How do you get your car to warm up quickly?

[RH77]

Originally Posted by trebuchet03

It's not an option for anyone that isn't near a plug :/

That's exactly the problem -- I have block heater, but there's no place to plug it in at work, or in long-term parking.

This conjures up memories of the JC Whitney "Turbolator", which is essentially a butterfly valve in an exhaust tip application. Too bad it's expensive.

I don't think anyone ended up testing the device -- it has some hefty claims. We need a lab and funding

Retrospectively, the later-model Nissan Altima 2.5's have a dual-stage muffler that acts in this manner, with altered flow at different RPMs. I hadn't considered it as part of warming-up faster. Hmmmm.

It's supposed to get back up to near 60F this weekend (it was +5F on Wednesday!) -- so testing will have to wait. Don't worry it will get cold again.

RH77

[Daox]

Originally Posted by trebuchet03

It's not an option for anyone that isn't near a plug :/

Quite a good point. I guess I assumed too much.

Okay the, other ideas for quick warm up from quick/easy to expensive/hard.

1) Not using the heater. Keep the heater on full cold so it doesn't use your hot coolant to heat up the heater core. Problems include freezing your butt off and fogging of windows.

2) Full grill block and underbody tray. Must watch coolant temps very closely and have a way of removing some of the blocks if necessary.

3) Warm air intake. Using already warm air instead of heating up cold air will make the engine warm up faster.

4) Insulated coolant tank (like the 2nd gen Prius has). Tank stores hot/warm coolant and exchanges it with the cold coolant in the engine block upon startup. Not cheap or easy.

[roflwaffle]

Originally Posted by RH77

That's exactly the problem -- I have block heater, but there's no place to plug it in at work, or in long-term parking.

What about a deep cycle battery and an AC inverter?

[RH77]

Originally Posted by roflwaffle

What about a deep cycle battery and an AC inverter?

That's a good idea, but I recall having performed the calculations a while ago for something like this.

On a quick search, I found that the average deep battery produces 100 Watt-Hours. If the EBH is in the range of 400-500 Watts, then your looking at 12-15 minutes of full power. Inversion may loose some in the translation -- but it takes at least an hour to get some appreciable gains to overcome the weight of the extra battery.

Batt experts can probably chime in here, but I think this is the case. The same goes for solar -- not enough power for the heater.

RH77

[roflwaffle]

Isn't it usually ~100Ah@6V/~50Ah@12V? For example according to the chart on this page, the T-105 will last for 115minutes@75A. Since it's a 6V battery that means it can put out 75A(6V)=450W for a little under two hours. If the current draw is doubled even less power will be extracted, so I don't think it could run a 1kW BH for an hour, but it should be able to run a 400-500W BH for an hour.

[RH77]

Originally Posted by roflwaffle

Isn't it usually ~100Ah@6V/~50Ah@12V? For example according to the chart on this page, the T-105 will last for 115minutes@75A. Since it's a 6V battery that means it can put out 75A(6V)=450W for a little under two hours. If the current draw is doubled even less power will be extracted, so I don't think it could run a 1kW BH for an hour, but it should be able to run a 400-500W BH for an hour.

Ah, that might be valid then. I looked at 12-volt units instead (don't know if that makes a difference -- the idea would be to include it in the summer months as part of the car's 12-volt system, to power accessories, assist in the regular batt in EOC re-starts, etc.)

Also, would there be some loss in the the DC-to-AC conversion?

Rh77

[roflwaffle]

Definitely, although I'm fairly sure they are small. I have a kill-a-watt and a spare battery I can test those losses w/ if you would like. Also I think having it separate for cold starts and hooking it up to the system in parallel after would be the best bet, just so the BH has no chance of depleting your starting battery if the deep cycle is run down.

[DifferentPointofView]

Someone said something about more efficient cars heating up slower than non-efficient cars.

This is only the case if the engines are the same cc's, Because my mom's Caliber warms up in a bout a mile, my Jeep takes about 5 miles to warm up. and it's a 4L I6 VS. 2.4L I4

[Frank Lee]

Originally Posted by roflwaffle

Old domestics had a spring/flap on the exhaust for warm up, old skool internal EGR I guess. The flap would stay closed'ish and not all the hot gas would exit the combustion chamber until the manifold warmed up enough/the spring rate dropped enough and the flap popped open.

Guess again. The thermostatic flaps closed up when cold to route hot exhaust through passages in the intake manifold, to heat the carb. They did not restrict exhaust enough for any EGR action.

[trebuchet03]

Originally Posted by DifferentPointofView

Someone said something about more efficient cars heating up slower than non-efficient cars.

This is only the case if the engines are the same cc's, Because my mom's Caliber warms up in a bout a mile, my Jeep takes about 5 miles to warm up. and it's a 4L I6 VS. 2.4L I4

I think that was a reference to thermal efficiency - not fuel efficiency.... A 100% efficient engine will never warm up (all heat input is converted to useful work rather than a portion going to work and the rest waste heat) Too bad such an engine can't exist