Block heater

[jandree22]

Sorry to play devil's advocate, but wouldn't running the electricity to power a block heater equal or even surpass the cost of marginally lower FE for a few minutes? Usually electrical products that heat stuff up aren't efficient. (I mean, my wife's hair dryer is nearly 2000W) Plus, that leaves out the initial cost of a block heater and installation, too.

But I do understand many here, probably including myself, would rather see the MPG numbers at whatever the cost. Just presenting another side of the coin.

[baddog671]

Yes, I thought about that aswell Jandree. I guess maybe if it wasn't YOUR house, lol, like parent's or an apartment, then it would be best :P

[omgwtfbyobbq]

Probably not, considering the difference in wear as well as fuel efficiency. Lets say that w/ a block heater, I can get 30mpg instead of 20mpg for a ten mile trip, it sucks down 1kW, and I need to run it for an hour to get the car warmed up. For the cold run, gas will cost me ~$1.50 for the trip, and warm, it'll cost me ~$1, so I save ~~$.5. The heater sucks down 1kWh, which is ~$.10-15, so the savings in fuel cost are there. In terms of installation, well, that applies to everything, however I would guess that even if it was a paid install, it'd pay for itself in terms of decreased wear on the engine. And it'd definitely be worthwhile for the DIY'er imo.

[baddog671]

You think it could really jump you 10mpg in 10 miles?

[omgwtfbyobbq]

AFAIK, the cold start cycle involves dumping a ton of fuel to warm up, so imo, yeah. I remember doing a few cold start ~3 mile runs in my Camry, and then filling to get an idea about the mileage. It came to something like ~10mpg. I'm usually good for ~20mpg city and ~30mpg highway driving normally, or ~35mpg combined driving efficiently.

[Hockey4mnhs]

It will work great with me because I still live at home for atleast anouther year and the amount of electricitywe use is stagering anyway with even our house being really electricity efficient

[baddog671]

Hmm, it would be interesting if someone on here with a block heater could do an experiment with block heater on vs. block heater off. I'm sure all cars would be impacted differently, but that would give us a good estimate to begin with...

[cfg83]

Hello -

Question. For those that have block heaters, can you name your brand/model, and where you got it? That would help for people who want to get one.

Thanks!

CarloSW2

[GasSavers_BIBI]

Originally Posted by jandree22

Sorry to play devil's advocate, but wouldn't running the electricity to power a block heater equal or even surpass the cost of marginally lower FE for a few minutes? Usually electrical products that heat stuff up aren't efficient. (I mean, my wife's hair dryer is nearly 2000W) Plus, that leaves out the initial cost of a block heater and installation, too.

But I do understand many here, probably including myself, would rather see the MPG numbers at whatever the cost. Just presenting another side of the coin.

The thing is that if you buy a timer and you program it to work 2 hours before you leave, it won't be that much of electricity use and the price is kind a low, 30-40$ MAX install. Also you have to say that in a cold started (-15 degree C or less) you put a big stress on your battery. So its an investment because a battery cost lot more. Also the motor run so much better when you plugged the block heater. So your motor last longer, because without block heater, the car runs reallllly bad, no just for the FE but also the gas you consumed, a lot of it goes direcly in the exhaust systeme, without being burn. I live in Quebec (Canada,,,, Montreal...) and with the weather (sometimes -20 degree C 3-4 days in a row) I would say that its VERY pratical. But I don't plug the car when its hotter then -10 degree C, AT NIGHT). Also I run synthetic during the winter so that the oil don't freeze, so I get better starts, even if I cant plugged my block heater (example if I'm at work all the day).

Its worth it, and 2 hours and your engine its good too go. Its sure if you plugged it 8-10 hours long, your point about electricity makes a lot of sense. But its also help protecting the engine and the battery during those cold a** winter months.

[jandree22]

Good point, if for nothing else, about the wear/tear of cold oil... and unburned fuel going to the cat converter. Being a n00b I wasn't aware of the amount of fuel dumped into the engine during the warmup cycle.

I need to get a Scangauge then I'd realize stuff like this