The major pitfalls may include power supply bottlenecks, fire hazards, and heat loss.

Leaving a space heater in an unattended vehicle can be a fire hazard.

In North America, that means they run on 120V AC.

car electric space heater

Sharon Meredith / E+ / Getty

When you use a residential space heater as an electric car heater, plug it into aninverter.

An inverter converts DC power from the vehicle’s electrical system into the AC power that the heater requires.

Some space heaters are specifically designed to be used as electric car heaters.

These units run on DC instead of AC, which means that you don’t need an inverter.

Some 12 V car heaters can beplugged into a cigarette lighterreceptacle or adedicated accessory socket.

However, these heaters provide a limited amount of heat.

Using an electric heater in a car safely isn’t impossible.

Still, you should use common sense and avoid placing one of these heaters near any combustible objects.

However, it’s important to use common sense when installing one of these heaters.

Wiring in a 12V heater can introduce additional fire hazards if not done properly.

The issue here is that cars and trucks are poorly insulated compared to homes.

A better option is to use a timer, or a thermostat, to limit power consumption.