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The solution, get in the car and drive it quickly. The more friction you on the car the faster the car warms up and heater works better.
Remote start and burning "rich" is the most expensive way to heat the car and your mileage suffers. Hey gas is only $1.60 these days so it's not a big deal but wait til it goes back to $4.
All depends on where you live. In the some areas of the US, including Alaska, and also in Canada, remote starters are quite popular, and most automobile manufacturers and dealers offer them as an option. When very cold outside in Alaska, there is no way for one to get in the car and drive away, simply because unless the windshield is defrosted or the ice removed, one can't see anything in front of the car. It does not matter if the cost of fuel is fifty cents a gallon, or $10.00. A remote start is not going to run the motor any reacher than starting the motor with the key. All it's doing is starting the motor for you, and it is up to you to let it idle for the duration of the start cycle, of just to get in the car a couple of minutes later. You still have to clear the windshield and windows, before you can drive the car during the winter months. Now, in a place where it does not get very cold, my points are moot.
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For others in this forum who were wondering about oil pan and block heaters:
a. An oil pan heater still helps the motor warm-up. If the oil is slightly warmer it flows easier, and the little bit of heat is initially absorbed by the engine's moving parts as the oil pump circulates it through the motor. Once the engine temperature reaches its normal operating temperature, the oil helps maintain the normal temperature of the motor as it has already reduced friction.
b. A block heater is immersed in the antifreeze. When energized it warms the antifreeze slightly and keeps it from jelling. The warmer antifreeze is moved by the pump through the coolant passages in the motor, and some of the heat is initially absorbed by the motor. As the motor heats up to normal temperature, the antifreeze helps maintain the engine's temperature without overheating by drawing heat from the motor and cooling itself through the radiator.
c. A battery blanket keeps the battery from freezing, with in turn helps with electron flow. A great portion of the battery's cranking capacity is lost the coldest the battery gets. There are some tables showing the loss of battery power versus temperature that you can look at online, if interested.
We got technology coming out of the wazoo. Park assist, radar, lane change, cameras everywhere but we still don't have the ONE thing everybody desperately needs i this weather. INSTANT heat. Heaters haven't changed in 50 years, may be 100. Most reach their destinations before they have heat. What does it take?
A few other posters have mentioned it, but a block heater that plugs into your house (120 VAC), in the older V-8's they were installed through the engine block freeze plugs, don't know about the newer cars, but they still make them. It will keep the engine block warm, (not hot), but engine gets up to temperature real quick. However, best solution, move somewhere warm!
We got technology coming out of the wazoo. Park assist, radar, lane change, cameras everywhere but we still don't have the ONE thing everybody desperately needs i this weather. INSTANT heat. Heaters haven't changed in 50 years, may be 100. Most reach their destinations before they have heat. What does it take?
What do you mean? Buy a right car. My Camry Hybrid is full blast heat in 0.9 mile at 35 mph.
Gasoline powered heater? Sounds scary. How did it work?
I think it sprayed gasoline mist into a chamber and it was lit electrically by spark. Pretty sure there was a heat exchanger between the burning gasoline and the hot air!
a. An oil pan heater still helps the motor warm-up. If the oil is slightly warmer it flows easier, and the little bit of heat is initially absorbed by the engine's moving parts as the oil pump circulates it through the motor. Once the engine temperature reaches its normal operating temperature, the oil helps maintain the normal temperature of the motor as it has already reduced friction.
b. A block heater is immersed in the antifreeze. When energized it warms the antifreeze slightly and keeps it from jelling. The warmer antifreeze is moved by the pump through the coolant passages in the motor, and some of the heat is initially absorbed by the motor. As the motor heats up to normal temperature, the antifreeze helps maintain the engine's temperature without overheating by drawing heat from the motor and cooling itself through the radiator.
c. A battery blanket keeps the battery from freezing, with in turn helps with electron flow. A great portion of the battery's cranking capacity is lost the coldest the battery gets. There are some tables showing the loss of battery power versus temperature that you can look at online, if interested.
I should mention that a good block heater also warms the battery significantly.
Easy. a integrated roof solar panel hooked to a step down transformer hooked to a 12v block heater that warms up the coolant and oil.
Wow I sure hope you're not a licensed electrician who installs solar panels if you think that a solar panel the size of a car roof has enough output to appreciably warm an engine. Also scary to think that an electrician would recommend a step-down transformer for a solar panel instead of just wiring the panel to provide 12 volts.
Also, mornings are typically when the heat is needed most, so this is a terrible idea on many levels.
We got technology coming out of the wazoo. Park assist, radar, lane change, cameras everywhere but we still don't have the ONE thing everybody desperately needs i this weather. INSTANT heat. Heaters haven't changed in 50 years, may be 100. Most reach their destinations before they have heat. What does it take?
Lexus experimented with this in their earliest LS400 but had problems with it
basically hair blow dryer technology, a coil in each vent
the upscale hybrids resurrected this concept, the LS600hL has it
What do you mean? Buy a right car. My Camry Hybrid is full blast heat in 0.9 mile at 35 mph.
For some reason I thought you were in the Seattle area? 0.9 miles can take 15 minutes, and what's this talk of 35MPH? You mean 3.5MPH, right?
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