Front Defroster Operation

[landar]

I came out to my iced up car the other day at work, started it up (it was about 15F outside) and pressed the "Front" defroster button. I noticed that the fan came on almost immediately and started blowing fairly strong. I thought this was odd, given that the engine temp was not up at all.

So, I get out and scrape some ice for several minutes, then jump back into the drivers seat. I was somewhat pleasantly surprised to find that the front defroster was starting to feel warm to my hand, yet the engine was still showing cold. Remember, only several minutes had gone by. It really puzzled me. The standard cabin temp was set at 74F and was not blowing at all since the engine was cold.

The next day, I did a similar experiment. I glanced at my watch to mark the time, started the engine and immediately pressed the Front defrost button. The fan came on strong and air was stone cold. At about 2 minutes of idling, I could just start to feel warm air coming out. Yet the coolant gauge needle was still pegged at the coldest setting.

Wonder what is going on here? Is there some kind of electric heater assist element? Or is Lexus somehow siphoning off some early engine heat? I looked for schematics and see no electric element. I am puzzled, albeit pleasantly so.