Hair dryer maybe?

[kingmonkey]

Hey everyone I got a question for ya.

With winter coming on I was thinking of investing in a hair dryer to help warm up the windshields. I normally use the defrost but that takes FOREVER sometimes. I figure the hair dryer would put out enough heat to warm up the windshield to where I can work on it but it wont be too hot. I've heard that the moister evap. is generally too hot for just general windshield heating.

So if any of you use a hair dryer for this purpose what kind do you get? I was thinking about a 12v one that plugs into the cars cigarette lighter but maybe I full size one would work better? And if a full sized one is better should it be plugged directly into the wall or would it be ok to buy one of those converter things that plug into the cars cigarette lighter and run it off of the cars electrical system? I'm just worried that the damn thing might catch fire and take the car out with it. What's your thoughts?

[t4k]

Do a search for "hair dryer" and you find where this was discussed in detail last winter.

[Brent Deines]

We tested several 12v models and were not all that happy with any of them overall. Currently using a Conair with a directional tip that spreads the air out over a larger area and directs it to the glass even when the hair dryer is on it's side. It pulls the air from the back so it's easy to hang on the glass where you want it with a suction cup and Velcro. There may be dryers better suited to the purpose but for around $20 it works pretty well.

[Roo]

I use an 800W power inverter that clips on to the battery like jumper cables. The problem I have is it will only run my hair dryer on low because most hair dryers are 1850W. I would suggest not getting a 12V hair dryer. Try to find an A/C plug hair dryer with lower wattage requirements would be ideal. They are rare but are available with a little searching or you could always spend some coin and get a very large power inverter that will handle the 1850W.