Bearleener -
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bearleener
At home there's an outlet only about 1 m from the hood, so that's perfect. A block heater is probably the way I'll go. I get green power.
I just like the elegance of a thermos solution, and the facts that (a) it's on-demand; no need to predict when I'll be leaving and (b) it works when I drive home from work (no outlet).
One thing I actually considered and haven't dismissed the thought yet is to use the warm water drained from my morning shower -- comes at just the right time. Just need to figure out a way to pump it around the engine...
Heating the entire block etc. is best but requires lots of energy, but maybe as a compromise one could start by heating only the intake manifold; I'll start a thread on that.
-- Mike
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I don't this is viable, but I thought I would mention it anyway :
How about a "Solar hot water heater" concept to heat up the coolant. Coolant pipework would have to be modified to have logical "in" and "out" point that would be optimum for recirculation. Electric pump needed would also be external. Only works at home on a sunny day because the black piping would be installed on the roof of the house.
Postive :
- Solar heat based.
- Solar water heater tech already exists.
- Electric pump could run off solar panel also.
Negative :
- Complicated to implement
- Expensive to implement
- Cold sunless days
- Unknown corrosion issues in water heater pipes
- Need to make sure that ALL the coolant returns to the car before starting out. Maybe you need to have more coolant "in the system" than you need and refill mechanism that tops it when you are ready to go.
Hmmmmmmm, a block heater is sounding better and better every minute,
.
CarloSW2