Block Heater?

[Clifford63]

Originally Posted by TCMaster

What is the coldest it ever gets?

Record low for Minneapolis is -41 F
Record low for the state is -60 F

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by Clifford63

Record low for Minneapolis is -41 F
Record low for the state is -60 F

While true, temperatures below -20 F are relatively rare in the Twin Cities. I suspect that it doesn't even get that cold once during some winter seasons.

On the flip side, occasionally a year will have a stretch in January where the temp will remain below 0 degrees F for several days. I guess in 1936 the temp was below zero on 36 consecutive days. Salt on the roads doesn't work very well in those conditions (it might as well be sand).

Here are some interesting Twin Cities weather tidbits:

http://climate.umn.edu/doc/twin_cities/alltimet.htm

[TCMaster]

Zero F is still fairly cold...

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by TCMaster

Zero F is still fairly cold...

Yes, it is. If you've been in -20 F for a while, though, 0 F *will* feel warmer, and 30 F will feel like tee shirt weather.

We don't see temps like that here in Atlanta at all (well, the all-time record low here is -8 F or something, I guess, but it only got down to around 15 degrees F this past winter).

[Clifford63]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

While true, temperatures below -20 F are relatively rare in the Twin Cities. I suspect that it doesn't even get that cold once during some winter seasons.

On the flip side, occasionally a year will have a stretch in January where the temp will remain below 0 degrees F for several days. I guess in 1936 the temp was below zero on 36 consecutive days. Salt on the roads doesn't work very well in those conditions (it might as well be sand).

Here are some interesting Twin Cities weather tidbits:

Reference Temp and Precip Variations

Seems we get a strech of cold weather every year between late december and middle of Feb. Never know exactly when it is comming or how long it will stick around. Prety sure last year we were down to -18 or so for at least 3 or 4 days. I remember it because I did have to plug in my truck to get it running. I would agree that -20 is fairly rare in Minneapolis, but almost every year we get down to -10 for a least a couple days.

15 degrees is the majic temp where I need to grab the hat and gloves if I am going to be outside more than a 14-20 minutes.

Back to the original topic. Unless you have a big v8, block heaters are really needed down to -20 or so. Fuel injection has been pretty much standard since early 90's so unless your car is at least 15 years old, or has big motor, or you run a diesel, you are good.

[TCMaster]

So if your car has a diesel engine, you need a block heater?

[kuan]

Originally Posted by TCMaster

So if your car has a diesel engine, you need a block heater?

Nope. You have glowplugs.

[K-Luv]

Originally Posted by kuan

Nope. You have glowplugs.

Yes, there are glowplugs, but my experience is that with a diesel you want the heater if you are parking outside overnight.