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What is Webasto? Advantages and disadvantages and installation cost
Winter is a difficult time for drivers and their vehicles. They are affected by both road conditions and low temperatures. Scraping the windows in the morning and warming up the car seems to take forever, but you can make your life easier by installing Webasto.
What is webasto and what is it for?
Webasto is a colloquial term for parking heating, popular in Poland. It refers to the name of one of the producers of this type of solutions. This is a system responsible for heating the interior of the car or the coolant in the engine. Some vehicle brands offer the installation of a standard system of this type; it is a solution popular especially in Scandinavian countries. Factory webasto can be found especially in Volvo cars imported from Sweden. This is also a standard solution in some minivans, mainly for heating the rear part of the passenger compartment.
Another solution that works similarly is the Defa heater. It is a coolant heater plugged into the engine block, powered by the electrical system. Unlike parking heaters, it is not as versatile and requires access to mains electricity.
How does webasto work?
Parking heaters are most often powered by fuel from the vehicle's tank. Modern systems of this type have a programmer that allows you to set a regular heating start time and even start the process using a remote control.
Once activated, either automatically or manually, the heater starts burning fuel. The heat produced can heat the vehicle cabin or coolant. It depends on the type of installation, which I will discuss in a moment.
It's worth knowing that in some cars The parking heater helps you start the vehicle in the morning or quickly reach the engine operating temperature. This especially applies to cars powered by diesel oil and having a large space for heating, e.g. passenger buses. Without an additional heater in this type of vehicle, the engine may be underheated, even despite an efficient cooling system.
What types of webasto are there?
Nowadays, we distinguish dry, wet and electric parking heating.
Webasto wet heats the coolant in the engine and heater. It is equipped with a heater and a coolant pump in the circulation of which it is connected.
Webasto dry, otherwise airy, only heats the air in the cabin. It is more efficient than the above solution and more economical, but it does not affect the morning engine start-up.
Webasto electric and comes in several versions. This may be, for example, a heater equipped with glow plugs mounted on the coolant pipe. In this case, the system is powered by the battery and accelerates the heating of the coolant in a cold engine. It turns off automatically when the set temperature is reached.
This solution is often used in LPG-powered vehicles, where the hot coolant is responsible for changing the state of gas in the evaporator. The electric Webasto speeds up the moment when the engine switches from petrol to LPG.
The disadvantage of this solution is increased current consumption from the alternator and battery, and therefore higher fuel consumption.
What is portable webasto?
Recently, the so-called portable webasto. It takes the form of a box connected to the electrical network or to the installation in a car. In practice, it works like the popular farelka. Such Chinese Webasto can be purchased for little money, but it will only help in heating the interior of the vehicle, it has no effect on the temperature of the coolant.
What is the cost of purchasing Webasto including installation?
Installing a parking heater in a vehicle may prove to be a significant expense. It is true that a Vebasto 12V costs only a few hundred zlotys, but a branded, used wet heating system dedicated to a specific vehicle costs up to two thousand zlotys. New devices cost several times more, sometimes even over PLN 10. PLN, which often includes installation.
Service and service life of webasto
Servicing a wet parking heater mainly involves checking the electrical connections, which may corrode in the event of moisture. The electronics controlling the device may also be damaged. In addition, working elements, such as the glow plug and the coolant pump, are replaced. It is also worth taking care of the quality of the coolant, which will help avoid scaling of Webasto.
Advantages and disadvantages of owning a webasto
The advantages of having a parking heater include:
- faster engine warm-up;
- warm air in the cabin from the moment you start the engine - no more driving gloves;
- easier drying the vehicle interior in winter and autumn. Eliminates the need to use sponges for wiping fogged windows.
The disadvantages of webasto include:
- additional item requiring service;
- price of branded components;
- higher fuel consumption (fuel supplied from the tank);
- higher electricity consumption (powered by 12V installation);
- some factory models, e.g. Volvo, are very difficult or impossible to repair, and at the same time Webasto is an integral element of the vehicle's electronics.
Is Webasto also good in summer?
Dry Webasto, i.e. air, can force air circulation in the cabin when parked. Thanks to this, even in hot summer, the vehicle interior will be kept at ambient temperature. Automatic thermostat will force ventilation when the car is too warm, even with the engine off and when there are no passengers inside. This can be beneficial on holidays if the vehicle is parked in the sun.
