DRIVERS have been hailing a £13 gadget which can keep your car warm this winter without wasting petrol on heating.
The handy device can also keep your motor fresh and even de-fog your windscreen.
Winter is well and truly on the way, with the UK seeing temperatures drop and heavy rain sweep in over recent weeks.
While the Met Office is suggesting the mercury could bounce back as high as 22C in the coming days, Brits wouldn’t expect to see much more of that at this time of year.
With that in mind, motorists are righty looking to get their cars ready for the colder months and it seems there’s a new bit of tech on the rise.
Most modern cars are fitted with air conditioning, which includes heater functions, and many even have a special button to de-mist the windscreen.
But the problem with running your air con is that it is powered by a driver belt attached to a crankshaft on the engine.
As such, the more you use the blower, the harder the engine has to work to keep a consistent power output.
This makes your motor less fuel efficient, slashing its mpg rating.
And with the cost of petrol at almost 135p per litre on average, this could end up costing you at the pumps.
Instead, some drivers are opting for an aftermarket heater unit as a more efficient way of staying warm.
Available for as little as £13 on Amazon, the device is about the size of a mobile phone and can be placed on an adhesive stand on your dashboard.
Instead of relying directly on the engine, it plugs into the cigarette lighter or charger socket and is powered by the battery.
While the battery does derive charge from the engine, it’s more efficient to recharge the battery via the alternator than it is to run the air con for an extensive period.
The new gadget has two modes, allowing you to channel hot air or “natural” air to keep things fresh.
And the stand can rotate through 360 degrees with a 60-degree tilt, allowing you to keep the air flowing to any part of the cabin.
It can even be directed forwards to defrost your windscreen on chilly days in seconds.
The heater enjoys a 100% five-star rating on Amazon, with one customer saying it’s a “great product”.
It comes after a dad revealed how he built his young son a fully driveable Rolls-Royce made completely out of wood.
