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.

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.