Block Heaters

[kickflipjr]

Anyone use a block heater? They seem like a good idea in the cool and cold months for fast warm ups. This artical has some good info on block heaters.

http://metrompg.com/posts/block-heater.htm

The only downside is pluging in your car.

[rh77]

I recall the engine block heater as a carry-over from the Canadian assembly lines -- which are easy to order and to be installed in the U.S. (especially on domestic nameplates). Up there, and in the extreme Northern U.S., these add-ons are nearly required if you park your vehicle outside. In North Dakota, they tell me that remote start systems are nearly required if no EBH is installed.

In the warmer climes, but still cold-enough to effect economy (in open-loop long enough to be a bother), this may be a good idea. I actually considered it for my Evo because the transmission was so stiff, I couldn't shift into 2nd until the whole deal warmed up). Same principle, the heater could keep the coolant/anti-freeze at a temp to get the vehicle out of open-loop and into a more economical mode, sooner. This is actually an excellent point (good work)...

RH77

[MetroMPG]

kickflipjr: it was the link you posted to my page about block heaters that tipped me off to this site (gassavers.org showed up in my referer logs). so, thanks.

if the amount of search engine traffic is any indication, a whole lot of people have started thinking about block heaters in the last 2 weeks - I suppose the weather just turned colder.

i've had more google searches leading to my page about block heaters than any other.

[kickflipjr]

whats a referer log? What you can see when anyone puts a link to your site on other sites... If so thats awesome.

[SVOboy]

Yeah, shows where people come from to get to your site.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by kickflipjr

whats a referer log? What you can see when anyone puts a link to your site on other sites... If so thats awesome.

it's really useful to see how people arrive at the various pages on my site.

just to clarify, simply placing the link on this page didn't make it show up in my log. someone had to actually click it. the "referring" URL was recorded in my log along with the request to view the linked page.

so if no one had clicked the link you put in, i wouldn't have known about gassavers.org ... so thanks to the clicker too.

[Matt Timion]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

it's really useful to see how people arrive at the various pages on my site.

just to clarify, simply placing the link on this page didn't make it show up in my log. someone had to actually click it. the "referring" URL was recorded in my log along with the request to view the linked page.

so if no one had clicked the link you put in, i wouldn't have known about gassavers.org ... so thanks to the clicker too.

I use the refferrer log to see what search strings people use to find our site via Google. It's usually pretty cool to also see your site discussed in other forums.

[SVOboy]

so if no one had clicked the link you put in, i wouldn't have known about gassavers.org ... so thanks to the clicker too.

Not to brag, but I clicked it about 15 minutes after the original post, so you're welcome.

[SVOboy]

Another 'non-sexy' but effective way to increase mpg is to keep an electric
block heater on while the truck is parked. The Dodge PCM computer richens the
mixture until the coolant temperature gets to 147 degrees F. By keeping the
block warm the engine goes into the more fuel efficient 'closed loop' control
sooner. This MPG improvement works best on trucks that do short trips. At 8
cents per kw-hr electric rates, running a 700 watt block heater for 8 hrs
costs 45 cents.

Another little thing. How much does one of these damn things weigh/cost?

<a href=http://www.dodgetalk.com/forums/showthread.php?s=6307d7191bb2c4c3bb9c69b5a0a7a6a9& t=28088&page=1&pp=20 target=_blank>Source</a>

[Matt Timion]

Originally Posted by SVOboy

Another little thing. How much does one of these damn things weigh/cost?

<a href=http://www.dodgetalk.com/forums/showthread.php?s=6307d7191bb2c4c3bb9c69b5a0a7a6a9& t=28088&page=1&pp=20 target=_blank>Source</a>

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.