How I know it's getting really cold somewhere... block heater weather!
 

I know I've probably posted this before...

This is how I know when frigid winter weather has finally arrived somewhere populated:

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...1&d=1481213671

That's the annual giant traffic spike I see to a post on MetroMPG.com I made years ago. It must have some pretty good search engine result ranking.

It happens every year, as reliable as bird migration.

Block heaters are a winter thing? I use mine all year! :D

Ha!

To those visitors they sure are.

Definitely block heater weather today, 20°f with 20mph wind. Been using mine for the last 2 months.

PS: congrats on passing the 1k posts mark, ksa:

my car slurps gas if the heater is not used.

Sometimes, I just want to move somewhere warm from finland.

then I realize we have it the best lol.

I knew that my Subaru had a block heater, but hardly bothered to use it until this winter. Plugged in this morning for about an hour, and I was 40° over ambient (5°F) when starting up. I'll take it. :thumbup:

Neither of my cars are equipped. We just take the hit on the TDIs. It is a summer job and who thinks of it in the summer? :D
My truck has the factory heater and now has the cord. Can you believe the *cord* was a high dollar option?
maroons.

Being one of the references in the Wikipedia article on block heaters probably doesn't hurt. :D

Speaking of "reliable", those cheap outlet timers have been a game-changer for me. Just set the timer for a couple hours ending about the time you leave for work, plug the car in when you get home, and it takes care of the rest. Before making that modest purchase, I had to get up early, run out (in the cold) and plug it in, so it generally didn't happen. Now it happens every day.

Might be worth adding to the article as a "now you have one less excuse!" thing. :thumbup: