300 bucks for a Block Heater

I didn't have the time or mechanical confidence to install an EBH myself so I forked out a box of cash to have the dealer install it for me. It took a long time, so I guess I made the right decision. After a winter with it I don't think I will ever earn back the money in fuel savings.
In deep cold it seems that I reach stage III temperatures just a bit farther down the road with the block heater off, so why did I spend all this money?
I've been using the EBH on mornings where the temperatures are above freezing, and between short trips, to keep the engine warm, and I think that's where the savings might be. It's surprising just how fast our little engine cools off when parked, and when gliding in cool weather.
I have two plugs for my car, one on a timer that starts the EBH at 5 am (why heat the engine all night?) and the other is plugged in at all times for those 1 hour parks between short trips. By using the EBH to keep the engine warm I am able to re-enter Stage III without coming to a stop, which I find to be a complete pain.
My biggest problem has been to remember to unplug the block heater before backing down my driveway. Nothing is worse than getting to work and finding the cord hanging, a victim of being wrenched apart. To solve this, one of my kids' stuffed animals adorns my wiper control stick, blocking the power button when the car's plugged in. Goofy but effective.

 

Yep, I grill block when the temperatures get safer, but I don't really think it prevents cooling in extreme temperatures. With so much grill space under the bumper, I think that probably needs to be blocked too. Last winter I blocked the grill, and still never reached 70 degrees C on my 20 minute commutes to work, even with the cabin heat turned off. Had the thermostat checked, and it was fine. When I maximize my mileage in winter, the engine doesn't produce much heat, because it doesn't burn much fuel, I guess. I'm going to block the area under the bumper this year and try that.
Now that we have 50 degree highs, and nights near freezing, the EBH starts me off at a decent water temp, though, and is improving my mileage even over what I was getting when it's warm out. My commute is short enough that the first bar is a killer that's hard to overcome by being efficient on the rest of the voyage. If I had a nice 40 minute commute the first bar wouldn't handicap me so much. Using the EBH helps a lot in my commute situation and on evenings when I drive my kids short distances to their activities. If you've installed an ebh, try using it as I describe, but I think if you expect to get your money back in fuel savings you will be disappointed.

 

Okay, time for a followup on my block heater. 300 bucks three years ago.

I will be in the market for a new car in May, and will try the G3 Prius on a very cold day to see if the heat recapture adds value to the driving experience. The dealer installed option for an EBH in Canada is $460 now, so I did some experimentation.

Here are the driving conditions: Heater fan on LO, temperature on LO (Eek!) Temperature outside -6 C to -8 C, Cruise at 57 km per hour, same route which involves NO stopsigns or stoplights, no elevation change and no traffic to cause me to brake.

Scangauge II coolant reading 70 degrees C was the endpoint, since that's when the car becomes a full hybrid when stopped for 5-10 seconds. The distance travelled without prewarming the engine with the EBH for 3 hours was 7 km before 70 degrees C was achieved without the EBH. It was 6.6 km with the engine prewarmed with the EBH. Six hundred meters earlier, on the average over several mornings using each of the conditions.

Four hundred sixty bucks for that advantage? Save your money, everybody unless you live in Edmonton or Inuvik and block freeze-up is a significant risk. If I get the new Prius, I won't pay for an engine block heater. It's a waste of time and money.

Incidentally, I turned on the heater at the lowest setting, 18 C here in Canada when I hit that magical 70 degree mark, and the engine coolant fell immediately to around 60 degrees, and Phase 3 was unobtainable on the rest of my 16 km commute. I'm really, really hoping the new car gets decent mileage and allows the cabin to be heated at the same time. We'll see on a test drive, but the Prius has been a disappointing winter car for this enthusiast.

 

Hey, folks. My car is back from the dealer after having its last oil change before I trade it in for a 2010. They removed all the grill blocking foam, saying I was going to fry my transmission or something. This is the same dealership that I took it to after having so much trouble with heating my cabin last year, and they told me the car was normal.

Anyway, the car is gone next week and I'm hoping the heat recapture strategy of the new black 2010 makes for warmer engine coolant.

 

Final post on this.
I got my 2010 yesterday and today, with 12 kilometers on it, I tried driving it on my route using the same conditions...-6 degrees C, heater on LO, fan on LO, cruise set to 57 km, ECO mode, and I hit 70 degrees C water temperature in 3.5 km, down from 7 km. Bravo, Toyota engineers on the heat recapture system, and a faster engine warmup. Looking forward to comfort next winter, as this one's almost gone.