Heater problem?

PokerBroker · Jan 4, 2015

This is my first Minnesota winter in my Roadster and I'm not sure if my heat is working properly. It was -2 degrees today for an hour long drive I had and the car felt like it never got above 40 inside the cabin (thank god for heated seats). Usually when I use the heat I can only leave it on for a few minutes at a time until it is absolutely roasting inside. Would this cold weather affect the heater so significantly? Is it possible there is a problem? What do you other cold weather Roadster owners experience? And yes I had the top on

the hardtop.

wiztecy · Jan 4, 2015

PokerBroker said:
This is my first Minnesota winter in my Roadster and I'm not sure if my heat is working properly. It was -2 degrees today for an hour long drive I had and the car felt like it never got above 40 inside the cabin (thank god for heated seats). Usually when I use the heat I can only leave it on for a few minutes at a time until it is absolutely roasting inside. Would this cold weather affect the heater so significantly? Is it possible there is a problem? What do you other cold weather Roadster owners experience? And yes I had the top on the hardtop.

2.x's have a better HVAC system which gives off better heat/ac. My 1.5, even though its 56 degrees out feels like its blowing cold more than heat since the fan is pushing air which makes it feel colder. Dress warmly is the only tip I have and I also give much thanks to the very appreciated heated seats!

Curious if the heater would work better if the HVAC was freshly charged.

Doug_G · Jan 5, 2015

wiztecy said:
Curious if the heater would work better if the HVAC was freshly charged.

No. Roadster only has resistive heaters. My 2.0 isn't that bad, but it's not overwhelmingly powerful either.

Jaff · Jan 5, 2015

Wow PB, now I am wondering if my Roadster heater is working...I have never heard the words "roasting" and "Roadster heater" used in the same sentence before...:wink:

I have found the hard top helps, but your feet still freeze...

Curt · Jan 5, 2015

I have to agree with PokerBroker.

Even in the dead of Winter, I can only run the heater in my 1.5 for a few minutes at a time. It gets hot pretty fast. I always have the hard top on in the Winter.

tvuolo · Jan 5, 2015

I took mine out in -6ºF the other day. I found the heater quite good for everything but my feet. I saw a thread once about covering (or partially covering) the passenger foot vent to redirect more heat to the driver footwell. But for some reason I can't find it. Does anyone have that thread link handy?

PokerBroker · Jan 5, 2015

tvuolo said:
I took mine out in -6ºF the other day. I found the heater quite good for everything but my feet. I saw a thread once about covering (or partially covering) the passenger foot vent to redirect more heat to the driver footwell. But for some reason I can't find it. Does anyone have that thread link handy?

My wife would kill me if I did that (if she found out lol)

hcsharp · Jan 6, 2015

PokerBroker said:
This is my first Minnesota winter in my Roadster and I'm not sure if my heat is working properly. It was -2 degrees today for an hour long drive I had and the car felt like it never got above 40 inside the cabin (thank god for heated seats). Usually when I use the heat I can only leave it on for a few minutes at a time until it is absolutely roasting inside. Would this cold weather affect the heater so significantly? Is it possible there is a problem? What do you other cold weather Roadster owners experience? And yes I had the top on the hardtop.

You must have a 1.5. Did you try turning on recirculate? That makes a big difference.

A year and a half ago I insulated my foot-wells and behind the seats as part of a sound-proofing exercise. It made a noticeable difference keeping my feet warm.

PokerBroker · Jan 6, 2015

hcsharp said:
You must have a 1.5. Did you try turning on recirculate? That makes a big difference.

A year and a half ago I insulated my foot-wells and behind the seats as part of a sound-proofing exercise. It made a noticeable difference keeping my feet warm.

I do have a 1.5 and I always use recirculate. I'm probably going to wait until it warms back up to 30 or so to see if I get my toastiness back or if I have a problem.

djp · Jan 6, 2015

Here are the threads on re-directing the passenger side footwell heat to the driver's side:

Living with a Tesla Roadster - Page 2

Winter Performance

Tesla used to sell an upgrade that did exactly this, but blocking the passenger vent with a small piece of foam works just as well for zero cost.

@PokerBroker, I'd get your heater checked out. It's a simple electric resistive heater - mine gets quite toasty if it's on full blast.

wiztecy · Jan 6, 2015

Here's a good writeup on the heating / cooling system of the Roadster dated back to 2006 on their blog:

Blowing Hot and Cold | Blog | Tesla Motors

PokerBroker · Jan 7, 2015

I'm currently running an experiment per Tesla Service Minneapolis... I was told that in extreme low temperatures the Roadster opts to use the heater to manage battery temperature at the expense of the passenger compartment. I currently have my car on in the garage (41F) with the heater blasting to see if it will work. TBD

PokerBroker · Jan 7, 2015

Well, sure enough, piping hot within minutes... Now the fun part will be determining the temperature that initiates the change from heating the cabin to heating the battery. I hope the exhaust fumes don't kill me... Oh wait

wiztecy · Jan 7, 2015

PokerBroker said:
Well, sure enough, piping hot within minutes... Now the fun part will be determining the temperature that initiates the change from heating the cabin to heating the battery. I hope the exhaust fumes don't kill me... Oh wait

If you have access to the diags screen you can see if the pump is running 100% as well as the heater. When I start the heater, it starts off low around 75% then reaches 100% capacity. I thought there's a different heating element for the pack, possibly they don't want to draw too much from the ESS at one time.

thefortunes · Jan 7, 2015

I drove my normal commute (54 miles at 65-70mph) to the office today in -6F.

Ran the heater on low the entire time and was comfortable (with seat heater on). I could certainly feel some coolness down around my toes, however.

PokerBroker · Jan 7, 2015

wiztecy said:
I thought there's a different heating element for the pack, possibly they don't want to draw too much from the ESS at one time.

The different heating element for the pack only works when the car is plugged in.

sethr · Jan 7, 2015

During the polar vortex last winter, I went to visit a friend, and left my Roadster sitting unplugged outside for a few hours. When I started on my return home, the VDS indicated the battery was heating as I drove. (Regeneration was disabled during battery heating.) The cabin heat was also working. Interestingly, even though battery heating ceased and regeneration came back on during my trip home, when I plugged in to charge, battery heating came on again, and charging did not start until the battery reached a satisfactory temperature.

Doug_G · Jan 7, 2015

PokerBroker said:
I'm currently running an experiment per Tesla Service Minneapolis... I was told that in extreme low temperatures the Roadster opts to use the heater to manage battery temperature at the expense of the passenger compartment. I currently have my car on in the garage (41F) with the heater blasting to see if it will work. TBD

This is wrong. Its the cooling that is shared, NOT the heating.

hcsharp · Jan 7, 2015

Doug_G said:
This is wrong. Its the cooling that is shared, NOT the heating.

+1. The pack heater heats the battery coolant. The cabin heater heats the air with no heat exchanger from coolant to air. At least that's how my 2.5 works.

PokerBroker · Jan 7, 2015

The previous posted Tesla blog link about heating and cooling confirms that the separate pack heating element only functions when the car is plugged in. I'm not sure about my SC's claim that the cabin heater diverts to the battery if necessary during driving but it would explain why my heat didn't work at -2F but did at 41F.

The blog is 2006 so there is certainly room for it to have been changed either before or after 1.5.

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