HEATER TESTS
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We first took the cab interiors down to more or less ambient temperature (around 5°C at MIRA that night) by simply opening the windows for a couple of hours. Then, with windows, doors and vents firmly shut, the cab heater was switched on at full blast for two hours. We recorded the temperature in the cab at that point, then shut the cab up again and left it empty to see how much heat was lost overnight.
Volvo's heater come out tops, reaching a tropical 32°C. This had fallen to 10.5°C by the morning. The Mercedes' heater attained a disappointing 23°C but due to time pressure this was a nonstandard unit and the company says the standard heater will be more powerful. Foden's heater was the least powerful and it only warmed the cab to 19°C (still warm enough for a night's sleep,you might say). The interesting result was that in the morning all the cabs were round about 10°C which means there was little difference in heat insulation.