12 volt heated blanket x 4

LeftieBiker said:

Still wonder if there is a way to enable this trick on a SV/SL model.....anyone else with those models using this partial recirc trick and if so how do you turn it on?

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It works fine on my 2013 SV. Just remember that it only works in the modes that allow recirculation to be selected, as already noted. That means it will work in floor only mode (which will keep the windshield defogged at moderate or higher fan speeds), but not in floor + defrost.

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Interesting, I cannot get my '12 SL to enter partial recirc no matter what I try :?
What button are you holding down(I assume recirc but I tried both that and the fresh air button)? Maybe it's a '12 and older thing that doesn't work....yes I tried it in full floor heat mode but still a no-go. I suppose it could be a SL thing too but I'd think the SV and SLs would act pretty similar...

You first press Recirc to engage it, then press and hold the same button again, until the light on it flashes twice (or maybe three times - I forget). It may well be a change that was implemented in the 2013 refresh.

LeftieBiker said:

You first press Recirc to engage it, then press and hold the same button again, until the light on it flashes twice (or maybe three times - I forget). It may well be a change that was implemented in the 2013 refresh.

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OK just went out and tried it again following your instructions.......and it worked! Note both recirc and fresh air lights flashed a few times and in the end it now shows fresh air, but I assume it's partial recirc
I thought I tried all possible combinations yesterday but must have not tried what you said, thanks!
I'm guessing I may have been in fresh air mode and tried holding recirc button down instead of already being in recirc before I did the extended button thing....

Grousa said:

PianoAl said:

Welcome!

Here are two ideas for you, one I use already and another I plan to use.

1. Preheat the car with house power. You can set this up automatically with the LEAF, but I have a system that's easier. I put a safe space heater in the car, plugged into the wall, and I run it for 20 minutes before a trip. Works great! My heater even has a thermostat, so it doesn't get too hot for my hot-flashing wife.

2. Electric blankets are nice, but notice that you have four very efficient heaters already in the car, that is, two kids and one grandma! Get some really thick wool blankets, and you'll keep your four heat sources happy and cozy with no impact on range!

I'm guessing that they'll heat up faster with a thick blanket than with several blankets powered through 12V.

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PianoAL,

Being tight an all, did'nt really want to buy a heater
When plugged in you can press start button twice (with foot off the brake) and go into PS mode then just initiate full heat for 15 minutes, I don't think it depletes battery charge but I'll double check that.

Frosty mornings I've been setting the climate timer

And yes three good human heaters but Grandma's internal heater don't seem to work so good evan after a supercharged porridge boost

Thick blankets are a good idea though

Cheers
Grousa

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My understanding is that unless the car is actually charging, the heater power will come from the battery, not the wall. Correct??!

And, rummage sales are the places to get space heaters FTW!

PianoAl said:

Grousa said:

PianoAl said:

Welcome!

Here are two ideas for you, one I use already and another I plan to use.

1. Preheat the car with house power. You can set this up automatically with the LEAF, but I have a system that's easier. I put a safe space heater in the car, plugged into the wall, and I run it for 20 minutes before a trip. Works great! My heater even has a thermostat, so it doesn't get too hot for my hot-flashing wife.

2. Electric blankets are nice, but notice that you have four very efficient heaters already in the car, that is, two kids and one grandma! Get some really thick wool blankets, and you'll keep your four heat sources happy and cozy with no impact on range!

I'm guessing that they'll heat up faster with a thick blanket than with several blankets powered through 12V.

Click to expand...

PianoAL,

Being tight an all, did'nt really want to buy a heater
When plugged in you can press start button twice (with foot off the brake) and go into PS mode then just initiate full heat for 15 minutes, I don't think it depletes battery charge but I'll double check that.

Frosty mornings I've been setting the climate timer

And yes three good human heaters but Grandma's internal heater don't seem to work so good evan after a supercharged porridge boost

Thick blankets are a good idea though

Cheers
Grousa

Click to expand...

My understanding is that unless the car is actually charging, the heater power will come from the battery, not the wall. Correct??!

And, rummage sales are the places to get space heaters FTW!

Click to expand...

yes

I'll do the definitive test tomorrow: After charging is complete, I'll turn on the heat and watch the house's electric meter.

My defrost solution: Punch the defrost button, and after the fog has cleared (about ten seconds) punch it off.

Grandma's internal heater don't seem to work so good even after a supercharged porridge boost

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How many bars does she have?

And, rummage sales are the places to get space heaters FTW!

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Look for ceramic heaters. Two 200 watt Lasko (?) "My Heat" units work well, albeit they lack thermostats and tip-over switches. The topic "Heater In A Box" may interest you.

This morning, with the LEAF all charged up, I turned on the heat in the car.

The house's power meter didn't show an increase in power, and the "charging" light didn't go on on the EVSE.

So, I conclude that I can't preheat with wall power once the car is done charging.

But, the space heater thing works great, I've done it many times. The heater I use has a thermostat.

PianoAl said:

This morning, with the LEAF all charged up, I turned on the heat in the car.

The house's power meter didn't show an increase in power, and the "charging" light didn't go on on the EVSE.

So, I conclude that I can't preheat with wall power once the car is done charging.

But, the space heater thing works great, I've done it many times. The heater I use has a thermostat.

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Just cycle the cord going to the car(unplug then replug) and the power should start drawing from the EVSE. Note if you have a timer set on your Leaf you may need to first push the timer override button.
Lastly the car should be OFF during the cycling, once plugged in you can turn the car back on and turn on the heat and it should start heating.
It's been my finding that if you plug the car in while the car is ON nothing will really happen, the car needs to be OFF first and then you can turn the car ON if you want..

To get a preheat, but still have a 100% charge in the morning, I'm using both the cars timer and my Juicebox Pro's timer.

My commute in the winter with the heat on is requiring 4:20- 4:30 of charging time. I'm down to 10 miles range when I get home.

When I used to just charge immediately when I got home and the preheat kicked in, I was left with around 95-98% depending on how cold it is.

What I do is set the preheat of the leaf to 6:50, knowing I'm leaving at 7:20. That allows the car to complete the preheat AND since the Juicebox didn't complete the charge cycle before the preheat started, I'm leaving the house with a warm car at 100%.

I also have a Yeti 1250 ordered and a couple of cheap ceramic heaters. I'll report back in a few weeks on the success of augmenting the car's 3000W heater with this portable non-emission generator/battery pack. I can deplete the Yeti on the way to work, charge it in the office, then run it again on the way home. I'd be happy with just another 5-10 miles capacity added.

PianoAl said:

This morning, with the LEAF all charged up, I turned on the heat in the car.

The house's power meter didn't show an increase in power, and the "charging" light didn't go on on the EVSE.

So, I conclude that I can't preheat with wall power once the car is done charging.

But, the space heater thing works great, I've done it many times. The heater I use has a thermostat.

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try restarting the charge. simply unplug it and plug it back in, then start the car and heat

jjeff said:

Just cycle the cord going to the car(unplug then replug) and the power should start drawing from the EVSE. Note if you have a timer set on your Leaf you may need to first push the timer override button.
Lastly the car should be OFF during the cycling, once plugged in you can turn the car back on and turn on the heat and it should start heating.
It's been my finding that if you plug the car in while the car is ON nothing will really happen, the car needs to be OFF first and then you can turn the car ON if you want..

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Ah, nice. I'll try that.

1. Car off
2. Unplug and replug
3. Turn off timed charging??
4. Turn on car
5. Turn on heat
6. Finish breakfast
7. Get in warm car.

Also, I've heard that "topping off" is bad. Will the procedure above avoid the problems with "topping off"?

Sorry about the "how many bars does grandma have" joke. Went a little too far, there.

If you have the 80% charge option and are using that, don't worry about 'topping off' except in hot weather when the pack is hot.

Personally I use the 80% charge option on both my Leafs when I can so it's not really topping off the battery. Also depending on the amperage of your EVSE you may actually lose charge during heating so your not really topping things off. Now that it's below zero in my area I've found that not only my '12 with it's 16a charger but also my '13 where I mostly use a 19a EVSE cannot keep up with morning warmup. The 16a EVSE loses about 5% for my morning warmup routine and the '13 with it's 19a EVSE loses about 3% so with both I'd say I was not topping anything off.
Out in sub zero temps this morning I tried to bypass a few things but 5 min later couldn't get the heat to come on, finally I started from scratch and all was well. That is:
1. uplugged EVSE cable to car(it was plugged in from last nights 80% charge)
2. push timer override button in car(I have a timer set for early morning charging)
3. plug EVSE back into car
4. get in car, hold down brake pedal and push power button
5. make sure heat is on and in full recirc(for maximum heat in bitter sub zero temps where defrosting isn't so important)
6. exit car and lock with either outside button or remote
7. go back into house, drink some warm coffee and warm up
7. about 20 minutes later unplug car, get in car, enable some windshield heat(which turns off recirc) and leave with a somewhat toasty warm car. I say somewhat because this morning(-9F) the interior was nice and warm but not what I'd describe as "toasty"

From 4 on I am the same, but all I do is hit the timer override button and it starts to charge right away, I don't have to unplug and re-plug it in.

BrockWI said:

From 4 on I am the same, but all I do is hit the timer override button and it starts to charge right away, I don't have to unplug and re-plug it in.

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I tried that this morning but after freezing myself for 5 minutes in the car waiting for the heat to kick in, I started over with cycling the J1772 connector and a few seconds later I had current draw from the heater and about 30 seconds after that I had heat.
Not sure why my car requires the cycle but maybe it has to due with my charging timer? I have one set for basically the whole day at 80% so I can just plug in and have the car charge to 80% and if I want it to go to 100% I just have to push the timer override button, a trick I read about here on MNL for older Leafs that lacked a 80% option on anything other than timer events. I MUCH prefer my '13 where there is a menu setting for 80% and it effects everything(well except for L3 or QC). It's possible some of my '12s quirky operation might be to that timer setting.....

Doesn't the Leaf have heated seats at least in the front? They do not pull much power and run on the 12v battery.
Stay charged my friend

BrockWI said:

From 4 on I am the same, but all I do is hit the timer override button and it starts to charge right away, I don't have to unplug and re-plug it in.

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Tried your suggestion and it worked
Car was plugged in and sitting at 80% from over night. Got in car and pushed timer-override button, car started charging again. Held down break pedal and pushed power button and a few seconds later heater kicked in, nice! Having my coffee now and hopefully in 15 min the car will be toasty warm

With seat heaters additional heated blankets are kinda overkill.
Just a blanket covering will do the trick.

For not-foggy windshield and minimum electric draw set heater (2013 and up) to:
Temperature: minimal setting (very important to choose the lowest possible option!)
Fan setting: slowest speed, one bar!
recirculation to partial (hold recirc button until it blinks)
set airflow either feet+defrost or feet (one way windshield gets 40% other is 20%).
If it is going to fog up set it to defrost with MODE button (not defrost button).
If it is still foggy switch to "fresh air" with recirculation button and keep it in fresh (raining outside?)
Close left and right vents (if still foggy), they have have small airflow that will be redirected feet/defrost.
Otherwise use that vent to keep one hand warm

Hardcore version is to block rear feet airducts with styrofoam or other gagging apparatus.
This will result in slightly more airflow to front feet.

I've tried many ways and this is the most economical for longer trips.
Low fan speed is the most important!
Low fan speed during warmup also minimizes discharge during first minutes of the drive.

^^^ correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't engaging any form of defrost(even partial defrost) disable recirc and even partial recirc? I'm pretty sure if you have recirc engaged and push the mode button to anything that shows air going to the windshield, it reverts to 100% fresh air.
Also while I agree with running fan at min speed while any form of fresh air is active, if I'm using 100% recirc(as I do for morning warmup in bitter cold) I find I get more heat by using a medium fan setting and since I'm set to 100% recirc or no fresh air, the air in the car just gets warmer and warmer. Using a low fan or any fresh air during morning warmup results in a barely warm car(at least when in the teens or below zero F).