mbarre@juno.com [mailto:mbarre@juno.com] wrote:
>
> add battery blankets and either a dip stick heater
> for the oil, magnetic brick heater, or stick on pad.
> For my SUburban I was considering one of the external
> tank "heat siphon" heaters.
When I lived in Wyoming, I had block heaters on my cars. They worked well. A
"battery blanket" might have helped, but was never necessary. On really cold
days, when the battery was too cold to put out much juice, I would use the
trick of turning on the lights for a minutes or so. The current draw would
"warn up" the battery enough that it would work fine and start the car every
time.
I doubt that you would need anything more than the block heater. They heat the
water in the block, which in turn heats the entire block, and consequently the
oil in the pan also. I never had a problem starting the cars (and Jeep
Cherokee), and that included weeks when the temperature never went above -27 F
- although I did have to run the extension cord out the back door at work to
plug my block heater in, and give everyone else rides to and from work...
The dipstick heater and the magnetic brick heat the oil in the pan (and maybe
not much of that) but do little to warn the block and water. The external tank
"heat siphon" heaters warm up the water external to the engine (which causes
the warm water to circulate thru the engine). This unfortunately also causes
the water to flow thru the radiator where it is cooled - wastes a lot of
electricity and heat. They work, but not as efficiently as a block heater. If
you really have cold starting problem, you would probably be better off (on an
operating cost basis) of using two block heaters than anything else. But one
block heater will work just fine, and probably better than anything else
(although a "battery blanket" heater may help).
Tim Mullen
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