Question

Your car’s engine is a heat engine; it converts the thermal energy from burning fuel into energy to move your car and power its systems. On a cold winter day, you needn’t feel guilty about cranking up the heat in your car; running the heater doesn’t cost any additional energy beyond the small amount needed to run the fan. Explain why this is so.

Answer 1

Yes, it is true that the heater does not use much of the gas except some for running the fan. This is because an internal combustion engine produces a lot of heat during its operation. The heater simply works by drawing the heat created by the engine and then circulating it throughout the vehicle through a small radiator called a heater coil. here, the engine is constantly generating heat when it is running so the heater unit simply uses that engine heat to throw hot air inside the cabin. This is the reason, Heater doesn't need much energy.

EXTRA - On the other hand, the air conditioning uses a lot of energy and affects the overall average of the vehicle.