Quote:
Originally Posted by minor4326
wouldn't it be just as easy and cheaper to put a timer on the heater and run it 2-4 hours before work?
|
Previously I had experimented with a block heater and the stock 1.0L engine, and found there was very little gain running the heater for more than 2 hours, and that it's overall diminishing the longer you run it.
I actually just purchased a cheap outlet timer from Amazon. This morning was the first time I used it, and I started the heater 1 hour before my normal departure time. I found that the coolant reached ~160F (basically lower end of full operating temperature) around the same time as it would normally just be hitting 120. And, that was with interior heat running.
If I were to guess, the break-even in electricity costs is likely sometime between 1 hour and 2 hours of heating.