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Old 01-07-2013, 10:58 PM   #103 (permalink)
elhigh
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Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: SE USA - East Tennessee
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Josie - '87 Toyota Pickup
90 day: 29.5 mpg (US)

Felicia - '09 Toyota Prius Base
90 day: 52.44 mpg (US)
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Rusty94cx View Post
So it's a plug in heater. So if I just heated the garage. It's attached and fully insulated. It would be the same. 3 mpg from a warm start motor. Hmmm what about the oil dipstick heaters. They always seemed to keep the diesels happier.
I dunno about the same. His block heater is 400 watts, not even a full kilowatt-hour to heat the engine before he heads off for work. How much energy required to heat up your garage? I'm guessing it's probably a lot more. The mass of the air inside the garage is 50lbs more than the weight of the D15 engine, and that's before the air gets to heating the engine itself.

It's best to apply the heat directly where it's needed. For a pretty cool write-up on that topic (as it applies to keeping humans comfortable), check this thread from permies.com: making the best of electric heat (conservation forum at permies)
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