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Near-Instant Heat on Cold Winter Days

24 February 1999

Near-Instant Heat on Cold Winter Days; Centaur Heat System Now Available on Ford Four-Wheel-Drive F-150/250, Expedition, Lincoln Navigator    

    DETROIT, Feb. 24 -- A revolutionary vehicle heating system,
which provides heat to a vehicle's interior within 10 seconds of cold
starting, is now available in North America.  Manufactured by Centaur Thermal
Systems Inc. in Cambridge, Ont., Canada, the rapid heat system is available
beginning this month as a dealer-installed option on the Ford four-wheel-drive
F-150/250, Expedition and Lincoln Navigator vehicles.
    (Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990224/DEW001 )
    Centaur will be exhibiting at the 1999 SAE Congress & Exposition, booth
#131.
    According to Ed Niewinski, general manager of Centaur, the system is a
major advance in vehicle heating, defrosting and demisting.  It improves
passenger comfort and fuel economy and reduces vehicle emissions.
    The system recovers waste heat from a vehicle's engine and stores it in a
stainless steel, thermal-reinforced container for instant use on the next cold
start of the engine.  In addition to the container, the system has an
integrated circuit control unit which includes an electric water pump, a
coolant control valve and coolant line connections.  When the ignition is
turned on, the unit quickly energizes the heating system, warms the cold
engine and sends a flow of warm air to the vehicle's interior and/or
windshield.
    "With the rapid heat system you don't have to preheat your car on cold
wintry mornings or wait for your defrost to start working," said Niewinski.
"Practical new technology such as this is vital to automakers and suppliers
hoping to serve the demands of discriminating consumers worldwide."
    In an independent study conducted in Providence, R.I., at Bob Tasca's
Tasca Ford dealership in 1996, customers testing the Centaur heat system
categorized it as a feature drivers will not be able to live without after
experiencing it.  Five out of the six participants indicated they were
"completely satisfied" with the system and rated it a "must have" on their
next vehicle.
    Centaur Thermal Systems is on the World Wide Web at
http://www.centaurthermal.com.