It was 1 degree Celsius here yesterday morning and the HCHII wouldn't autostop. Yay! 6 Months of winter again!!

But... I noticed that the heater, when in auto mode, will not blow cold air. It slowly increases the blower speed as the engine temperature (and heater core temperature) increases.

No cold air blowing on me? That alone may be worth the extra vehicle cost.

Ahhh... the joys of winter !!

What I would recommend is a front grille block.
I've installed mine already on both cars and it has slowed the impact of the colder temps. Do you also use the block heater?

If you do then combination of the two will definitely enable auto-stops to occur even at -20c weather.

Cheers;

MSantos

The temperature is back up for now but I will be putting a grille cover on soon. I'll have to get a good timer for the block heater.

I really hadn't thought of the grille cover before you mentioned it. Thanks.

M Santos,

Is the grille block you mention an after market product or just a cardboard or blanket
positioned to block the airflow thru the radiator? It looks pretty tight to do this the latter way.

I asked my service tech about a block heater the last time I was there, and he quoted me an installed price. Well I looked up on the Honda site and found a block heater for most civics but it was not listed for the hybrid (HCHII-2006). Is yours standard for Canadian models?

How long do you "plug-in" the block heater - how many hours usage prior to driving?
What is the wattage of the heater?

Probably can't monetarily justify the expense of the block heater, driving only 5,000+
miles per year, but it would sure make me feel better with FE nearer 50mpg than closer to 40mpg in the winter time!

Driving the Honda Civic Hybrid: "Priceless"

Galileo

To add to Galileo's question is it possible to use a contained power source like a battery pack to power the heater?

Perhaps a small bank of batterys left inside the hood everynight. Would that be enough to power the heater?

I managed to take a picture of the Grille Block on my wife's car.



Now, you may notice that I am using pipe thermal jackets to literally plug the grille. These pipes foam covers are very cheap & effective and you can get them at any Home depot store. In my case, I can buy them for roughly a dollar a piece. It works very well and it does not damage the paint in addition to it not being a hassle when car washing in the winter. I use some nylon ties to keep the large piece in place.


All Canadian HCH's come with block heaters installed (at least in the colder provinces).

I use a timer that controls the power to the plugs in a cycle that is convenient to me. In the colder winter months I need 5-6 hours of heat time before driving off. In the summer I only need 2-3 hours.

Here's a picture of the timer I use.


This timer is able to control the power for two plugs, with power ON/OFF programming for every day of the week, multiple times a day.

Cheers;

MSantos

MSantos,

Thanks for the information and photos. Right on the mark as usual.

Guess your night time temperatures in summer are quit chilly in your part of Canada, if you have to run your block heater during that season of the year!

Best wishes,

Driving the Honda Civic Hybrid: "Priceless"

Galileo

Chilly summer nights?

Nah. Night time temps during summer resemble that of other provinces (and sometimes are even hotter). The reason why I plug in during the summer is because I get to start the engine at a warm 50c. This means that auto-stop and full glide are working within the first 30 seconds of my drive.

How else would I be able to arrive to the office with 3.6 l/100km after a 12km city commute?

Cheers;

MSantos

Umm...isn't bad to block the grille?

If not, and the grille is just decoration, why would they leave a hole since it would make the aerodynamics worse.

Grille blocking is only helpful when the weather begins to cool down. In fact, with the grille fully opened in -30 weather, the engine barely gets warm enough to enable open loop operation and that is a big hit on FE.

In the warm summer months grille blocking may impede the engine's cooling which is not only reckless but also not advisable.


Cheers;

MSantos