Does Turning My Car Heater On Help Cool the Engine?

Introduction

Many people believe that turning on their car heater can help cool the engine. This is a common misconception, and it can actually do more harm than good. In this post, we’ll explore the truth about whether or not turning on your car heater can help cool the engine.

How Does a Car Engine Cool Itself?

In order to understand why turning on your car heater won’t help cool the engine, it’s important to first understand how a car engine cools itself. When an engine is running, it produces a lot of heat. This heat can damage the engine if it is not properly cooled.

Car engines are cooled by a coolant, which is typically a mixture of water and antifreeze. The coolant is circulated through the engine by a water pump. As the coolant circulates through the engine, it absorbs heat from the engine. The heated coolant is then returned to the radiator, where it is cooled by the air flowing over the radiator.

The radiator is a heat exchanger. It transfers heat from the coolant to the air flowing over it. The cooled coolant is then returned to the engine, and the cycle repeats.

How Does a Car Heater Work?

A car heater works by using the heat from the engine to warm the interior of the car. The heater core is a small radiator that is located in the dashboard of the car. The coolant from the engine flows through the heater core, and the air from the fan blows over the heater core. The heat from the coolant is transferred to the air, and the heated air is then blown into the interior of the car.

Why Turning On Your Car Heater Won’t Help Cool the Engine

Many people believe that turning on their car heater can help cool the engine because they think that the heater will draw heat away from the engine. However, this is not true. The heater actually draws heat from the coolant, not from the engine.

As we discussed earlier, the coolant is circulated through the engine by a water pump. The water pump forces the coolant to flow through the engine, and it does not matter if the heater is on or off. The coolant will still flow through the engine and absorb heat.

In fact, turning on the heater can actually make the engine run hotter. This is because the heater draws heat away from the coolant, which can cause the coolant temperature to rise. When the coolant temperature rises, the engine will run hotter.

Conclusion

So, does turning on your car heater help cool the engine? No, it does not. In fact, it can actually make the engine run hotter. If you want to cool your engine, the best thing to do is to turn on the air conditioner. The air conditioner will remove heat from the interior of the car, which will help to cool the engine.