What he said plus. If you don't drive the car in the winter, block the hoses off.

On my 97 SL 320, I bypassed the washer heater and the "windshield wiper heated park position at the base of the windshield " since the car will never see winter conditions. Doing this also got rid of the expensive multi end hoses. Even if the car was driven in the winter, it would be like most every other car out there.

Also ( if you car has it ) unplug the electrically heated washer fluid hose and nozzles.

Lastly, take a hard look at the electric assist heater water pump, some have reported that when the pump locks up it takes out the heater control box and sometimes the entire car. ( as in fire deep in the dash ) Search this list for specific models