Chrysler Repair: No heat, rubber hoses, lamens terms

Question
I have a 2002 Sebring and it takes about 20min of driving for
the heat to finally kick on and when it does its not really hot.  
Could you tell me some possibilities it could be.  IN LAMENS
TERMS :) Yes I'm a woman.

Answer
Hi Mia,
I know that winter is coming when so many questions come in about the heater. If your Sebring has an engine temperature gauge in the instrument cluster check as to how rapidly the needle moves off of low and whether it reaches a reading near mid-scale or not. If not and wherever it moves to takes about as long as it does to get heat, then you have a thermostat in the cooling system for the engine which is opening at too low a temperature which prevents the engine from warming up and the coolant to get warm enough to provide heat in the cabin. That involves simply removing a manifold on the top of the engine where the thermostat is located and putting a new thermostat in its place. Get one that is calibrated to open at 195F.
If on the other hand, the engine seems to be getting up to normal mid-scale readings quickly then there is either an impediment to the flow of coolant thru the heater core (trapped air or corrosion crud, either of which can be removed by proper remediation; you could tell if this were the case if the two rubber hoses behind the engine that go into the firewall were of different degrees of warmth indicating such an impediment, or if not that there was no impediment) or the door in the heater box under the dash that controls how much of the incoming air is directed to pass thru the heater core is out of adjustment. So look at the gauge and compare the temperature of the two hoses once the engine is warmed up and that will give you some direction as to which is the solution. Let me know the results if you write back, and also which engine is in your car (underhood sticker or engraved on the engine itself).
I hope this is a suitable answer for a laywoman :)
Roland