Very slow to heat-up

[ukEvans]

On a cold morning, actually 'any morning', my van takes about 30 mins to be warm enough to get heat into the cab. The temp gauge is slow to rise but once it does, the heat through the blowers is hot enough to melt plastic (well, nearly ).

From reading on here, I'm not sure if I should be looking for an airlock or at getting a new thermostat fitted.

Thoughts?

[Boswell]

It's normal!

[huns]

This is totally normal, sadly.
I would recommend installing aftermarket seat heaters, trust me, your body and health will thank you.
Both me and my father had health problems due to the extreme cold in our older Connect that had the same slow warm-up speed. The warm seats at least keep you warm until the cabin heats up. There is an engine block heater plug somewhere in the engine bay, but if you look around online, it does not speed up the process and only recommended for extremely <-20C weather.

(I never had heated seats, but trust me, they are insanely comfy and awesome. It's also a cheap fix. If you doubt my word, just test drive a car that has heated seats in your local area.)