Start engine, press front and rear heated screen buttons, clear side windows with scraper, front and rear now clear.

My Focus has a separate button marked “Max” which turns on both screen elements, but also turns the blowers onto maximum speed and temperature and directs them at the windows. It’s pretty effective – the car is usually pretty close to de-iced by the time I have the kids strapped in.

Or for maximum pimp value I can just hit voice control and say “Demisting On” 😀

…shatter depending on temperature difference.

Next you’ll be telling us about your mate who had his arm broken by a swan!

Had a heated screen on the Puma, possibly the best feature of any car going. There’s no way an engine powered heater/aircon will clear a screen as fast as one with heating elements built in, especially if the screen has ice on the inside and outside.
The Puma would take around a minute then the ice would show a sort of crackle effect and the wipers would sweep the ice clean off. Brilliant.

Agreed on how good they are – we used to special order the minibuses with them on, as the frost on the inside was as much a bother as outside, and you get fed up of wet dashboards all the time from the frost that falls off when you scrape.

The galaxy now has one, and as CountZero says, a couple of mins scraping side windows/getting kids on board and you are good to go. Even the kids know where the ‘Max’ button is, and press it for me regularly…

They still aren’t as quick as de-icer tho. 😉

Land Rover fit them to most models, including the defender

I even retro fitted one to my 32 year old 110. Great 🙂

They still aren’t as quick as de-icer tho

As a childless 20-something not blessed with that time wasting lifestyle accessory I’m qualified to comment that the heated screen is cleared long before the de-icer has even begun to touch the ice on the rest of the windows. Usualy I just wet the ice on the side windows with the de-icer which gets it translucent enough to drive then jump in.

They still aren’t as quick as de-icer tho.

Yep but de-icer can still re-freeze, whereas a heated screen doesn’t.

And de-icer is rubbish nowadays, costs a fortune, won’t de-ice the inside nor demist it.

I’ve not had a Ford for about 10 years but still miss the feature. And as already said – air-con doesn’t come close to being as effective.

Can’t stand them and can’t get used to them – its like having a windscreen than is never clean.

[quote]

No it’s not. It’s like a clean windscreen with very fine lines in it.. (Unless it is dirty!)[/quote]

The fine lines cause low sun and headlights to flare – like a dirty windscreen. Personally I can’t put up with that all through the day, and all through spring, summer and autumn for the benefit of a few minutes in winter.

I have a spray bottle of isopropyl alcohol – mostly works, though occasionally refreezes all sort of “misty” and needs another go

Not as good as a heated screen but it smells fantastic 😀

Just add a lighter on the coldest days, eh…

Personally I can’t put up with that all through the day, and all through spring, summer and autumn for the benefit of a few minutes in winter.

It’s useful a bit more often than that!

I use it in all seasons to demist the windscreen without the need for heaters or air con blowing in my face and drying out my contacts.

Big piece of cardboard. Works brilliantly unless it rains in the night! My wife’s freelander has a heated screen and it’s amazing. I find if I spray de-icer on the screen (if I’ve forgotten the cardboard) it immediately mists up on the inside and then takes ages to clear.

<blantant oneupmanship warning> Deicing windscreen you say….I switch it on via a phone app whilst having my toast…….like garlic bread ’tis the future.

I loved the heated screen. Don’t have it on my latest cars and really miss it.

We get thick ice on our screen up here.

Is there an aftermarket heater for screens that works as well?

got one on my transit

and on my defender – winter pack along with heated seats !

The fine lines cause low sun and headlights to flare – like a dirty windscreen

You must’ve had dodgy screens… Never did that on my Mondeo. Only time I noticed it was when I was purposely looking at it. Or when it was doing a great job of clearing my screen!

I switch it on via a phone app

Ooh that’s clever. How does that work then? What stops other people messing with it?

Car has its own wifi ssid with password

Just bought a [not vw or bmw] german car today that has a heated screen fitted. You can guarantee that winter will end a week on Friday 👿

Cool. What car pedlad? Is this an aftermarket thing or built in?

Hope it is a bit more secure than the BMW ConnectedDrive thing.

I’d love a heated windscreen in my car. I often have ice on the inside of my windscreen; complete pita to clear. Maybe it’s a Golf thing.

Car probably needs to dry out – is there a small leak somewhere? Check carpets and boot etc.

It’s a Mitsubishi Outlander phev. You can use the app to set timings for charging and heating/demisting. Actually the range on the wifi is pretty small but I can do it form the front of the house which is useful, not least to preheat the car on electric to try and minimise the chance of the petrol engine kicking in just to heat the car on setting off.

Squirelking – have you actually seen that happen to anyone this century ?

I do it all the time – warm(not hot) water from the tap , flick on the wipers.

Ready to go.

grew up watching my dad do it for 15 odd years – no issues.

i think you really would have to be going full retard with a kettle of off the boil to split a laminated screen.

I have a heated screen in my VW. Works very well and I’d say better than de-icer.

Engine on, heated front and rear screen and seats, scrape side windows and it is all clear and warm when I get back in 🙂

The heated screen is also good when it is cold but not frozen and the screen goes sort of smeary and blotchy when wiped until the car is warm. Have used it many times when not actually frozen just to keep it clear.

as mentioned before lots of cars have auxilary heaters fitted, you can get upgrades to either use a timer or a remote, in addition to the clear screen the cabin and engine will be warm

as mentioned before lots of cars have auxilary heaters fitted

I never knew this until today! Feel like I’m missing out now 🙁

A large bottle of warm/hot water from thte tap poured steadily over the windscreen de-ices the outside instantly and warms the glass a bit so de-misting the inside is much quicker.

Which then re-freezes on the road and pavement.

I was quite happy but now I need a parking heater.

Our renault has one and that’s an 06 car. It is good espcially as the air on is not working at the mo so this also de-mists the screen. I wish the Volvo had it but the car desgin is pre ford days. I use luke warm water and had no problems. I don’t use enough to leave large puddles that could re crease but as the cars are on my drive I aslo don’t care if it does. Using water means the windows are cleared straight away with non of the crap that goes with de-icers also it saves a bit on screen was a if the windscreen is dirty.

If it’s freezing on impact, use warmer or more water

You should look up the Mpemba effect. Warm water is reported to freeze faster than cold. It is very difficult to crack a windscreen if you are sensible with the water and not putting boiling water from the kettle on it.

Just a lot of tap water will unfreeze a windscreen if you have enough, which is fine if you’re at home but a pain if you’re away where you cannot get water.

Personally I just use a scraper for the outside if it’s really bad, a 2 minute job at most.

2 of the wifes previous minis had heated windscreens. a 2007 and then a 2012, brilliant option.

These days i fill a watering can with luke warm water, wonder around the cars and get in and drive off. Loads quicker than deicer, also means the wiper blades work properly as it softens them and for some reason the inside of the car doesn’t steam up.

Got one on my transit along with heated seats both are a godsend at this time of year get in turn on both get out squirt de-icer at side windows and allow to work wipe side windows get back in no more than 2/3mins max quick swish of wipers all clear and toasty bum to boot 😀

Well it was a hard frost this morning so I thought I would try de-icer spray (prompted by this thread).

Utter rubbish – spray comes out in a trickle, needs loads to actually melt the ice and left my hands bloody freezing.

And had the air-con on full blast yet it still took an age to clear the fogging on the inside of the windscreen.

Nowhere near as good a solution as heated screens.

And had the air-con on full blast yet it still took an age to clear the fogging on the inside of the windscreen.

Sounds like your car is damp and the air con doesn’t work….

Johndoh, in contrast I started the car, heated front and rear screens came on automatically. I got the de-icer from the boot and sprayed the side windows. Turned the heated seat on. Returned the de-icer to the boot. Sat behind the wheel on a nice warm seat, wound the windows down and up to clear off the melted ice. Put the wipers on to clear the front and rear of melted ice and was able to drive off. Not bad for a 10 year old Ford.

Sounds like your car is damp and the air con doesn’t work..

Or the fog was frozen?

alternatively get a webasto /eberspacher…. I looked out of the window pressed the remote and 5 mins later the car was de-iced, heater blowing out hot air etc