A tad chilly

It was -40 here last Friday following a massive blizzard. Last night it was +9 C and raining. You can imagine the mess....

We get down below -40 at least once each year, usually as an overnight low for a few nights. We've already seen it once this year and we're not even into the coldest months yet (January & February). Coldest I think I've ever encountered, before wind chill of course, was -44.

Are block heaters standard for most people? I've come across a few vehicles that don't have them. You couldn't expect your vehicle to run in the winter here without one.

 They were common where I lived in Montana.  I had one myself.  It's quite nice to start off with a little bit of a warm-up.  But now that cars have fuel injecters instead of carburetors, maybe the block heaters aren't needed so much anymore to start them in the winter.

Not standard, but here in the U.P., anyway, not an uncommon after-market addition.  I've had them installed in all my vehicles except my current van (not worth the trouble).  My personal toggle temp was +20 F -- if the overnight low was expected to be below +20 I'd plug in the block heater.  Even though the vehicle would start quite a way below that temp, I think it saves some strain on various components if they don't have to crank so cold.  Also, the cabin air is warm much sooner if the coolant fluid has been warmed by a block heater.

It's very rare to see a block heater on a gasoline engine around here.  Block heaters on diesels used to be mandatory, but I've seen a surprising number of those motors without block heaters nowadays.

Seems strange to me as glowplugs don't work worth a damn' when it gets into the teens and colder.

All of my diesel motors have block heaters.  I have one gasoline motor with a block heater (loader tractor--it has to start).

Twice I've had to retrofit block heaters, both on imported cars.  One from Ontario, one from Lewiston Idaho.  It would be unthinkable for a dealer here to sell a vehicle without one.

What's the temp up there now, TheGrobe?  -4F here.

-4° C (25° F).  We've warmed up significantly (like by 50°).  Almost hit double digits over the weekend.

I don't think there are all that many gasoline block heaters up here either.  My friend who installed all of mine (he owns a 6-bay repair shop) says it's not unusual for him to install them, but it's still got to be a pretty small percentage of his clients.

At one time they must have been much more common.  From 1999-2005 I lived in one of the original duplex housing units at what used to be Kincheloe AFB.  Most of the housing doesn't have garages.  All of them have outside outlets positioned within a few feet of the driveway, and the outlets are controlled with a switch from the inside.  That way you can plug in your car as soon as you get home, and then later that night or even early morning you can flip the switch to turn on your block heater without having to step outside and wrestle with an extension cord in whatever new snow has fallen since you parked.  Pretty clever, those AF chaps!

Those houses were built in the 1950s or 1960s.  Of course, in more modern times I just used a cheap little plug-in outlet timer.

I see from my spreadsheet that for the first 15 days of December the heating degree days total is 26% higher than the LTA value for that period.  In fact, for this first half of December the total HDD is greater than for the first 15 days of an average January.

Being from the South, a block heater is what my dad would call me if I left the door open too long in wintertime.

Me, too. :)

Yeah, I don't even know what a block heater is. 

And what was that stuff about stretching extension cords...?

You use an extension cord to plug in the block heater.

Stretching extenstion cords is an entire different matter . . . more of a sub-cultural thing . . . remember the scene in Pulp Fiction?

Well, bring out the gimp . . .

I thought maybe the insulation hardened and to get it to uncoil you had to give it a good yank.

A block heater is a very simple device.  It's basically a cannister with a heating element in it.  You plumb it into your coolant somewhere--I usually pick the easiest spot--make sure it doesn't leak, and plug it in.

Vehicles that have them upon manufacture generally install them in the engine block itself, thus block heater.  There's no pump or anything as it's unnecessary.

Alternatively, you can just fire a couple cans of sterno under your oilpan.

My grandpa' used to talk about starting fires under his model T when it was really cold. 

I don't think that would work so well with all the electonics nowadays.

And then there's the old standby-- pour in some ether.  For a fun time, use lots!