Seat Heaters, Has anyone tried installing seat heaters Options

[WRX914]

I have a WRX converted teener which means I have no heat in my car! Has anyone tried installing seat heaters in the stock 914 seat? Any advise on this subject is greatly appreciated. I do live in Vegas, so I don't need them to boil me, just keep my butt toasty!

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[jsteele22]

Have you had a car w/ seat heaters before ? They are nice, but I don't know if I would count them as a substitute for heat (especially for defrost ...). The ones in my Saab go through a cycle (switch on, temp goes up to 96 F, switch off, cool down to some fairly low temp, switch on, etc.) So occasionally you notice a warming sensation, but mainly it just takes the edge off of the chill. Other styles may be different. Partly this is to cause less wear to the heater element, but also to save power. Any form of electric heat is terribly inefficient compared to combustion.
Another issue is that they break a lot. The heater is just a piece of copper wire that zig-zags all over the seat cushion. Every time you get in or out of the car, you flex it. If one tiny spot gets frayed, its resistance goes up, so it dissipates a larger share of the total heat, so it gets hotter, so its resistance goes up, etc., until you have a tiny char spot on your seat cushion and no more heat. On Saabs, anyway, this is a big problem. Repairable, yes, but a bit of a pain. Not to discourage you, but better to have a good idea what you are/aren't getting into.

I'm just starting a Subaru swap on my 914, and I've thought (a tiny bit) about heat. Someone posted a link to an after-market mini heater core (pitched to RVs, boats, etc.) that I think was only around $100. Plus hoses. Don't know if I'll go this route, but having real heat would be a serious luxury. Maybe someone in 914world.com could organize a North Dakota Christmas Classic ?