Floridacamper

First, I know I live in Florida, but it so happens to be in the Panhandle of Florida where it doe get in the teens in late winter a couple nights.. So one of my questions is how cold does it have to get before you plugin your heater?

Secondly, when it is going to get cold, how long do you leave it plugged in far? Some people told me a few hours before I leave. ( I said yeah right, Like I’m going out at three in the morning and plug in my heater) LOL

Thirdly, I have heard that the heater uses somewhere around a 1000 watts. WOW, if this is true,
a 1000 watts plugged in every night all night will make a big difference on the electric bill. It would be like a hair dryer, What you say?

dodgedude361

I usually waight for it to get into the low 20`s. Its allready in the 30`s here in the morning, and i have yet to plug her in. She fires up no problem.

Yes, a few hours is good, i go with 4. No, i`m not getting up at 3AM........i have this device that turns it on for me. it ALLWAYS works. It`s called a TIMER

I belive it draws 750 watts. Do a search, its been talked about before.

t-15 firefighter

Floridacamper,

i plug mine in before i go to bed and let it run all night. i haven't seen a big increase in my electric bill so far. i usually plug mine in when the temp drops below 30 degrees. you certainly don't have to plug it in when it is that warm but it just seems like it is a little easier on everything. warms up quicker and just seems to run smoother (i know... this is probably in my head though).

i really need to do what dodgedude361 does and get a timer though. seems like a very good idea.


britt

bulabula

Floridacamper, since you're from Florida, you might want to plug it in when its in the 50's ...... If you forget to plug it in, there's nothing to worry about, it'll just take a little longer to warm up. No biggie.

I also use a timer ( set for ~3 hour pre-heat), and the "instant heat" is nice on cold mornings.

As far as electric bill goes, my electric bill goes up in the winter whether or not I plug the truck in anyways, and if there's any increase due to the block heater, its negligible.

During the dead of winter here in MD, I keep it plugged in and percolating even if I decide to drive the car in the morning - I'll just turn off the timer when I go out and start the 'Stang up.

spudman

i never use mine until we're consistantly below zero it never has problems starting and i can deal with a cold cab for half an hour but it is nice to have for when you when you need it

bkrukow

I have mine on a timer. It runs for 3 or so hours before i go start it. That is in the garage so 3 hours is plenty. If it was out side I would leave it on for mayby 4. I usaly plug it in when the water is hard. It is no problem if you dont but I like to be nice to it. At work if I can get it pluged in I do it first thing when I park it and let it run all day. Free electricity so, why not?

mikmaze

just plugged mine in for the first time, should be a nice drive to work with a warm truck for a change, been dippin down in the mornings and one of these soon enough should find a layer of white on it. I don't care about the cold but being able to see is important especially the way some of these people drive around here...

Commatoze

12 hours on the heater shoud run you about a buck to a buck and a quarter.

Floridacamper

Thanks a lot guys, You guys have never let me down yet. Thanks again

brohloff

Easy to calculate the cost to run the heater.

Look on your elec bill and find the cost per kilowatt hour.

Our last bill was 6.6 cents/kilowatt (1000 watts) hour.

Lets assume the heater is a 1000 watt heater. (I've heard some say 750, some say 1000, some say 1500 watt - So 1000 is a good average number).

A 1000 watt heater, run for 1 hr would cost 6.6 cents. Therefore leaving it plugged in all night (say 9pm to 7 am) is 10 hrs is 6.6 x 10 = 66 cents added to your electric bill!

Buy a timer, do 4 hrs, cost = 26 cents, save 40 cents off the 66 cents and pay for an $8 timer in 20 nights............Peanuts compared to a $35K Truck !!!

PS: If truth be told the few cents spent heating the truck engine is probably more than made up in fuel saved warming a cold diesel engine (Cold engines eat far more fuel than a warm engine - not to calc in the quicker confort factor).

Bottom line - Running a heater is FREE (No kidding)!

Brohloff/retired engineer(can't you tell?)

Dieseldude4x4

I work for a big electric company so as the Glade air freshener commercial says, plug it in plug it in.

No really, I plug mine in when it gets into the 20's and leave it there. It stayed plugged for almost a week last winter and the bill didn't go up enough to worry about.

I do work for a big electric company though.

Rabbit

I plug mine in whenever the temp gets in the mid to low 30's. I only have a couple of miles to drive to work so its nice to have heat instantly in the morning. I dont have a timer right now so i plug it in around 9pm and unplug it at 8am.

stevenknapp

Mine turns on at 4AM, I usually leave 6:30-7am. It sits outside. And it's been in the low 20's. I get heat within a minute or two. And there is no "wait to start" time.

12PACK

If you run your extension cord over to a neighbor's outdoor plug, it will be even less than this.

jerry007

my block heater is 750 watts. It is 110 volts X 6.5 amps = 750 watts. I leave it plugged all night because my heater will heat up a lot quicker. It doesn't get that cold down here but it works nicely