On a different note, I found out that my car has an electric cabin heater. After reading a bit it turns out that all diesel-engined Pugs have it installed, but only the ones for northern countries (Scandinavia) have it activated. It has three heating elements which total about 1000 watts and it is turned on automatically (if it is activated in the car's software) by the car's computer when defrosting the front windshield. The number of heating elements that get used depends on the temperature. I thought about getting it activated, but then decided that first I'll try to rig up a manual switch for it. That way it will turn on and (just as important) off when
I want, not when some engineers thought it appropriate. The down side is that I'll need to find the relay box and correct wires to tap into, and it's a bit cold for hours spent working on the car outside. On the other hand, waiting till spring is beside the point.
OK, so I know that turning an electric heater on will put a load on the engine and increase my fuel consumption, but I drive the turbodiesel so efficiently that there isn't enough waste heat for heating when the temperature is below freezing. Also, now that we have a small child, Mrs P will be demanding more heat, so the engine be robbed of what it is barely holding on to. My logic is as follows: Turning on the electric heater will take less heat from the coolant, plus the extra load on the engine will maybe allow its temp to stay closer to optimal. Also, even though I try my best (I have a
dash sock!), I still get frost on the inside of the windshield, so the electric heater will reduce idling on a few mornings. To keep the electric heater from being abused I'll have to tell Mrs P that it can only be used during very low temperatures, and only shortly, to reduce risk of overheating (not far from the truth, actually).