crazy4oldcars

OK. A couple of things.
Your battery may not be fried, just dead. It was sitting for a while in cold weather, which weakens the charge, and then you ran the fan motor and all the other electronics for a while and it just ran out of power.
Don't leave it that way any longer than necessary. Leaving a dead battery sitting will kill its ability to hold a charge. Jump it off and run it or drive it for about 20 minutes to charge it up, and then either run it for 7 minutes or so every couple of days, or put an automatic charger on it to keep it topped off. That's the battery.
A car, or more specifically, our cars, require the engine to be started to generate the heat for the heater. Our heaters are water-to-air heat exchangers using hot water from the engine cooling system for a heat source.
The "warmer" effect you are feeling when you sit in the car after working in the cold is just the absence of the breeze blowing the skin-warmed air from off of your face. You would get the same effect with out the fan blowing. It would probably even be more pronounced. Heat also builds up inside your clothes, but goes unknoticed until you stop to "warm up". Same principle when you go in the house. It usually gets almost too warm at first, until your body adjusts to the temp change.
If you have a chance, pick up a basic automotive text book, (Try Amazon) and learn a little about the systems that make cars do what they do. It will also help keep you from being ripped off at a mechanics shop.
Good luck!


Kirk B.