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On 20 Dec 2005 at 10:36, Michael Cecil wrote: > I think all my cars heaters have used electric elements in their > heaters, other than my air-cooled VWs. I doubt if this is correct. The fan is certainly electric, but in all water cooled cars that I'm aware of the heat comes from the cooling water. The electric power required to provide significant heat would dwarf almost any conceivable charging system, and this energy would have to come from engine power rather than from waste heat. Consider that a good sized hair dryer consumes 1500 Watts, while our type 3 generators put out a total of 450 watts. My impression is that the largest alternators out there are about 3000 watts, but you'd probably need 4000-5000 watts just for heat alone. -- Jim Adney jadney@vwtype3.org Madison, WI 53711-3054 USA ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~