The modern car has the capacity to melt iron ore when its heat dial is on blast furnace, consequently cold weather is not a huge problem, unless passengers choose to ride on the hood or roof during a cold spell.
However, modern heating systems are part of the evolution of automotive engineering ever since the dawn of the horseless carriage.
Jim Sutherland
The question is obvious: how did people stay warm in past automotive eras? The earliest cars were dedicated to the “no-nags-need-apply” philosophy so the main issue for their inventors was self-propelled movement from either electric, steam or internal combustion sources.
The first two options (steam and electric) died a deservedly quick death at the hands of gas-powered vehicles, although recent years mired in green insanity have produced heavily subsidized electric vehicles that still haven’t beaten the laws of physics or reality in terms of efficient energy use.
The one-sided victory of internal combustion vehicles over the other choices meant gas jobs became the undisputed automotive champion during the early days of horseless carriages. An internal combustion engine is a rapid series of contained fiery explosions that produced plenty of heat during the process.
Initially, the pioneer car makers chose movement over passenger comfort, so the self-propelled carriages ran very light in terms of overall weight and passenger amenities. The result was a frosty open-air travelling experience not unlike a slow-moving snowmobile in winter, consequently passengers wore thick layers of clothing and likely huddled up for warmth.
Early era warming devices (e.g. heated bricks in a container) were fun while the hot part lasted, but a female 19th century inventor named Margaret Wilcox created a better heat transfer system from the engine’s exhaust heat to the passengers. Unfortunately, her early invention worked too well because there was no way to turn down the heat, so passengers had to choose frost-or fricassee with her system.
Another early idea attempted to capture heat through the warm engine block, but this system provided just enough heat to slightly delay the onset of frostbite during a cold spell, depending upon the length of the trip.
Eventually, the interior heating system in early cars evolved into a small gasoline-fired boiler that provided heat to passengers, albeit from a risky source with potentially explosive side effects. Ford used both features (exhaust and boiler heating) in a series of pre-1930 automotive advancements, but neither was truly a better idea, to borrow from Ford’s late 1960s marketing plan about their exclusive ownership of better ideas.
Fortunately, the 1920s marked the better idea birth of today’s heating system, although it was still in the development stage at the time. The best and brightest at General Motors acted on a “what-if-we-used-the-hot-fluids-from-the-cooling system?” idea and ran with it.
By 1930, the GM gang offered an in-house car heating system that channeled hot water from the engine through an auxiliary radiator (heater core) inside the vehicle’s cabin. The heater core’s warmth was dispersed by a fan to send it throughout the car’s interior.
This great idea heater core system became an automotive mainstay over the passage of time as car companies improved its efficiency levels into today’s ultimate comfort zones for passengers.
It’s a far cry from the early days of car heating when winter was a rough time for car passengers who just wanted to stay warm and not become popsicles on a road trip.
Jim Sutherland
BY: Jim Sutherland
Jim Sutherland is a veteran automotive writer whose work has been published by many major print and online publications. The list includes Calgary Herald, The Truth About Cars, Red Deer Advocate, RPM Magazine, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, Windsor Star, Vancouver Province, and Post Media Wheels Section.
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