Just an update on my new gadget.

On a nice day (no rain or snow) with the outside temperature around
freezing, the heater has a noticable effect on warm-up mileage (for
the first six miles of my morning commute:
without heater (but with hot-air intake): 45 mpg
with 2.5 hours preheat: 60 mpg

So the heater saved 0.033 gallons or 0.13 liters at the cost of 1kWh
electrical power. Given the subsidized gas prices, it obviously
doesn't pay off. But looking at the energy contained in gasoline
(approx. 10kWh per liter), it's better than even. I'm sure this could
be improved by shorter pre-heating since the engine block temperatrue
rises fast in the beginning and then goes into an exponential
approach of a final rise of about 45-50 C above ambient. So 1.5 hours
may be sufficient to get nearly the same gas savings.

In summary: no magic bullet here. But one more way to keep the winter
mpg's above the pain threshold.


btw: the hot-air intake keeps my highway cruise mpg at about 80 (down
from 90 on a hot summer day, but well above the 65-70 without hot
air).

Keep it warm!

Armin
Y3085
MYBRID

--- In honda-hybrid@y..., "Armin" <kusig@y...> wrote:
> Hi, Group!
>
> Still looking for ways to fight the winter-blues that usually gets
to
> my gas mileage these times, I just installed an electric engine
block
> heater. (original Honda accessory, somewhere around $35).
>
> I've only driven the car once since then, but the effect is great!
I
> had the heater running on a timer for about 1.5 hours before
driving
> this morning. Although the temperature indiactor on the dash still
> had only two bars, the car warmed up much quicker. It allowed auto-
> idle-stop after only 0.4 miles. The temp gauge came up to 4 bars
> after 0.6 miles and to 6 bars in under two miles. All this was with
> the outside temperature below freezing, where it would usually take
> at least six miles to get to six bars.
>
> I'll give it more time to pre-heat tomorrow.
>
> What it is:
> The heater is a 400W 115V AC-powered plug that substitutes the
engine
> coolant drain plug at the back of the engine. It has a little loop
of
> a heated tube that immerses into the coolant. So it uses both
coolant
> convection and the conductive aluminum engine block to spread the
> heat. 400W is not a lot, so I expect it may need more time to be
> fully effective. It needs a 115V outlet to run, so I can only use
it
> at home.
>
> I'll post more experience with it once I get used to it.
>
>
> So, yes, my Insigt can be plugged in!
>
>
> Armin
> Y3085
> MYBRID