That's why I endorse the oil pan heater... Heats the oil AND the coolant.

Why I also like the heater hose style. With a pump it circulates the coolant as it heats, unlike a block heater or a lower radiator hose style.

However block heaters have been around a long time and many like them.

Although I can't imagine -40 on a continuous basis...

Josh

 

We don't hit it often, but when we do, it generally sticks around for a few weeks, i 'plug in' 24/7 then.

 

The media is always spouting how you should save energy and only plug in for two hours. This is real BS, on a truck engine it takes at least 8hrs for the engine to turn over smoothly. Yeah you could start it at the 2 hr mark but it isn't easy on your engine. Maybe 2hrs would work on a small car engine but........

 

Dang, is electricity that cheap for ya? I would almost think it was cheaper to just let that little diesel Ranger idle all night versus paying for block heaters.

My uncle used to live in upper Alaska and had something on his 1st Gen Cummins Dodge that would start and idle the truck for a few minutes every hour or so all night. Never heard of it before or since, it's been awhile since he sold that truck.

Josh

 

4.9 cents a KWH, though they're suppose to raise this January 1st

 

Between the additional pull from the house and the cars, my electrical bill goes up about 100$/month over the 4-5months of the winter that are really cold. I am guessing that only about 30$ of that is the vehicles. It is well worth the money spent on something preventative then paying for a transmission or an engine.

 

Now that idea I like! The cold we get around here isn't true "cold" (we never make it into the negatives), but, the heater would be nice to have, all the same. I do plan to move to the eastern part of the state at some point, and over there I might actually need that block heater!

Sam

 

Interesting... ours is Xcel Energy so they run a whole bunch of weird charges, but it's basically $25-35 a month.

Natural Gas is the killer in the winter months! About 62 cents a "therm"

Josh

 

I have had oil pan heaters, block heaters, dipstick heaters, lower radiator hose heaters, just about anything that was available.
I liked the block heaters the best for the PNW where I live. But finding a quality block heater that does not rust and leak out proved difficult. All my passenger cars have had block heaters, but they were made by the car manufacture. The last one I had on my FE was the lower radiator hose type. I liked it as it caused enough convection to just about heat the entire cooling system. As for oil, once I started using synthetic I had no problem. But I live in the PNW and the temp never gets below single digits F. The lower heater hose unit was from NAPA and I'd say it was good quality, in fact I'm putting that one back in.
Folks that live in places that have negative temps have all kinds of things to deal with, starting with the battery or maybe just getting the door open. .