Block heater revisited

I've used block timers for years, and they save you tons of money over not plugging in a motor. Unless it's -30 or colder, you don't need to plug in 24x7. I suppose folks in warm climates can only shrug at what we're talking about.

Before I moved into a condo with heated underground parking - and stopped worrying about it - I had a home with an attached insulated garage.

I would set the timer to click on about an hour before I left if the garage temp would be at 40 F or colder (Around 0 F or colder outside). Since the garage was heavily insulated, even at -40 outside, it never got colder than +15 F in the garage.

Driving a 2000 GMC Sierra pickup, not plugging in the motor cost almost an extra $2/day in gas. Remember, this was from an insulated attached garage. Plugging in cost around 4-8 cent depending on how long with the GMC 600w heater. By my math, I'm $1.92 ahead, per day. A high quality block timer costs around $35, so it pays for itself after 18 days of use.

Once at work, I'd leave it plugged in all the time if the temps were below freezing. So did everybody else, that's what plug ins are for.

When I drive out to my hobby farm, I have an insulated but detached garage for the Prius. So the winter temps are a good 10-30 degrees F colder inside than with an attached garage. At the hobby farm I'm not really on a schedule, so I just walk out to the garage and plug it in around 2-3 hours before I have to drive somewhere.

The small diesel tractor I use for snowplowing and the old Ford pickup are in the old barn, which is enclosed but minimally insulated. The tractor I like to plug in for at least 4-6 hours before use, it starts instantly and warms up within 5 minutes.

If you have to park outside all the time, then PLUG IT IN!

I'm still amazed in a cold winter climate like Minnesota, NW Ontario, Manitoba, etc, folks will refuse to plug in their cars even at -10 F, thinking it "costs too much." In the worst driving cycle of pure city stop-n-go, they will easily use 2-3x the fuel with an ice-cold motor.

Sort of like how a sad poor person tries to save a nickle, but it costs him a dollar every time?

 

I'm trying to get this straight in my head.
Assumptions ($ and gallons are U.S.)

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  Calculations

 

Good Lord your power is expensive!

Here in Manitoba, Manitoba Hydro charges around 5.8 cents per KWH for the first 175 KWH consumed, then around 5.4 cents for the remainder.

I've noticed the biggest difference in city-cycle driving. When I used to have a house in the city with an attached and insulated garage, and my 2000 GMC Sierra, I would average 4-6 MPG without plugging in during cold Manitoba winters.

Setting the timer to turn the block heater on around 1 hour before I had to leave, I would get at least 10 MPG. The biggest difference was hitting all those red lights with the motor cold. Parked outside, it would make an even bigger difference.

Sure my Prius took a big hit in MPG thanks to the cold and the reformulated gasoline, but I'm still getting at least 4x the fuel economy my truck ever did in the same driving cycle.

If the temps are hovering around -40, especially with a nasty wind, you had better plug it in. A friend of mine spent some time mining in the Arctic and even the oil pans and transmission pans have heaters.

All I can suggest in your scenario is to try the plug-in for a couple of weeks and see if it makes any difference. If at best you only break even, then ask if the quicker warmup is better for the motor.

If it ends up costing you more money to plug-in, and the motor doesn't seem to mind, then carry on as usual.

 

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(jayman\";p=\"54348)</div>

Yes it is!

Ah, but you see I would have to BUY and INSTALL a block heater to try it. I don't know what they cost but the ROI may not be there. I need a guinea pig to try it first and post the actual tank MPG difference.

 

Oh right, you don't have a block heater already. My Prius came with one, as here in Manitoba it's a "mandatory option."

Well, I'm heading to the hobby farm this weekend, so I'll try leaving the Prius outside and see how it likes being lonely in the snowdrifts for awhile. At the very least, I want to see how the HSD reacts to weather below 0 F, if it gets that cold.

 

Thanks, Frank. I'll watch my MPG numbers through the winter to see how low they go. Right now, my 1st 5 minute block hovers around 25 MPG.

If the only gain is the first 5 minutes or so, the "miles to ROI", even if I already had a block heater, would be much, much higher.

I wonder if someone who drives only a few miles/minutes to work in the morning would make out though. The people in my neighborhood that got theirs last Feb fit that driving pattern.

The engine probably never gets fully warmed. Even if it didn't get to stealth, would their MPG be significantly higher? You calc suggests a 4 MPG gain in the first 5 minute block. hmmm.

 

All this talk about block heaters...well, the good news is that there is a block heater that will fit the 2004-2005 Prius, but, the bad news is (according to my dealer and Toyota) that you have to remove the engine or transmission to install it. Yes, that's right, after having the dealer order it and then waiting for two hours to have it installed, the tech told me that it's too long and it can't be installed without removing the tranny...not a good idea.

The smartypants folks at Toyota Central initially balked at the dealer's conclusion, but they came around and offered me $150 credit for service (I accepted).

So, if it ain't there to begin with, just forget it.

 

First of all, it sounds like Toyota borrowed from Porsche if you have to remove the motor to change or install a block heater. Yeesh! I'm with Frank on this, sounds weird.

The temps dipped to -26 C -15 F at the hobby farm this weekend, and I left the Prius outside the entire time. Sunday afternoon I scraped the ice off the windshield and crossed my fingers as I poked the Power button.

There was maybe an extra two seconds delay but it transitioned to Ready and then the ICE started no problems. I waited around 10 secs and began the slow 4km journey to the highway.

If I park in the insulated garage and plug in for an hour before leaving at the same temps, The MFD claims 16 l / 100km and settles down to 6 l / 100km. This time, the MFD was VERY dim, and it claimed 28 l / 100km.

I tried to increase the HVAC speed and the touchscreen didn't respond, so I used the steering wheel control to select max defrost. By the time I got to the highway, the interior had warmed enough to allow the MFD to work normally.

Once on the highway, it took around 20 km at 100 km/h before the fuel consumption stabalized at 5.3 l / 100 km.

So I'll definitely park in the insulated garage from now on.

I was worried about the MFD and mentioned this to a coworker today. He produced a 2005 Lexus LS430 brochure (He's dreaming, but that's okay too) and Lexus has the following notice:

"Under very cold conditions, the operation of some vehicle electronic systems using liquid crystal display technology (such as CD, DVD, NAV and Audio displays) may be adversely affected until a warmer interior vehicle temperature is reached."

Nowhere in the Prius manual or the Prius brochure do they mention that. I'm not sure why Toyota can't borrow from the aviation world and put in a small resistive heater. This would bring the LCD to operating temp within 5-10 secs.

 

Everyone needs to realize that Frank is not in an "optimal" area for this type of experiment. Yes he is a 100 mi or so north of me but this is a marine climate. We are warmed by the Japanese Current off shore and our climate is quite temperate. We get into the 40's in the winter but mainly hang there in the mid to high 40's in the winter sometimes better. We do get colder weather but not all that often. The summers are likewise mild. If it gets into the 90's everyone around here is dying. Those of you who are live in more sever climates will get better results than Frank. He has me half convinced to look around for a block heater. I don't know but he probably has cheaper hydro power as we do. I know many pay much more for power than we do.

 

Frank,

OK, where did they put it...and or, may I have the telephone number of your dealer....the Toyota guys here are in my humble opinion, incompetent.