Block Heater results? - Page 3 - GreenHybrid

Flash · #21 (**permalink**) 11-10-2006, 03:00 PM

Ahhh, a good idea. There could be a multiplier if you live in the deep South and oppressive heat hurts your FE or also those in Quebec and Manitoba who take a hit from the cold while those of us in the breadbasket and Southern CA would have a Neutral factor. What an idea! Note that a friend did the harness install with payment being a repaired laptop he owns. Sure love this barter system.

Flash · #22 (**permalink**) 11-10-2006, 03:10 PM

Noflash - Here are some photos for you but these are temporary as I'll delete them after you've gotten an idea of the plug (and another shot or two of the zip-tie position in the grille area for MSantos).

noflash · #23 (**permalink**) 11-10-2006, 06:53 PM

Thanks for the pics and congrats on the install. I sure could've used a heated today. Do bad you can't set the battery pack to heat your block 15 minutes b/f your commute.

Cheers!

Donald · #24 (**permalink**) 11-10-2006, 10:29 PM

Mileage Update,

My wife drove my HCH II home at around 6 PM last night. I plugged the block heater in as soon as she got home. I left for work at 10:40 PM. The Trip A read 48.1 mpg at about 128 miles. I had 5/9 blocks on the temp gague. After approximately .5 miles - the engine was fully warm (9/9 blocks). I drove with the load (slightly uphill overall) to work (7.2 mi.) When I got to work the mpg had an overall improvement of .5. My new Trip A was 48.6 mpg. In the past, with careful driving and similar temps with NO block heater - I would generally lose anywhere from .2 to 1.5 mpg. Outside temp. tonight was around 48 F.

So far -

I have not had my lifetime mpg go down with the colder weather. We've had frost and one snowstorm in the Buffalo area. My last tank actually improved my lifetime mpg by .1 mpg ! Currently, this tank is around 52.0 mpg shown on Trip B or around 53.3 mpg when I calculate. So my lifetime mpg will stay the same, or go up another .1 mpg . Last Feb. when I was in the low 40's mpg - I never dreamed I could achieve over 50 mpg. I love this car and my block heater. I'm thinking of trading my '03 Forester in for an '07 Honda Fit - 35mpg vs. 25mpg. I've loved my Subarus (9 over 31 yrs) BUT the mpg and pollution are factors. I'd lose the 4WD and gain the savings in $$ and helping in small measure to reduce the global warming.

Regards,

noflash · #25 (**permalink**) 11-12-2006, 05:59 PM

Hear hear, Don! Snow tires will make those Hondas just as good as those Subies in the snow!

noflash · #26 (**permalink**) 11-12-2006, 06:03 PM

And to all you BH guys: How convenient or inconvenient is it to plug that car in every time you park in the garage? I assume you park, go find your extension cord, take the cap of you BH plug, and plug.

What if you make several trips (on a cold weekend for instance)?

Have you ever backed out of the garage forgetting to unplug?

My mileage has been so crappy this weekend (43 down to 37) from short trips in the cold, I am seriously thinking about the BH. However, I am seriously into convenience as well.

Donald · #27 (**permalink**) 11-13-2006, 10:32 AM

noflash,

I leave my extension cord on the ground (no garage). It's plugged into an outside GFI outlet with a cover. I'm planning to put a short stake near it for the snowy days. My last tank was 53.8 mpg. This boosted my liletime mpg up by .1 mpg. It's been in the high 30's to 60's in the last few weeks (avg in 40's).

Regards,

Mr. Kite · #28 (**permalink**) 11-14-2006, 08:14 AM

I had my block heater installed on my HCHII yesterday. I will be buying a timer probably today. Last night, I just plugged it in before I went to bed. When I got in my car this morning, the temp was already at 4 bars.

For my commute this morning, I was able to get 57.1 mpg over 8.1 miles. The outside temperature was 40 F. Lately I have been getting FE in the 40s for these conditions during my morning commute. This part of my commute is the uphill part and I usually do much better in the evening. 57.1 mpg would have been a good result even in the summer. This 8.1 miles consists of 4 stop signs, 12 stop lights and one stop to drop my son off at school. The max speed limit I see is 35 mph and I time the lights as best I can.

Anyway, I an impressed after my first day.

Katz6768 · #29 (**permalink**) 11-27-2006, 12:38 PM

I am in the Toronto area and at home we have two HCH'06 cars.
After reading this thread I decided to have a block heater installed in one of the cars, the Honda Dealership did the installation for me this morning, I paid $194 Cdn including taxes. The price of the Block Heater was $98 Cdn and $57 Cdn for labour.
The Part # for a Hybrid is 08T44-SVB-300.
Both cars we own have 17,500 km and our lifetime average mileage is now 45 MPG, it keeps dropping with the colder weather. Having now two identical cars with almost identical mileage, one with a block heater and the other without, should give me a good chance to do a comparisson.
I typically reset the trip B counter when I start driving. In a cold day (without Block Heater) the first few minutes I start with around 20 MPG, at the end of my trip I get an average of 45 MPG for the whole trip. I am hoping to get back closer to 50 MPG with the Block Heater (10% improvement)... we'll see...

Donald · #30 (**permalink**) 11-29-2006, 01:22 AM

Katz6768,

So far I've only had a few tanks go down. We've had warmer than usual weather. I drove about 1,200 miles over Thanksgiving down to the Eastern Shore of VA. I had two great tanks on the trip. My lifetime MPG has gone up! I think the block heater has definitely made a difference. Please let us know how yours works.