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Originally Posted by Ryland
so 1,900 watt hours to give a temperature rise where benefit is seen, this is a European company so I think it's safe to assume that it's a modest sized 4 cylinder engine, so a larger car or truck engine is of course going to take more energy and there tests were plugging in for 3 hours when it was -20°C/-4°F.
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Nice find!
I'll bet the benefit is even greater if the car is garaged.
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Sure seems like a better idea then letting it idle or driving with an ice scraper in one hand.
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From driver/passenger comfort, to safety, to just protecting the engine from cold-start damage, it sure is a better idea.
Now, if one could also combine that block heater with a battery heater, AND a battery charger, so that when you turn the car to "Start" it adds a 50A boost, that would have another (albeit slight) advantage of giving the alternator less work to do when you first drive off in the morning. Many of us operate our headlights in the early morning hours (or have DRLs on all the time), and short winter trips can take their toll on car batteries.