Insulating the heater on MY11

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ericsf

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 7, 2010
Messages
358
Location
San Francisco
Yesterday I finally got the time to tackle this small project I had in mind for a while now: insulating the heater's coolant pipes on my MY11 LEAF. Several pipes and a plastic tank are getting quite warm under the hood when the heater is running and I noticed there was no heat insulation other than a thin sleeve meshed fabric around the pipes. I suspect the heat loss in this area is probably a drop in the bucket but I don't think any drop should be wasted. I bought one piece of pipe insulation (self adhesive, 1in inside diameter) and a piece of fiberglass with one side foil from my local hardware store. The operation took me less than a couple of hours but I think that with good instructions it could be done in less than one:
- Run the heater for 5-10 min to locate the hot liquid circuit. Unplug the car.
- Disconnecting and removing the 12V battery.
- Detaching the fuse box on the front of the battery harness (clips) and a wire bunch clipped in 2 places.
- Remove the battery harness (4x 12mm bolts).
- Cutting the pipe insulation foam to length for different pipe sections (most 10-12 inches long) and wrapping the warm pipes with it. A handful of plastic clamps had to be opened to make it easier. The warn circuit starts underneath the battery, goes to a temperature sensor and up to the center of the cabin. Back out to the cabin to the tank in the front right and then straight down to the heater core.
- Removed the front cover (8 plastic locks) and unbolt the tank in the front right corner. Wrapped it with fiberglass, leaving the metal cap exposed. Hold it in place with pieces of Gorilla tape.
- Put everything back in.

Obviously I don't see any difference in heater electricity consumption but I already feel better knowing less of the heat is wasted warming up the outside air. Only thing is that I have to restore all my settings (timer, alerts, etc...) since the 12V was unplugged.
 
I'm curious, how much difference have you noticed (measured?). I was wondering how I'd measure the effect of adding insulation but I could not come up with any practical idea (i.e. something that would involve running the heater for hours in a climate controlled room).
 
Thought I'd try this on my 13 s but couldn't find anything hot under the hood after running the heater for half an hour. The coolant pipes are no longer routed under the battery. There are ins and outs for the motor and controller and the a/c but nothing specifically for the heater that I could find. Curious if anyone else has tried this with a 2013 model.
 
benburrell said:
Thought I'd try this on my 13 s but couldn't find anything hot under the hood after running the heater for half an hour. The coolant pipes are no longer routed under the battery. There are ins and outs for the motor and controller and the a/c but nothing specifically for the heater that I could find.
Probably why even people without the heat-pump report that the heater warms up much faster on the '13 LEAF...
 
AFAIK, there are no external pipes that [should] carry warm fluid. The front matrix, which acts as an evaporator in the heating mode, should be sending ambient fluid into the dashboard, and a matrix there then acts as a condenser, causing that fluid to release latent heat as it is pressurised into condensing there.
 
donald said:
AFAIK, there are no external pipes that [should] carry warm fluid. The front matrix, which acts as an evaporator in the heating mode, should be sending ambient fluid into the dashboard, and a matrix there then acts as a condenser, causing that fluid to release latent heat as it is pressurised into condensing there.
That's only w/the hybrid heat pump heater on '13+ SV and SL models. '11 and '12 along w/13+ S trims in the US don't have a heat pump heater.

http://www.mynissanleaf.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=6892" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; discusses the hot water heater in the '11 and '12 Leaf.
 
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