Anyone use the Automatic Supplementary Heater option?

[Simon50s]

I only noticed this recently. I've got an engine block/cabin heater I use at home in the morning when it's freezing so don't need it then.

I could try it when leaving work as the car will be parked all day and can be pretty frozen up.

I wonder if it would be a big drain on the battery though as I'm doing mostly shortish journeys?

 

[JKP]

That's weird, I don't remember seeing that in any of my cars. What does it actually do, does it power up the post-factory cabin heater? Even the Webasto in my previous car didn't participate in heating the car atl all during the drive, unlike it did in the Golf I had earlier. I'd understand if it had that same option in the setup where you could switch it on or off.

 

[Simon50s]

It lets me toggle on/off so assume it does something. It was defaulted to off. I forgot to test it so will try it again over the coming week and see if I notice anything different.

I checked the user manual but it didn’t give much information.

 

[Simon50s]

 

[JKP]

Did some Google search and found out that there might be a heating resistor somewhere near the fan, that should help the air warm up before the engine does. There isn't one if there's the Webasto in the car so that's why I didn't see that in my previous car. I guess it might not have been there in the early build cars, which is why I didn't have it in my first one either. The equipment listing of my current car says something cryptical like "electrical basic heater (resistor) is replaced with fuel-burning heater in diesel variants" so one could understand that like there should be one, but I still don't have that setting in my MMI. Just the auto recirculation and then the automatic seat heating setting. So if there is a heating element there, you can't control it anymore in the FL car.

 

[Simon50s]

In the MyAudi app under standard equipment I have ”Electric auxiliary air heater” listed under Comfort. I’ve found references to it throughout the web, but nothing very concise for the A3 8Y.

This is the explanation provided by AI: