Civic Block Heater Install

[Chris D.]

Heated seat inlay FTW!!!! ;0

[8307c4]

Don't forget assuming you plug it in 8 hours a day for 20 days a month at 400 watts this consumes 160 x 400 / 1000 = 16 x 4 = 64kwh's, so assuming a cost of 11 cents per kwh your electric bill will cost $7.04 extra per month in this particular scenario.

When you find out your actual mpg increase you will want to calculate how much actual fuel it saves, considering that the money spent on the electric would have bought 2 gallons of fuel it is hard to see at this point if this really saves money because heating an engine is one of the most inefficient ways of electricity usage.

Now I do see you're in a cold climate so if the temperatures around your car are in the single digits Fahrenheit this might affect the car to where it would not start unless it was heated then a block heater is the answer of choice, which is to say I have never heard of anyone using such a device unless it was absolutely crucial, such as the car would NOT start otherwise. And yes, there is such a thing as the kind of cold that will affect a car in such a manner, but if it is kept inside and it starts fine unheated then this is as likely just so much more phony baloney and snake oil.

It is one thing to get better economy, it is quite another to push a car up a hill so one can coast down it to get better mpg and then go spend $5 more on a lunch when it would've cost 50 cents or a dollar just to drive up it, but hey, I get unlimited mpg.

Should your calculations differ from mine on the electric bill and the mpg increase make this truly worthwhile I am certainly more than willing to stand corrected. Because I'm not knocking experimentation per se but to ignore the entire cost of the other side of the equation, that frustrates more than not worrying about it in the first place.

[trebuchet03]

Originally Posted by 8307c4

Don't forget assuming you plug it in 8 hours a day for 20 days a month at 400 watts this consumes 160 x 400 / 1000 = 16 x 4 = 64kwh's, so assuming a cost of 11 cents per kwh your electric bill will cost $7.04 extra per month in this particular scenario.

When you find out your actual mpg increase you will want to calculate how much actual fuel it saves, considering that the money spent on the electric would have bought 2 gallons of fuel it is hard to see at this point if this really saves money because heating an engine is one of the most inefficient ways of electricity usage.

However, if the temperatures around your car are in the single digits Fahrenheit this might affect the car to where it would not start unless it was heated then a block heater is the answer of choice, which is to say I have never heard of anyone using such a device unless it was absolutely crucial such as the car would NOT start otherwise.

It is one thing to get better economy, it is quite another to push a car up a hill so one can coast down it to get better mpg and then go spend $5 more on a lunch when it would've cost 50 cents or a dollar just to drive up it, but hey, I get unlimited mpg.

I'm not knocking experimentation per se but to ignore the entire cost of the other side of the equation, that frustrates more than not worrying about it in the first place.

8 hours is a really really long time... In any case, he already did the math to look at the entire cost (read up on the first page - link to post below)
http://forum.ecomodder.com/showpost....0&postcount=17

[Chris D.]

Originally Posted by 8307c4

but hey, I get unlimited mpg.

Unlimited MPG? You must work for the state/government I take

Originally Posted by trebuchet03

8 hours is a really really long time... In any case, he already did the math to look at the entire cost (read up on the first page - link to post below)
http://forum.ecomodder.com/showpost....0&postcount=17

Interesting info a friend told me about..
Ambulances are almost always plugged into block heaters while parked in cold weather climates..

30 something a year for over night use of a block heater really wouldnt be too bad of a deal.. Its just cheap insurance if ya ask me..

Why make your engine suffer with a harsh cold start when you can do this?
I myself being on call would have to have one of these plugged in at all times for that just in case.. I dont want to sit there and have to wait for a block heater to thaw things out..

If I can pull 455K out of a stock engine w/orignal head gasket, I must be doing something right..

[TomO]

Just a little update:

I filled up my car last night and calculated my MPG..... 46.14 US MPG, with a distance of 394 mi. and used 8.539 gallons.

Previous fill ups without block heater = 41.45 US MPG, 43.12 US MPG, and 43.33 US MPG.
MY GASLOG

Proof that having a block heater installed will help improve FE.

The average temp since my last fill up has been 22°F that is with one day of 42°F high (freak thing) and then a cold few days from -15°F (ironically that was just a day after the 42° day).

[S_F]

I just put the same block heater in my DX. I had been putting off doing this all winter since I was afraid I would need to remove the exhaust manifold, which bites and entails getting a new gasket between it and the head plus one for between the manifold and the elbow before the cat. It was actually pretty easy. The plug came out easily considering I live in a climate with a winter and the car is 15 years old with 250,000 miles. All I did was remove the heat shield to get at the plug. From there I used a 3" extension with a regular socket wrench. No BFH was needed. I routed the plug out through the grill on the bottom of the bumper. I still need to zip tie it on there or something. It's nice but it isn't getting the car as warm as fast as I expected. I have only used it for 1 hour at the most and when I fired up the car the needle was only a little up from pegged at the bottom. Then this afternoon I had to go on an errand that entailed me only driving several miles. I knew that I was going to need to go out again later in the day so I plugged the block heater in as soon as I got in from the first trip thinking that the temp wouldn't drop at all. Well when I fired it up for the second trip it wasn't fully warmed up. I think I need to conduct some experiments to see how long it takes to engine to reach the maximum temp afforded by the block heater and what exactly that temp is. Also are there any danger associated with keeping it plugged in all the time?

What are you experiences in these matters TomO?

P.S. I don't want to show the heater in a bad light. It rocks. I love it. Well worth the money even if my fuel economy doesn't change one lick.

[TomO]

Glad the install went well for you S_F.

It takes 2-3 hours (depending on where the car is located and what the ambient temps are) to get the block warmed up as much as the heater can.

The heater itself only attains ~120°F so that means that the block only gets up to about 80°F. The aluminum block and head are great at dissipating heat so that's why the block really only gets up to about 80°F after a couple hours. the stock needle on our cars doesn't even really get off of the bottom tick mark until the motor reaches ~120°F

The only drawback to leaving the heater plugged in longer than 3 hours is that it just makes you spend more money on electricity.

I know that some people are under the impression that a block heater gets the car up to operating temps (180°F +) but it doesn't. It helps to take the edge off the cold temps and cuts off a minute or more from warm up time.

[redline5th]

I wouldn't be quite as concerned with the gains from efficiency as I would be the longevity of the block.

Motor will last soooo much longer without having to warm up as much. Cold starts are hard on a motor.

[Weather Spotter]

TomO:

I added your MPG data to the wiki as tank to tank data, I am just guessing on the install time though, do you have a time to install?

Any long term MPG gain averages or ABA test data?
Block Heater - EcoModder

[S_F]

No need to remove the manifold, just the cover. Including the time it takes to bleed the coolant system it took me... maybe... 40 minutes? It's really a pretty procedure.