Alternative to Remote Starter

Your "electric heater on a timer" plan would require leaving the vehicle turned on all day. In such cold temperatures, the catalytic converter and the Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) would quickly cool below operating temps., and the car would fire up the ICE throughout the day to keep them warm enough.

In addition, every bit of energy you pull out of the HV battery (through the 12V converter) will eventually be replaced by running extra gasoline through the ICE while driving.

The combination of the ICE running on and off throughout the day and the energy pulled out of the battery that will need to be replaced with gasoline are likely to significantly offset (and possibly exceed) any fuel you might otherwise save as compared to a remote start.

 

I suspect that most people who use an inverter connected to the 12V system for assess to 110V are using it either in a locked garage (connected to their house) or in situations where they are constantly in the immediate vicinity of the vehicle (camping, picnicking, etc).

If you intend to leave the vehicle unattended without significant investment in modification or security measures, then yes, manually locking the doors is the extent of the security measures available to you.

Of course, if someone does drive off, they won't be able to restart the car once they turn it off. Also, the majority of the time that someone might be walking by the ICE will not be running, so there is a good chance that they won't realize the vehicle is on.

Unless someone has specifically targeted you or your vehicle, there are a few conditions that will need to be met for your car to be stolen.

1) Of all the vehicles in the area that might be stolen (vehicles started with remote starts, people leaving their vehicle running with the key inside, older vehicles that might be hot-wired, etc) Someone who is willing to steal a vehicle just happens to be walking by your vehicle.

2) That person just happens to be walking by during one of the brief time periods when the ICE is running, so they know your car is on.

3) That person tries the handles and finding them locked, is willing to break the window (hoping not to draw any attention) to gain access to the car.

You'll have to decide what the risk level is based on the crime rate in the area where you park the car as well as likelihood that a potential thief might be walking next to your car.

 

I don't live in Canada so I don't have the DRL's, but in most vehicles in the states the DRL's will usually turn off if the parking brake is engaged while in Park.

 

Oops, I hadn't noticed that you were in Canada.

Yep, not only will people be reporting that you left your lights on, but those lights will draw down the HV battery even when your electric heater hasn't been turned on yet. As such, the vehicle may need to fire up the ICE a few times during the day to replenish the energy lost to the lights. That's more gasoline wasted that might cut into any potential savings over the remote start.

 

This is a bad idea. You don't save anything, and grossly increase the complexity and weight. If you must preheat your car away from home, the remote starter is a better option. Either way you are burning fuel.

Tom

 

Being in Texas, im in an opposite climate situation... But, I do at times have to leave my car on when the dog is in it so that the A/C will continue to run and it does so very well. What I do with the Smart Key System (SKS) is just use the brake pedal and power button to put the car in ready mode, set the A/C and get out of the car, remove the mechanical key from the FOB and use it to lock the drivers door, all doors should lock. Replace mechanical key back into the FOB and go about your business. This I only do in situations where I am not far from the car and especially around trusted people/areas. I really only lock the doors on the car so that somone doesn't open it and have the dog get out. This is also done usually only at dog events (such as lure coursing) where people know my dog will be fine in my car, otherwise people might break a window or something to 'save the dog' from melting in the abandoned air conditioned car not knowing that it was air conditioned.

If you are worried about the car having a window broken and being stolen, probably the easiest thing you could do is use an "Auto Club Brake Lock" which you put on the floor behind the brake pedal and pull up on it until it locks behind the pedal. That way the brake pedal cannot be pressed, if the brake pedal cannot be pressed then the car cannot change out of park. As far as the broken window goes, the only thing I can think of is to possibly wire up an alarm system in such a way that it can be armed even when the car is turned on, and you can add a glass-break sensor or even proximity sensors with audible warning to let a potential thief know that he's about to set off an alarm. You could even use one of those alarm systems that has the remote/pager that will alert you if the alarm is tripped.

For your heater setup it sounds like building a battery pack that is completely independent from anything in the car and just plugin and charge it at home would be the best option, that way you don't have to worry about remotely starting your car, worrying about it being stolen or even broken into and you won't have to worry about fuel consumption or any other potential harm that can be caused from modification.

 

Yes it works. If handbrake set and lights not on "AUTO" mode, you can start your Prius with no DRL. At least my 2005 does so.

Why not try 12 volts car heaters instead of going through an inverter ?? Wouldn't it be more "effective"

Check the consumption for your required "heating" and recharge your deep cycle batteries with an onboard charger once back at home ??!


Personally I chose the remote starter but I use it occasionnally.

 

Hum okay, the one I saw where 12volts 120watts for 29$ .... maybe you can intall many of them (5-6) ?? Again because I think it would be more "efficient" but I have not done all the calculation.

When at home I use a 900/1500 watts 110v heater fitted permanently in the back of my Prius (I'll try to have pics). It's plugged with a "Y" extension cord to my block heater.

I use a home timer and run it 2 hours @ 900 watts before I leave in the morning. I did not measure the temp delta but it is really "warm" compared to the outdoor temp, around -10c this week. (I will measure it tomorrow morning with my digital thermometer and reply).

When it is colder, I switch to 1500 watts and it does the job.

 

Sure, an electronic one bought at Canadian Tire, I'll take pics tonight.

I think it could be cheaper with relay(s).

 

See attached my heater fixed in the back of my Prius.

Also my timer made by Woods available at Canadian Tire and Walmart 110v 1875watts / 15 amp.

and tomorrow I'll update with the temperature delta

 

You should look at the battery box that Cheap! built for his custom made PHEV setup. I know he was using several smaller batteries and you're probably intending on using just a few larger batteries, but you may be able to build a setup to contain your batteries safely in a similar fashion.

http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-m...ial-prius-plus-mods-thread-14.html#post424993

 

a remote starter would be soo much easier...

in non freezing temps, my prius burns about 1 gallon every 12 hours.. so.. let's say it's freezing or below.. and it's 1 gallon every 6 hours... or less *shrug*

that's a lot of warmups...