting. There was one in every Grandad's/Uncle's garage in the 50s/60s.
I have one of these "sump heaters" hidden away somewhere.
The key features were, as you say, very low profile but also no bare flame as there was a mesh over all the holes the cover.
Just like this
www.parasene.com/images/pi_sml206.jpg
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Dad had a long electric pipe thing (similar to those tube heaters you can buy today)... and a large tray with sand in it to collect the oil which seemed to drip from the sumps of all the British made cars of the time...
(And yes I have stuck a tray (with kitty litter) under the Maxi, though to be honest there's only the odd drop, they must have been getting better towards the end of the 70s!!)
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I have a low profile Desmo paraffin heater. Use it to keep minimal heat in greenhouse all winter.
Leather seats in the UK in winter and no seat heater gives you piles :-)
Edited by madf on 28/11/2009 at 15:47
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>>(And yes I have stuck a tray (with kitty litter) under the Maxi, though to be honest there's only the odd drop, they must have been getting better towards the end of the 70s!!)
Invariably the gear-change-rod oil seal where it went in the gearbox. I used to do mine annually before cobbling a length of bike inner tube to act as a dust cover. IIRC later models had a rubber bellows type arrangement.
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