Rear Heating Solutions

[noJeepshere]

Rear Heating Solutions HVAC guys weigh in

So, living up here in the great white north means cold for much of the year, with a few months of warm weather tossed in for good measure. So I'm looking into installing a rear heater in my 99 Yukon. Thing is, those ceramic heaters (or anything electric, heat wise) have a tendency to catch fire and burn cars to the ground. Two have been crisp-ified this winter here. So I'm looking into adding onto or modifying the factory rear-ac system to blow hot air in the winter. There are some outfitters up here that will plumb in a rear heat system, for a price (read: mega $$ for a poor guy) and since GM felt Tahoes/Yukons didn't need rear heat until the body style change, I can't just order up the parts and do the work.

But that got me thinking, what if I stole parts from an obs Suburban? It may not necessarily mean heat on the feet, but it's better than nothing. So today I stopped by the Stealership to do some research, comparing the two systems (Tahoe rear-ac and Suburban rear heat/ac) and spoke to a tech, and it seems not only feasible, but relatively easy! I can even have floor heat in the rear with this possibly, I'd have to search a little more on that. And I can even have heat (and a/c) in the cargo area, which has its obvious benefits.

I have a project for the summer

 

[SunlitComet]

use gmpartsgiant to look up the various configurations to see what can be mounted up. Are you by any chance looking for faster coolant warm up too?

 

[noJeepshere]

use gmpartsgiant to look up the various configurations to see what can be mounted up. Are you by any chance looking for faster coolant warm up too?

I will keep that website in mind when I get more serious about doing this next summer, thanks.

As for warm up, I could install a webasto or pro-heat module for a reasonable price, but it actually warms up pretty fast after being plugged in and idling for about 15 minutes, even at -40. My real concern is that the rear does not warm up, ever, there will be snow in the back after a long trip, even in milder weather.

 

[Okcderek]

I am completely interested in this. I would love my rear ac to be heat and ac as well.

 

[SunlitComet]

you can tinker with the idea of turning it into a heat pump system.

 

[noJeepshere]

you can tinker with the idea of turning it into a heat pump system.

Elaborate please? I know the theory and principle of the operation of heat pumps, but how would I make that work in my Yukon?

---------- Post added at 03:13 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:52 AM ----------

I did a bit of research and found that heat pumps have their limitations, ie. the coldest most operate are called "cold climate" pumps and run down to -30f, which is still short of the temps I see up here. That and ice buildup on the outside coils would render them useless after a while, prolly a hour or so, without some way of heating up said coils to defrost them.

Good idea Jonathon, but not practical in this situation.

 

[SunlitComet]

I will keep trying.

 

[noJeepshere]

So, I there is a hitch in the idea, the Suburban's rear heat-a/c setup is ginormous, easily twice the size of the Yukons... I need another idea...

On a side note, it's super easy to put vents over the cargo area

I'll post pics tomorrow of what I've found.

 

[SunlitComet]

how about converting the rear evap to heating instead.

 

[noJeepshere]

Here is a pic of what I've found:

The heater core from the Suburban is a little big:



Something smaller sized could work. My idea right now is to put a heater core there, plumb it in, but put a cut-off valve under the hood for the rear heat. I figure since the rear a/c is on or off, the rear heat can be on or off, and just control the amount of heat with the fan. I would get one that has the hose couplings on the side to make drilling easier for the hoses though the body.