So its been below freezing at night for about a month now. I have a block heater so I just plugged it in. Having it plugged in every night that is is freezing out wont hurt the engine YES ?
Thanks, Joe
Your block heater will last longer, and you will save money on electricity, if you only use it when needed. I find that 1/2 hour of “on-time”, is enough on all but the coldest days. On days when the temperature gets down around zero F or below, one hour is plenty.
I am way up north, near the Canadian border. In the cold months (November thru March) I leave my block heater plugged in at all times , to an outlet that I control from a switch on the house. If I need to start the tractor in the winter, I’ll throw that switch at least a half hour before, otherwise it stays off.
Sometimes, I’ll call my wife or kids to throw that switch, like when it snows when I’m at work and need to clear the driveway in order to get my truck into the garage, or if if I kill a deer out back, and need the tractor to haul the carcass out.
I wired an outlet in the basement to a switch in our family room. There is a 12 volt adaptor plugged into that outlet, that powers a “bow-light” on the “boat-bar” in that room. An extension cord from my tractor’s block heater also gets plugged into that outlet. I know the block heater is on when I see that light lit.
A block heater reduces engine wear in cold weather, because it allows the oil to get where it is needed faster. There is no advantage in running it longer than an hour though. My tractor starts as smoothly on a 25 degree F day, when the block heater has been on for a half hour, as it does in an 80 degree F day, without it.
