One of the neatest things I have ever seen was a pair of switches placed in the bedroom wall of a new house so that they would be in reach of the bed's occupant. I asked the real estate agent what they were for. She smiled and said one controlled an outlet in the kitchen for your coffee maker, and the other controlled an outlet on the front of the house for your block heater.

This was in Alaska, BTW.

 

I've not noticed a jump in the power bill as when I do use it I put in on a timer for 1-4 hours depending on what the over night low was. Even at -24 below zero I only let it run 4 hours max. Most of the time I only plug it in when it gets down to 10 degrees or colder or if its sets for 4 or more days with out being started and then its only for 2 hours most of the time.

 

My father had blockheaters, dipstick type heater for the oil and and an electric heater in his cab, all on a timer. So when he cranked her up the cab was warm, the engine was easy to start and it got up to operating temperature real quick.

 

I did the math and its about .04 cents for 90 minutes of running at the rates in my area.... 10 minutes of fuel to warm up is 30 to 40 cents.....



willdo...

 

yea i plug my truck an hour and a half before i leave for work and its all set to go when i jump in it.