[Piwoslaw]

With my 550W coolant heater installed and winter approaching I thought I'd do a test similar to MetroMPG's. I plan to test warm-up times both for the heater, and for idling (starting with cold engine) to see the difference. Yes, it's a waste of fuel (and a source of pollution), but it is in the name of scientific research. Plus I'll do it before a planned drive, so that should partially offset any bad side effects. If I install an oil pan heater, then I'll also test it with and without the coolant heater.

I would like my results to be comparable with MetroMPG's, but before I start I'd like to know if I should pay attention to anything else. Wishlist, anyone?

In his tests MetroMPG idled for 30 seconds every 15 minutes to pump the coolant throught the block, but it turned out that even that added enough energy to skew the results towards the end of the test (and maybe in the beginning too, but that's hard to quantify without an electric water pump). So, maybe I should idle for only 15 or 20 seconds to reduce the effect of combustion heat? But is that enough to thoroughly mix the coolant inside the engine?