So I figured out how to install my block heater

[Frank Hudon]

Originally posted by jayman@Nov 4 2005, 07:46 AM
Hi Frank:

Manitoba Hydro now charges 5.8 cents per kwh for the first 175 kwh, then 5.6 cents for the remainder. The monthly service charge is $6.50 and there is tax on top of it.

jay

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the Manitoba gov must be using low electricity rates to attract people and companies there.

[Frank Hudon]

thanks Ken for the data on electicity rates.

[kenkneeb]

[quote]
Ouch, Right You Are.

EBH Is In Da Block!!!

Wow! Thanks to Evan & Ken & Frank and all the others who posted info. I cheated a little and brought my car to my tire guy, where, first I tested the heater core momentarily in free air for a couple of seconds to insure it was heating... then we proceeded to:

Lift the car, then lowered it, poked around, looked at the great pictures you all posted, found the hole, hit the hole with compress air (that was a trick!) filled the holw with thermal grease, put some thermal grease on the core, slid it in all the way- making sure to engage the locking tab (I was a little uncertain about the orientation of the locking tab in relation to the heater core flattened spots however???), then came the hard part! HA!!! Pluggin in that goofy right angle power cord, OY!!!

Routed it, zip tied it, rerouted it, re-ziptied it, ran it down the passenger side out the bottom front of the grill (where the fog/driving light would be if I had any) and put the cap plug on the end of the power cord.

The entire job from hoisting to groping, to hoping, to 'feeding the core in", to zipping etc. took about an hour, give or take a few knuckle scrapes, head bangs, arm twists and epithets. I also bought an 'outdoor timer' that will sit under the eves of our outside shed with a 10 foot 14 or 16ga. extension cord.

I'll put the timer on a 3 hour/day duration (except for weekends) and see how that helps for ambient engine/cagin temp. increase. Since we don't have a garage, and we also get lots of frost buildup on the glass and the cockpit is quite cold-soaked by the time morning comes, I'll see how effective the 3hr. regime is as regards how quickly the cabin heats and the glass become frost free.

Thanks again to all for their trailblazing, photographing and storytelling.

This is a vibrant and healthy e-community!!!

Only Connect!

Ken

[hdrygas]

[quote]

Ouch, Right You Are.

EBH Is In Da Block!!!

Wow! Thanks to Evan & Ken & Frank and all the others who posted info. I cheated a little and brought my car to my tire guy, where, first I tested the heater core momentarily in free air for a couple of seconds to insure it was heating... then we proceeded to:

Lift the car, then lowered it, poked around, looked at the great pictures you all posted, found the hole, hit the hole with compress air (that was a trick!) filled the holw with thermal grease, put some thermal grease on the core, slid it in all the way- making sure to engage the locking tab (I was a little uncertain about the orientation of the locking tab in relation to the heater core flattened spots however???), then came the hard part! HA!!! Pluggin in that goofy right angle power cord, OY!!!

Routed it, zip tied it, rerouted it, re-ziptied it, ran it down the passenger side out the bottom front of the grill (where the fog/driving light would be if I had any) and put the cap plug on the end of the power cord.

The entire job from hoisting to groping, to hoping, to 'feeding the core in", to zipping etc. took about an hour, give or take a few knuckle scrapes, head bangs, arm twists and epithets. I also bought an 'outdoor timer' that will sit under the eves of our outside shed with a 10 foot 14 or 16ga. extension cord.

I'll put the timer on a 3 hour/day duration (except for weekends) and see how that helps for ambient engine/cagin temp. increase. Since we don't have a garage, and we also get lots of frost buildup on the glass and the cockpit is quite cold-soaked by the time morning comes, I'll see how effective the 3hr. regime is as regards how quickly the cabin heats and the glass become frost free.

Thanks again to all for their trailblazing, photographing and storytelling.

This is a vibrant and healthy e-community!!!

Only Connect!

Ken

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OK but is now time for you to provide data! As one of my old and best professors said " In the absence of data you can have any opinion you wish" It is now the time for "evidence based Prius driving"

[dreichla]

For those of us wanting to know how much electricity the block heaters use (or any other electrical device for that matter), I found two devices in the Smarthome catalog.

Kill a Watt $39.99

Watts Up? $109.99
Watts being used
Energy costs in dollars and cents

Watts Up? PRO $149.99
Same as above but adds:
Serial interface for computer
Payback Calculator

I did a quick Google for more technical information and found that these are not the lowest prices.

[Bill Lumbergh]

Glad to hear lots of us are jumping on the not-too-difficult EBH bandwagon.

With temps dropping into the teens here in Anchorage the past couple weeks, I started my EBH timer at 2 hours on, one hour off, with the car plugged in all day long. This way, whenever I need to go somewhere (which is often with little or no forethought), all i do is unplug and the car's been warmed at least within the last hour.

Last couple nights the temps dropped into the single digits under clear skies, so I switched the timer to three hours on, one hour off, still plugged in all day. Looking outside, there's a noticable bare spot where the residual heat is escaping under the left side of the hood. Hopefully this provides adequate warming after the initial start.

I'm getting killed on the MPG this tank.....barely 42.

[hobbit]

Wow, this thread's getting long. Good stuff throughout, though.
.
Again, the wiper cowling above the engine is not that hard to
remove, and gives wide-open access to EVERYTHING behind there. It
is a frequent first step in many repair procedures documented in
the service manual. There are some pix of the thing taken out
[and the wipers re-attached afterward, sans plastic screens] at
http://techno-fandom.org/~hobbit/cars/naked/
where doing that enabled seeing much more of the engine, installing
a clear cover on the inverter, adding the warm-air-intake hose, and
*would* have made block-heaters a lot easier if I had one at the
time. Really, the cowling is 8 or 10 easily-accessible bolts' worth.
.
Hey Ken, where do you keep getting these amazing pix?
.
_H*

[hdrygas]

I just had an idea! For the next generation of Prius a computer controlled automatic louver that closes on start up and opens dependent on coolant temp, catalytic converter temp, and ambient temp. SAAB did it first but they did many things first, but now Toyota can make it better make it intelligent. Now we need to make Toyota listen. Heat for our friends to the frozen north and yes even here in the 48's. We get some cold temps here. I remember the old roll up lovers in the SAAB and it worked and it can work better!

[kenkneeb]

Originally posted by hdrygas@Nov 7 2005, 08:53 PM
I just had an idea!  For the next generation of Prius a computer controlled automatic louver that closes on start up and opens dependent on coolant temp, catalytic converter temp, and ambient temp.  SAAB did it first but they did many things first, but now Toyota can make it better make it intelligent.  Now we need to make Toyota listen.  Heat for our friends to the frozen north and yes even here in the 48's.  We get some cold temps here.  I remember the old roll up lovers in the SAAB and it worked and it can work better!

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I'll take one, or two or 3! As we just got our first snowfall and the temps dipped into the low 30's I'm still not certain to what extent the block heater has contributed increased ICE efficiency. Since this is my first fall with the car and I don't have a baseline measurements, I'll go with the premise that "It can't hurt". And since this is not a coolant circulator, I'm not seeing any quicker warm ups in cabin temp I was hoping for, but then again the morning temps have dropped 15 degrees in the last few weeks.

That brings me to phase 2:

Doee anybody have any pictures/descriptions of how/where/what material they used for the their radiator air block? Please advise as my search of PriusChat didn't return any hits.

Thanks again,

Ken, 'chillin' in Oregon

[ken1784]

Originally posted by kenkneeb@Nov 8 2005, 01:10 PM
Doee anybody have any pictures/descriptions of how/where/what material they used for the their radiator air block?  Please advise as my search of PriusChat didn't return any hits.

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Hints from Japan...

http://plaza.rakuten.co.jp/aerial/diary/200509010000/
http://blog.livedoor.jp/c_take/archives/50012252.html

Enjoy,
Ken@Japan