Aux electric heater core

So as some of us know some of the newer Tacoma’s come with auxiliary electric heater cores. These run when it’s cold outside and the engine hasn’t reached operating temp yet. What it does is create immediate heat out of the vents even before the engine is warm. It may not be super hot and it may not be able to heat your whole cab like that but it sure as hell beats cold air and deff speeds up the process. I know id like to have heat right when I start my truck even if it’s just warm air. I’m happy with anything warmer then the frigid outside air.

Now does anyone know if it’s possible to install something like that in a 2nd gen? Or does anyone know if they make aftermarket kits to do something like that? I think it would be a super cool project and a super useful mod for the guys like me in colder climates. I loose around 25-50 miles a tank in the winter because I hate getting outa my warm bed into a freezing truck so I idle it for 5-15 mins every time before I drive it depending on how cold it is.

 

For some reason the first thing that pops into mind is those old 12v electric defrost heaters JC Whitney used to sell. Never heard anything good about them though. Maybe get yourself some seat warmers or one of those 12v electric blankets like truck drivers use?

 

Hahaha I know what your talking about with those little 12v defrosters lol. The seat warmer thing isn’t a bad idea. Do you know if they make like seat covers or some sort of add on to make your seats heated? Also is it okay to do that if you have cloth seats? Iv only ever seen heated leather seats. Also Iv considered the 12v blanket. Was looking at them at Walmart the other day. However with a standard i think it might be more of a nuisance or hazard trying to shift with my legs tangled up in a blanket.

We’re in 2020 and I feel like these electric aux heaters should be more of a thing. Somebody could prob make some good money making kits or something.

 

One of the posters on here supposedly had his aftermarket seat heaters burn up his truck; I don't know which brand he was using, I want to say it was one of the ebay sellers maybe? There have been threads about them though and lots of folks have them.

I've never used one of the newer 12v blankets but some in the camping forums and on expo like them. I used to keep an old wool army blanket in my FJ-40s; my EWS (early warming system) since that cast iron block took forever to heat up.

On more than one occasion I had to turn my Buddy heater towards the windshield on my VW Westfalia to defrost the ice off of the windshield and I'd set it beside me until the heat actually started coming out of the vents. Contrary to popular opinion, VW heaters/defrosters actually did work decently if they were in good condition, which most aren't these days, but they take a while, especially in the buses.