Choosing Seat Heaters

Starting next week, the forecasters promise real winter frosts. Which means that most motorists will begin the usual routine: a jog through the cold to the car, a keep-fit session with the scraper around it, and - the most unpleasant part - squirming on a freezing seat. That is it, enough! Since the car has no built-in seat heater, we will buy a cape - the effect is the same, and it costs tens of times less.

What you need to know about heaters

How they work

From the cigarette lighter. What is more, the well-made capes regulate the temperature by themselves and shut off if anything goes wrong (the driver is left to watch the road, not the temperature). The heating fibers are arranged so that if one element fails, the heater will still keep "stoking".

Which size is better

It depends on whether you want to simply throw the heater over the seat or fit it under a seat cover. In the latter case the dimensions must be no bigger than 40x40 cm.

How important is the warranty receipt

Every electrical appliance (and capes belong to this category) can suffer "short circuits" in operation, for example sparking of the contacts near the lighter. With a warranty receipt in hand, you will get your money back and your car repaired if, God forbid, there is a fire.

What alternatives are there

Besides capes, there are also heated seat covers. And built-in seat heating systems made of panels. For the first two minutes such a unit switches on a turbo mode, heating the seats quickly, and once it has reached the prescribed 36 degrees it switches to the temperature-maintenance mode.
They connect to the car's electrical system, and the control button is installed on the dashboard. The installation job will take 5 - 6 hours.

And what does the doctor say?

Irina Bolotova, urologist at the Mediqume medical center, Candidate of Medical Sciences:
- Of course, a cold seat, especially a leather one, is uncomfortable, and chilling of the lower body is harmful both for women and for men. In the former it can cause cystitis, in the latter, diseases of the prostate. But one should not overheat either; sweating is not good either (as one acquaintance said stepping out of a car once, "there was a feeling of boiled sausage and soft-boiled eggs"). So buy heaters with a power regulator.