block heater
Elder User
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 768
Likes: 1
From: Live VT, Work MA
Was 9 degrees this morning.........Iw as lazy and plugged it in last night before bed.......mostly because I was planning on just starting her in the monring and then taking my other truck to work as I still have one questionable battery, which I'm buying two new ones next week (get paid today).......started right up and I decided to take her to work.
Threw a few gallons of fuel in this morning......friggin' $3.399/gal.......awesome......gotta love heating season and a ******* gas station owner. He's the only diesel on this strip now after a guy went under and he is right off the highway so on Friday's he raises the prices $.05 on everything......**** By some miracle the price always goes down about noon Mondays.....
Threw a few gallons of fuel in this morning......friggin' $3.399/gal.......awesome......gotta love heating season and a ******* gas station owner. He's the only diesel on this strip now after a guy went under and he is right off the highway so on Friday's he raises the prices $.05 on everything......**** By some miracle the price always goes down about noon Mondays.....
Last edited by megawatt00; Dec 26, 2010 at 06:58 PM. Reason: Remove comments that were not forum material
Elder User
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 768
Likes: 1
From: Live VT, Work MA
Yikes. I'll probably stick with the gasser during the winter for the most part, give the 7.3 a couple runs per week when I get sick of the other truck.......of course I need tires for the other truck as I've been lucky with snow.
Senior User
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 210
Likes: 0
i have block heater and a external oil heater, with 2 battery blankets that are all pluged in to a timer and it works good. some people say i went a little over board on the heating stuff but it below zero here a lot.
Post Fiend
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 14,541
Likes: 2
From: Dallas-Ft. Worth
Yes, it's 1000 watts. Look at your rate per kWH, and it will be that much per hour. If it's say, $0.15 per kWH, then it costs you $0.15 per hour.
I personally think 1-2 hours is plenty, BTW. Save a few $$$ on your electric bill....
I personally think 1-2 hours is plenty, BTW. Save a few $$$ on your electric bill....
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Senior User
Joined: Dec 2009
Posts: 170
Likes: 0
From: Richmond VA
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Brett Foote
Senior User
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 407
Likes: 2
From: Mobile, AL
I've been using the three hrs before leaving timer, and I can't see much difference in the starting engine/water temp. What kind of results are you all seeing? I know ambient temp will factor it, but say if it is 10-20 deg out and the heater is on for three hours, what temp might the engine be at on initial start? I know it is a dumb gauge, so are we talking at the C, in op range? I get below the C and the EBPV valve kicks the idle up so I know the engine isn't seeing much...thanks
Posting Guru
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 1,102
Likes: 3
From: Virginia - SW (Riner)
All I really have noticed is quicker/easier cranking & warm up - never really paid attention to whether there was any diff in the gauges plugged in vs not.
The deal closer for me on using the block heater is: I get heat in the cab just a few miles down the rd vs 12-15 miles w/o the heater plugged in
The deal closer for me on using the block heater is: I get heat in the cab just a few miles down the rd vs 12-15 miles w/o the heater plugged in
Cargo Master
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 2,089
Likes: 16
My wife works the normal bankers hours. i work an odd shift so a lot of times she leaves 4-5 hours before I do. When it gets down into the teens, she will plug the truck into the wall on her way by it. She usually does not know what time I will leave or when I will get back. If it is one of the days where I do not leave until 2 pm, the water gauge is usually right at the bottom of the normal range when I crank the truck. Last night when we got in, I plugged it in when it started to snow. We only got about 3 inches, but both trucks were parked next to each other. The SD had no snow on windows while hemi powered dodge had snow all over windows and hood. we had driven the dodge so it was the warm one when we got home.
Posting Guru
Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 2,447
Likes: 1
From: Northern Idaho
I have a timer on mine as well. It's rated for 15amps and the Extension cord is heavy duty. Seems to work great, no problems at all. I usually let mine warm up about 3 hours before going out to start it and since I haven't as of yet fixed my GP issues it makes starting much smoother. Without plugging it in I can bellow some serious smoke and she rocks like crazy for a minute or so.
If it's plugged in then it starts nice and smooth.
If it's plugged in then it starts nice and smooth.
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