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Oh I will still use it but the value deminishes after 2.5 hours, if saving money on energy was the only factor. My car warmed up by 38 deg C when it was plugged in for over 5 hours which is around 27 cents of electrical energy, which seems to have knocked off about 13 cents of fuel consumption when compared to warmup in the driveway to the same temperature.
My plan is to warm up the engine for 2.5 hours with the blockheater and I hope to break even the moment that the car is started. I know that a savings will also be realized from a warmer engine start and rolling down the road. which has not been measured yet. I intend to conduct a few averaging runs in January back and forth work in an attempt in getting some plots
I am still sorting out my data collection techniques but I am getting results. Even if it just monitoring the LPH as I cruise up down these hilly roads of Nova Scotia.
I just came into the house after sealing the gap around the front and two sides of the hood. I expect that it will take a few kms to get that money back. At least it will slowdown the loss of heat in the driveway and maybe better aero... But on the other hand I burn 600 dollars of fuel a month just in that car.
I am fairly impressed my efforts so far. I am very close to my summer MPG's.
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