Car heaters are not complicated systems. They take hot coolant from the engine, pass it through a small radiator called a heater core, and then use a blower motor to extract heat from the passenger compartment. The problem is that when this simple system breaks, it can cost hundreds or even thousands of dollars to repair.
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If you’re facing a thousand dollar repair bill, you might be wondering if there’s a real alternative to a car heater that works. The simple answer is that there are alternatives, but none of them can actually replace your car heater.
Some heater cores cost over a thousand dollars to replace. But while bypassing the heater core is a simple task that a mechanic can perform for just a half hour of work, the problem is that if you don’t fix your car heater and winter comes around, you’ll have the small problem of driving around in a vehicle that’s freezing cold inside.
The easy solution is to install a 12V car heater, connect it directly to the electrical system and you're done. The problem is that electric heaters can't compete with heaters that use hot engine fluid as a heat source.
