# why aren't defrosters on the front windshield? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 10, 2003, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-defrosters-on-the-front-windshield/154044 "2003-02-10T05:29:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Goldschlager](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ea666f/32.png) [@Goldschlager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Goldschlager)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-defrosters-on-the-front-windshield/154044/1 "2003-02-10T05:29:39Z")
Does anyone know why those defrosters on the back windshield aren’t put on the front windshield? Is it because they may obstruct your view? Is it some other safety concern? It sure would help to have them on the front. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-defrosters-on-the-front-windshield/154044/2 "2003-02-10T05:32:57Z")
I imagine having that pattern of lines in front of your face would be too distracting. I, personally, would feel uncomfortable driving like that, I think. ---
**Author:** ![samarm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@samarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samarm)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-defrosters-on-the-front-windshield/154044/3 "2003-02-10T05:34:09Z")
Some new cars do have them on the front. They are invisible, so I’m not sure how they work. They are some how wired into the glass. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-defrosters-on-the-front-windshield/154044/4 "2003-02-10T05:38:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by samarm \* > \*\*Some new cars do have them on the front. They are invisible, so I’m not sure how they work. They are some how wired into the glass. \*\* Which cars? The quick answer would seem to be the reason that there is no electrical defroster on the front windshield is because the heater, which is located in the dash, has a defroster setting (and the ducting to go with it). Heaters have been in cars for ages, and ages. Electrical rear window defrosters came in about 1970 or so. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-defrosters-on-the-front-windshield/154044/5 "2003-02-10T05:40:13Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by samarm \* > \*\*Some new cars do have them on the front. They are invisible, so I’m not sure how they work. They are some how wired into the glass. \*\* I’ve not seen that. It’s probably thin traces of doped aluminum oxide like you’ll find in LCDs. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-defrosters-on-the-front-windshield/154044/6 "2003-02-10T05:48:09Z")
For has “Quickclear Windscreens” on certain cars in the UK and Australia which are front windshields with embedded defoggers AKA “demisters”. They are quite expensive to fix/replace if damaged. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-defrosters-on-the-front-windshield/154044/7 "2003-02-10T05:49:10Z")
PIMF For(d) ---
**Author:** ![Berkut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Berkut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Berkut)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-defrosters-on-the-front-windshield/154044/8 "2003-02-10T06:02:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Rick \* > **Which cars?** They were available on Cadillacs, from around 1992 to 1996. I don’t know if anyone else is using them. They pass electricity through a very thin metallic film on the glass, similiar to the setup used on aircraft. ---
**Author:** ![something\_clever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3bc359/32.png) [@something\_clever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/something_clever)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-defrosters-on-the-front-windshield/154044/9 "2003-02-10T06:12:35Z")
expense is probably right… ive been in so many cars that defrost IMMEDIATELY… a friend of mine has a 98 eclipse and the defroster, well, “defogger”, works almost instantly, less than 5 seconds and a fully fogged up windshield is completely clear… mine doesnt work at all… but thats what napkins are for! ---
**Author:** ![RussellM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed8c4c/32.png) [@RussellM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RussellM)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-defrosters-on-the-front-windshield/154044/10 "2003-02-10T08:56:45Z")
We had a Ford Escort many years ago with an electric demister in the windscreen. It worked great, and there was nothing to obstruct the view. Russell ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 11:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-defrosters-on-the-front-windshield/154044/11 "2003-02-10T11:02:21Z")
My cousin’s Chrysler minivan has a front electric defroster on the windshield – granted it’s only to free up the windscreen wipers when they’re caked in ice, but there they are… ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-defrosters-on-the-front-windshield/154044/12 "2003-02-10T13:33:53Z")
Ford, Lincoln and Mercury products had invisible defroster wiring in the front. On some cars, like Lincolns, it was more common. Visible as a red tint from the outside at certain angles. Preventes the use of radar detectors because alot of the radar signal was reflected by the glass defroster wiring. ---
**Author:** ![cantara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6f9a4e/32.png) [@cantara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cantara)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-defrosters-on-the-front-windshield/154044/13 "2003-02-10T13:41:06Z")
Astro has it right… In the UK, there are a number of cars which have the front windscreen wired. It is comprised of a number (30?) of very thin wires running horizontally across the windscreen. Each wire is in a small SIN wave shape. They are not particularly noticeable when driving since your vision is focused on the road ahead of you. If you look at the glass, then you can see them quite easily. I did notice a couple of times where the view appeared to be slightly distorted, but was not a constant distraction. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-defrosters-on-the-front-windshield/154044/14 "2003-02-10T15:50:25Z")
I worked with a major auto company while they were testing the built-in windshield defroster back in the latye 80s. It was essentially a layer of metallic oxide between the glass laminates with an electric current running through it. It defrosted a windshield in seconds. Only two things wrong with it, as far as I could tell. There was a slight reflective pattern, particularly at night, that could have obscured vision a little, and it was really expensive. They buyer of a premium car probably would have accepted $200 or $300 as a price for the option, but let’s say the front windshhield cracks or breaks (it’s happened more than a couple of times with me) and needs replacement. Suddenly a new windshield costs close to $1,000 and has to be special-ordered, because what glass shop is going to keep a bunch of $1,000 windshields in stock? Then your insurance company will raise your rates even more. It probably just wasn’t a profitable option. At the same time, they were trying digital instrument gauges and those were extremely unpopular among buyers. Who can explain the public’s tastes? ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-arent-defrosters-on-the-front-windshield/154044/15 "2003-02-10T16:09:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by kunilou \* > \*\*At the same time, they were trying digital instrument gauges and those were extremely unpopular among buyers. Who can explain the public’s tastes? \*\* Having owned a car with one of those digital dashes, I can understand why folks didn’t like 'em. They were _impossible_ to read a good portion of the time (anytime the sun was behind you) and quite often inaccurate (when they bothered to work at all).