[jime57]

This time of year we are all thinking of grill blocks. Last year I blocked the entire top grill opening and about 90 % of the bottom on my gen 1 Insight. It worked well to promote aero and quick warm-ups, but now I am thinking it wasn't quite right.

The insight motor is so small and loses so much heat through the block that it will run most times in winter without ever opening the thermostat. It will run at 195F and the thermostat does not open until 204-206F. I run 206-208F in the "warmer" winter days with the current setup. It occurs to me that I am wasting energy by opening the thermostat when radiator cooling would actually be unnecessary if I found the correct amount of grill block.

I could enlarge my grill block opening to put the "warm" winter day temp at 204, just on the edge, and on cold days the thermostat would never open. What think ye thermodynamics experts?