Block Heaters

[SVOboy]

But if you've got solar panels, dun dun dun. And if you consider that that is often longer than the drive to work you've got to figure that you might be running wicked rich the whole drive. Like MetroMPG said about extended his trips to try and not get such bad gas mileage.

[Matt Timion]

Originally Posted by SVOboy

But if you've got solar panels, dun dun dun. And if you consider that that is often longer than the drive to work you've got to figure that you might be running wicked rich the whole drive. Like MetroMPG said about extended his trips to try and not get such bad gas mileage.

Solar isn't an option for this. You usally heat your engine block in the night time. On top of that a 700watt solar array would cost more than one of those Jeep Commanders.

[SVOboy]

Man, you got batteries and **** when you do solar, or else you wouldn't have power for a week when you got a big snow.

[MetroMPG]

At 8 cents per kw-hr electric rates, running a 700 watt block heater for 8 hrs costs 45 cents.

unless you live in dawson city, plugging in for that length of time is completely unnecessary. and unless you have a giant heat sink of an engine block, 700 watts is also overkill.

i plug my 300 watt block heater in for 1.5 hrs (sometimes 2) and it does its job, warming the engine around 30-50F above ambient.

at $.08/kw-hr that costs $0.036 or 3.6 cents.

How much does one of these damn things weigh/cost?

my external element style heater cost around $50, but i got OEM and therefore it was more expensive. you can get the frost plug style heaters for much less. it probably weighs no more than a pound with the cord.

external element style example:

[GasSavers_DaX]

Originally Posted by Matt Timion

Assuming gas is $2/gallon and I get 40mpg that 45 cents is about the same as 10 miles. This is often longer than the distance of most people's commute to work.

*pfft* On tuesday-thursday, I put at least 120 miles on my car PER DAY. =P

[SVOboy]

and unless you have a giant heat sink of an engine block, 700 watts is also overkill.

This guy had a 5.8 I believe, , 3.6 cents sounds good though, take that Matt!!!

[Matt Timion]

Originally Posted by SVOboy

This guy had a 5.8 I believe, , 3.6 cents sounds good though, take that Matt!!!

3.6 cents is much better than 45.

You can find good aftermarket heaters cheap. I even saw one that was a dipstick heater, which I think is rather cool.

[CosmicMC]

So maybe I'm missing something, but what are the savings by using this engine heater? How long does it take to make up the cost of the heater and electricity? Are we trying to save money or save gas?

[Matt Timion]

Originally Posted by CosmicMC

So maybe I'm missing something, but what are the savings by using this engine heater? How long does it take to make up the cost of the heater and electricity? Are we trying to save money or save gas?

Some people want to save money, some want to save gas. It's that simple. Not everyone is motivated by the same things.

Engines are more efficient when at normal operating temperature. Depending on the vehicle it can take several miles. For my car I think it takes around 5 or 6 miles to get warmed up. Using the block heater for one hour and spending 4 cents in electricity (if the above figures are correct) to help get your engine in normal operating temperature right away seems like it would pay off. I'm certain it could pay for itself in a year or so (depending on the block heater you purchased).

Then again, it might pay for itself much sooner assuming your fuel economy while the engine is cold is drastically less than your fuel economy while warm.

[MetroMPG]

matt makes a good point on the issue of motivation.

to further complicate things, in the case of an engine heater, i use it for a combination of reasons: better mileage, increased comfort (heater output comes much sooner), reduced wear on the starter/battery, and because the motor runs significantly more smoothly immediately after a pre-warmed start than when started cold, and i like that.

i haven't bothered to do a cost/benefit analysis based solely on fuel savings because (1) i haven't bothered to calculate exactly how much it saves me, and (2) i'd do it for the other reasons, even if there were no mpg benefit (which we all agree there is, though likely very small in the big picture).