How to heat the Leaf quickly

I was hoping that since it was using electric heating that the Leaf was really easy to heat. When I'm plugged, I try to boast the temp as high as possible to heat the cabin before to leave, but I don't feel the heat at all. Is there something that I'm doing wrong?

vdussault said:

I was hoping that since it was using electric heating that the Leaf was really easy to heat. When I'm plugged, I try to boast the temp as high as possible to heat the cabin before to leave, but I don't feel the heat at all. Is there something that I'm doing wrong?

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Not taking your quinine tablets ?

I'd heard that when you remotely engage climite control or use a climate control timer, the settings are all fixed, and the temperatue setting is in the high 70s (Fahrenheit). That's what it seems to be for me anyway

It only has one temperature setting when remotely turned on:

25C / 77F

When plugged in, the Leaf won't actually run the heater or A/C unless it is actually charging. The solution is to either remotely start climate control, or unplug it and turn the car on and start the heater. Just keep in mind that the heater takes a few minutes to warm up before you get any heat - its heater uses the same system as in a gasoline fueled vehicle, so you still have the warm-up time to endure.

johnr said:

When plugged in, the Leaf won't actually run the heater or A/C unless it is actually charging. The solution is to either remotely start climate control, or unplug it and turn the car on and start the heater. Just keep in mind that the heater takes a few minutes to warm up before you get any heat - its heater uses the same system as in a gasoline fueled vehicle, so you still have the warm-up time to endure.

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It is not the same system at all. An ICE pulls heat off the engine - the Leaf has no engine to pull heat from. It is an electric heater, but it does take some time for it to warm up, and the vents to warm up so it feels like warm air.

If the OP has no heat at any time, the heater is not working correctly. I also tried to use the climate control while plugged in but couldn't get the A/C to come on, so the OP is not alone on trying to figure this out. Seems like the timer or remote starting is needed, but check the priority if you need a full charge since the heater will pull some power from the wall, but it will also pull some from the battery if cabin heat is prioritized.

vdussault said:

I was hoping that since it was using electric heating that the Leaf was really easy to heat. When I'm plugged, I try to boast the temp as high as possible to heat the cabin before to leave, but I don't feel the heat at all. Is there something that I'm doing wrong?

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Preheat it using the web/app for 15 to 20 minutes before leaving. It gets the car quite hot.

Caracalover said:

johnr said:

Just keep in mind that the heater takes a few minutes to warm up before you get any heat - its heater uses the same system as in a gasoline fueled vehicle, so you still have the warm-up time to endure.

Click to expand...

It is not the same system at all. An ICE pulls heat off the engine - the Leaf has no engine to pull heat from. It is an electric heater, but it does take some time for it to warm up, and the vents to warm up so it feels like warm air.

Click to expand...

I'll give the edge to johnr on this one. There is no engine, but just like a gas car there is "coolant", i.e. diluted antifreeze, which has to get heated up somehow, and there is a heater core which transfers the heat from the coolant to the air that is about to be blown into the cabin. The coolant used by the heater comes from the same reservoir as that used to cool the electric motor, the inverter, and even the charger, so it can be heated by those components. Thus the heater system itself is very similar to a gas car. However, when stopped or moving slowly there is no heat coming from the charger and little if any coming from the motor or inverter, so an electric heating coil is used to heat the coolant that will warm the air. Like a gas car, it takes time for the coolant to heat up, so you don't feel the heat nearly as quickly as you would if it were a purely electric heater.

The bottom line, as both of you said, is that it takes a while before you feel the heat. If you warm up a gas car before leaving you can get heat immediately. The LEAF equivalent is to preheat, preferably while plugged in.

Ray

johnr said:

Just keep in mind that the heater takes a few minutes to warm up before you get any heat - its heater uses the same system as in a gasoline fueled vehicle, so you still have the warm-up time to endure.

Click to expand...

Caracalover said:

It is not the same system at all. An ICE pulls heat off the engine - the Leaf has no engine to pull heat from. It is an electric heater, but it does take some time for it to warm up, and the vents to warm up so it feels like warm air.

Click to expand...

planet4ever said:

I'll give the edge to johnr on this one. There is no engine, but just like a gas car there is "coolant", i.e. diluted antifreeze, which has to get heated up somehow, and there is a heater core which transfers the heat from the coolant to the air that is about to be blown into the cabin. The coolant used by the heater comes from the same reservoir as that used to cool the electric motor, the inverter, and even the charger, so it can be heated by those components.

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I don't think that's right. AFAICT, the service manual shows two different circuits (pump, tank, heat exchanger) for the motor/inverter/charger (HCO-5) and for the heater core (HA-26). Each circuit shows a "degas"/reservoir tank, but the coolant & heater fluid diagrams indicate they're separate and different. I'm out of town and LEAF-less right now so I can't physically verify; it'd be good if someone can pop the hood and verify that there are two separate reservoirs.

aqn said:

planet4ever said:

The coolant used by the heater comes from the same reservoir as that used to cool the electric motor, the inverter, and even the charger, so it can be heated by those components.

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I don't think that's right. AFAICT, the service manual shows two different circuits (pump, tank, heat exchanger) for the motor/inverter/charger (HCO-5) and for the heater core (HA-26). Each circuit shows a "degas"/reservoir tank, but the coolant & heater fluid diagrams indicate they're separate and different.

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Technically, I believe I am right, but from a practical standpoint, you may be closer to the truth, Andy. Here is a quote from page HA-43 of the 2011 service manual:

NOTE:
Heater system and high voltage cooling system share the reservoir tank. Refer to HCO-10, "Inspection".

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(Section HA covers heater and A/C. Section HCO covers the cooling system for the traction motor, inverter, DC/DC junction box, and charger.)

Andy is right that the service manual shows two separate circuits with separate pumps. Only the reservoir is shared, and there may be little if any heat transfer through it. So I confess to fudging a bit in my previous post. But I still think johnr is basically right. The coolant-based heater system is the reason for the slow warm-up time.

Ray

A few days ago someone commented to me that since I have an electric car, it must be nice not having to wait for warm-up before the heater comes on. I was embarrassed to have to tell him it's not exactly like that

johnr said:

A few days ago someone commented to me that since I have an electric car, it must be nice not having to wait for warm-up before the heater comes on. I was embarrassed to have to tell him it's not exactly like that

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Add, in a LEAF..... Other EVs heat up in seconds.

johnr said:

A few days ago someone commented to me that since I have an electric car, it must be nice not having to wait for warm-up before the heater comes on. I was embarrassed to have to tell him it's not exactly like that

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Just use pre-heat, either by Carwings (app or website) or timer. I use the Carwings app in the morning 10 or 15 minutes before I leave and have the timer set for when I normally leave work Mon-Fri. I always get into a nice comfy car. Much better than any ICE vehicle.

the manual states clearly that when using the heater, the fan does NOT come on until the car has heated the coolant to avoid blowing cold air into the cabin.
if you are getting no air, then you havent waited long enough.
I had the impatience issue and was helped by reading threads here and also going to the dealer, where my system checked out OK.

Now, I turn on auto, set a temp and am patient.
On days when I dont want to wait, I pre-heat.

thankyouOB said:

the manual states clearly that when using the heater, the fan does NOT come on until the car has heated the coolant to avoid blowing cold air into the cabin.
if you are getting no air, then you havent waited long enough.
I had the impatience issue and was helped by reading threads here and also going to the dealer, where my system checked out OK.

Now, I turn on auto, set a temp and am patient.
On days when I dont want to wait, I pre-heat.

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My '78 Mercedes was like this too. You could turn the heat on but it wouldn't start blowing air around until it detected the temp to be high enough. A lot of people new to the classic would think there was something wrong with their cars since the blower didn't come on right away. That car was actually ahead of its time in many ways.

It also does not heat when in ECO, only D.

Like others have said, use the preheat with a timer while plugged in -- it heats the coolant much quicker than using the battery and saves you range. It doesn't really seem to draw much current either so start it earlier so it's ready when you are. And if you don't use it that day, oh well.

johnr said:

A few days ago someone commented to me that since I have an electric car, it must be nice not having to wait for warm-up before the heater comes on. I was embarrassed to have to tell him it's not exactly like that

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Well you do have the option to preheat. And IMO the Leaf heater does warm as fast or faster than the other vehicles I drive.

Q: "How to Heat the Leaf Quickly."

A; Move to Florida. :lol:

preheating if plugged to power takes 5 minutes before warm air is blowing. there is no reason to preheat longer than 10 minutes. your Leaf is very poorly insulated so any "heat soaking" will be lost within a minute of you hitting the "cold dark world"

as far as heating up coolant. all i can say is it aint heating up much because it takes only a few minutes to lose most of the heat buildup. the heating system in the Leaf definitely needs work. my Lowly Zenn (i wish i had checked on the heating system it had) was a joke but only in the fan sense which had pretty low air flow plus the car itself had air leaks (did not leak water!) but you could feel warmth from it in about a minute so it was heating nothing but coils thru what i would guess to be nothing but hollow tubing in primitive heat exchanger

DaveinOlyWA said:

preheating if plugged to power takes 5 minutes before warm air is blowing. there is no reason to preheat longer than 10 minutes.

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Depends on the outside temperature. In 0 F weather with ice on the windshield, 10 minutes just barely begins to melt the ice. At least 20 minutes is neccessary here now.

Here is my solution to get instant heat.



From Harbor Freight for $10-15 depending on sale/coupons.

As you can see I also installed the Seat Heaters front and also in the back. As a result I never have to waste energy or fog up the windows with the preheat option. Where I live I don't have good ATT coverage and it would take forever to get the app to work and send the command to the car. It also seemed that once it was turned on one day it would think it was turned on the next and I would need to turn it off (ever though it was off) to clear the bad status and then it would turn on again (if ATT could connect). Using UPDATE did not help. Total waste of time and energy.

Jim