The electric chair
"Keep your feet warm and your head cold," said Suvorov. Drivers would do well to heed his advice: the climate in the cabin affects not only your health but also your reaction time. Moreover, car makers usually offer seat heating only bundled with a pricey "electrical package" — one that, at that, tends to fail sooner than other systems.
The solution is, quite literally, on the surface. Heated capes are relatively cheap, easy to attach, and in summer they rest on a shelf instead of sweltering together with the seat — which means they should last a long time. Let us see what the market has to offer today — and rate it with our most sensitive judge.
The shelves are stocked mostly with domestic products. There are not only capes for the seats but whole electric blankets — with one of those it is paradise in a hut, as long as there is a battery nearby. Manufacturers do not skimp on the automatics either: once the set mode is reached, power consumption drops — the heater will not turn into a frying pan. Some models switch themselves off after a while — the battery will not be drained even out of sheer forgetfulness.
We bought five products: four Russian and one imported, with a multi-mode massager (the same firm also makes a plain heater — but a massage is nicer, would you not agree?). The results are in the photo captions.
Apart from a few individual shortcomings, all the products passed the preliminary test: they heat gently and exactly where it matters. Current draw is low — with the engine off, no more than 4 A even in the intensive heating mode. The capes are not afraid of damp (at least, half a glass of water had no effect on their operation), though God protects those who take care: the instructions clearly warn — do not switch on while damp! For those who do not trust electric heat we suggest the folk remedy — a sheepskin. By the way, branded capes made of natural sheepskin have long been on sale.
ACHEP-2, AVTOTERM LLC, Moscow. Price - 945 RUB.
It attaches to the seatback quickly; the "horizontal" part simply lies on the cushion, but thanks to its small size (it fits between the side-support bolsters) and the non-slip base it does not slide about. The cord is long enough — 1.3 m. Heating intensity is selected by pressing the middle section of the temperature control unit — the modes switch sequentially, signaled by the LEDs lighting up (one to four). At first, in the maximum heating mode, they blink, but within a couple of minutes the unit goes into a power-saving mode, periodically switching the heater on and off. If the button is not pressed for 50 minutes, the device switches off automatically. The heater blends well into the interior and suits various seats. As for its operation — no complaints, except that the bright blinking LEDs are distracting, though the heater does not stay in that mode for long. Warranty - 12 months.
"KOMFORT 2R" - MAICHKA (T-shirt), Sensor research-and-production company, St. Petersburg. Price - 845 RUB.
How to put the heater on the seat is clear from the name: the "T-shirt" is pulled over the top, that is, over the seatback from above. It also fastens to the cushion — rubber loops and S-shaped hooks are provided for the purpose. With a Zhiguli seat there will be no problems, but the underside of many imported seats is out of reach: trim panels, control units and adjustment mechanisms get in the way. The "T-shirt" has the longest cord (1.45 m) and the bulkiest control unit (outwardly the two "Komforts" are identical), although there are only two working modes. Inserting the plug into the socket takes effort — strongly protruding side prongs are in the way. There is no automatic shutoff (although we apparently got a unit from an old batch — we learned about the new automatics while testing the next model). Otherwise, no complaints about the "T-shirt". The only wish — an opportunity to choose a unit to match the color of the interior.
And how about the warranty? We open the booklet and find neither the manufacturer's stamp nor any warranty obligations — only a coupon stamped at the store, with no validity period. A lifetime warranty, or two weeks for an exchange? According to representatives of the Sensor research-and-production company, this passport is counterfeit. Yet we did not buy it at some market — in a large store!
"KOMFORT 2R", Sensor research-and-production company, St. Petersburg. Price - 786 RUB.
This cape fastens to both the seatback and the cushion. When the device was switched to maximum, the green indicator did not light up — at 12.4 V in the onboard network no current flows, while the economy mode does work. A suspicious sound can be heard from the cigarette lighter socket — sure enough, it sparks, and it even cuts out at the slightest touch — the spring of the center contact pushes the plug outward. We start the engine — both modes come to life. Well then, back to the store. There the heater was exchanged without a murmur, but the new "Komfort" turned out to have the same quirks, only the cutoff points had shifted — 12.0 V for maximum heating and 11.7 V for economy. The plug's caprices remained as well. We contacted the factory. It turned out the "mass shutdowns" are no accident but a protection against draining the battery. True, at 11.7 V a winter start is already a problem, but at least the battery will not suffer. And the Taiwanese plugs have been replaced with different ones — let us hope, more reliable ones.
WAGAN, USA. Price - 2260 RUB.
It fastens to the seatback and the cushion, and there is a pocket for the remote control. The latter is quite elaborate — four positions of the main switch (off, heating, heating with massage, massage only) and three sliders, each in charge of massaging a particular part of the body: the back, the lower back and the thighs. They can be used together or separately. The massage intensity can be varied too. What is more, the kit includes a power adapter for 220 V mains operation, so the cape will settle in nicely on an office chair as well. We liked everything about it, except that the protruding switches often ended up in the wrong position — they get brushed accidentally. Opinions on the massage were divided — some found it excessively tiring, akin to a miniature jackhammer. Of course, it is a far cry from a skilled masseuse, but the controls are in the driver's hands.
EMELYA, TEPLODOM CJSC, Moscow. Price - 765 RUB.
The same attachment principle as the ACHEP-2. The cord length (1.2 m) is quite sufficient, especially as the control unit is combined with the plug. That is convenient — there is no need to turn the unit the right way round on an unruly cord. Heating is three-mode (plus an intensive warm-up at the start). In the economy modes the current drops, but the automatic shutoff promised after 30 minutes took a full hour to arrive. The indication, in our view, is more convenient than on the ACHEP-2: the LED changes color — red-yellow-green. The blinking in the initial mode is hardly distracting: the brightness is low, and the flashes are less frequent. Warranty - 12 months.
Text / Anatoliy Sukhov