Patent ID: 8302876

Claim:
A heating apparatus connectable to an engine cooling system of a vehicle, the cooling system including a cooling fluid circulating within the cooling system and a heat exchanger for transferring heat from the fluid to an airstream for heating a passenger compartment of the vehicle, the heating apparatus comprising: a hydrodynamic chamber operable to selectively heat the fluid present within an interior region of the hydrodynamic chamber when the heating apparatus is connected to the cooling system, the interior region including a first interior region and a second interior region, the hydrodynamic chamber having at least a first inlet port fluidly connected to a first interior region of the hydrodynamic chamber, and a second inlet port fluidly connected to a second interior region of the hydrodynamic chamber; a recirculating passage fluidly connecting the heat exchanger to the first inlet port; and a supply passage fluidly connecting the cooling system to the second inlet port.