Dipstick heaters? Other ideas...

[Safety Guy]

Are there such things as "dipstick heaters" for winter? If so, how well do they work?

I can run an outdoor electrical cord out of my garage for one. Or I might just do this:

Buy a small heater. Put it on a plywood board inside the car and hook that up to a timer to turn on an hour or two before I wake up for work. Instead of heating the oil in the engine, I'd be heating the interior of the car so scraping away snow and frost won't be as bad, plus I'd have a comfy warm car to sit in after startup.

I'd make sure the heater was as safe and stable as possible. An hour or two of warmth should help clear the windows so I'm not scraping so much.

What other dangers might there be with this setup? Anyone ever do this before?

Karl

[Festy46]

If you are thinking of using a dipstick heater you would be better off getting a remote engine coolant heater like this:

http://www.globalspec.com/FeaturedProducts/Detail/SolvayAdvancedPolymers/Engine_Coolant_Heater/16977/0

As far as putting an electric heater inside the car, you would probably like it a lot. My truck is parked inside a garage where I have one of those torpedo type kerosene heaters. A couple of times when it was really cold (below 0), I opened the truck door and left the heater blow inside the truck. Everything inside the vehicle got nice and warm.

[gdawgs]

Depends on what you are trying to accomplish. First off, the dipstick heaters are worthless. They just don't have enough wattage to heat the engine on a cold winter day. I believe most block heaters are around 800 watts. I looked at one of those dipstick heaters a long time ago, and I think it was like 50 watts or something, less than 100 anyway. Besides, the engine block is where you want to apply the heat, not the oil pan, although, if you added enough heat it would likely transfer up.

So back to the question, if you want to heat the engine to help with startups on cold winter days, then you would want an engine block heater. I like the type that you install in one of the frost plugs. Festivas are good cold weather starters. I have started mine up at -40 without being plugged in. They don't like it, but if you have a good battery, they'll do it. I don't know what kind of temps you typically see in Ohio, but I'm guessing they aren't too extreme. I generally don't plug mine in unless it gets colder than say -15 to -20 F.

If warming up the cabin is the main priority, I would buy a 120V heater made for cars. Don't get a 12V heater that plugs into the cigarette lighter. I've had a couple of those and they are worthless. Again, they just don't have enough wattage to make a difference.

[Safety Guy]

Thanks guys. I have used those cig lighter defrosters and they were quite disappointing! The one I used one winter barely could make a "dent" in my windshield frost.

I'll probably experiment with a plug in heater from my garage and a cheap timer to turn it on before I go to work. I'll have some sort of weather proof cover for the extension end so I can just unplug and go without having to open my garage door. The heater will just stay in the car.

Any other ideas are welcome.

Some day I'd like to build a "dock." This would be a partial carport that you park your front end into to both shield and insulate the engine from the cold. It would both keep the heat in longer after you park (so the car might still be warm a few hours after you turned it off) and perhaps turn on a 110 volt household heater to warm the front end an hour or two before you leave (after the car had long cooled down). Also, it could have some kind of fold over cover to shield the windshield from snow and freezing rain.

The advantage over a garage is that it would be quicker and easier to use since you aren't opening and closing a garage door. I prefer to keep my (junk filled) garage positively locked.

Karl

[Icedawg]

A commercial block heater is the way to go for the engine bay. They are less than $100, not sure how much less as that is what it costs me to have one professionally installed, and the ones I put in myself were free. There are several types: the freeze plug design, inserts that go into a bolt in plug (not all blocks have this), units that bolt around the spark plug (when readily exposed) or stick on patches that go on the oil pan ( way cheap and easy, but not the most effective). For inside the car you can also get heaters, again I would go with the real (120 V commercial) thing rather than something makeshift.

I use a timer to run these things and reduce electrical costs. It needs about 2 hours before you want to start it to get well up to temp. (when it is below 0 F)

[25Horseplay]

Put a remote starter in your car. Leave the heater controls on defrost and high. Then about 5 to 10 min before you leave just start the car and it will be toasty warm when you go out!

[shawnw]

I've got a block heater on mine, not sure if it was factory but we've never had to use it.
The heater on an extension cord with a timer works pretty good. I commuted for a few winters in a ratbagged beetle and having the heater going before the drive made it much more comfortable.

[darkdan]

I prefer oil pan heaters.

Like these: http://www.wolverineheater.com/index.shtml

[getnpsi]

Are you supposed to crawl under your car and remove the oil warmer everytime you leave?

[FB71]

no, it glues to the pan. You route the power wire up top and out, like through the grill. Then just unplug and go.

[gdawgs]

Then just unplug and go.

Hehe. That's key isn't it. I've seen several people driving around with an extension cord dragging behind.

[jr.fester]

almost all the new cars north of the border have the pan heaters on them. I have a block heater on mine. as well as the previous owner put a cord going to the cabin of the fester. and I already have some defrost heaters kicking around. forgot alot of cars south don't have block heaters and what not. after driving in winter for a few months you end up with a layer of ice on the floor. all I do is toss the little defrost heater in her and with in a few days of using her it's usually gone.

[elcamino1]

All of my big trucks had block heaters from the factory,just plug in when you park, kept antifreez warm all night,jump in the truck in the morning heat comes right up.

[25Horseplay]

My winterstiva came from Canada and it has a block heater in it.

[Pocket_Rocket]

Well Safety Guy, with all the different responses you had, I guess you should really state your reason for wanting a block/cabin/whatever heater. If you're worried about startups, like a lot of people said, a Festy will start in the worst conditions, although it's not really good for engine life. I had a block heater and never had to use it to make the car start. However, if you want the car to heat up faster inside, your best bet would be a 120V heater or remote starter. I had a remote starter on my '92 Talon TSi and liked it pretty much, since I did not have an outside plug anywhere on the house. But thing is it wasn't that great for fuel consumption...