Prepping Car for Cold Weather (Northern Ontario) - Comments/Suggestions

[3930dave]

200W = 2 old fashioned light bulbs. I highly doubt that is going to have much impact in a real midwest cold spell.

Given that about any house wiring I have seen will run a 1.5kW heater, I don't see the problem.

With my F250 I have the block heater and the cab heater running on the same circuit. It works pretty well. Certainly takes a LOT longer to get going if I forgot to plug in when I get home.

Agreed, 200w won't work fast up north here in "real" cold - I was meaning for Dan to try it down in the Research Triangle (N. Carolina).

Rgds, D.

 

[Egon]

Wow, in car heaters! They used to be a stock item made specifically for vehicles.:thumbsup:

 

[aczlan]

Go to a junk yard and find a 2nd set of rims for the car. Keep the snow tires on them.

Around here, a set of rims will run $50-150 on Craigslist or at a JY. If you get the TPMS put in, most cars have a "Learning mode" where you can set them to talk to the new TPMS sensors yourself.
WELL worth it IMO.

Aaron Z

 

[buickanddeere]

I have my heater set to blow primary onto the driver's door and window. Otherwise the window won't open to show security my ID. They get all upset if we stop and open the door.

Little Buddy 110V Car Warmer | Canadian Tire

 

[dmccarty]

Its got a thermostat.. Once the cab temp reaches the level set by the thermostat, it will cycle the heater on and off while the fan keeps blowing. Very few companies make 500W heaters since that would be a very niche market. Some of the heaters have 2 heatting stages and you can turn on 1 or both.

Dont forget the timer ? 1-2 hours is all you will need to have a comprehensively defrosted car. Then you will be able to see where you are going and any slush left anywhere on the outside will be easy to remove and not glass hard.

I have a timer I used to use for the block heater. I don't use the timer anymore since I started using 0Wx40 or 5Wx40 oil in the truck.

Price is right. I know you've seen a bit of snow down your way in recent times, but probably don't see -40.

Try the 200w one - can always kick the timer on earlier if an hour or 2 isn't enough.

Rgds, D.

200W = 2 old fashioned light bulbs. I highly doubt that is going to have much impact in a real midwest cold spell.

Given that about any house wiring I have seen will run a 1.5kW heater, I don't see the problem.

With my F250 I have the block heater and the cab heater running on the same circuit. It works pretty well. Certainly takes a LOT longer to get going if I forgot to plug in when I get home.

I am going to try the 200w one first. I just need to clean up fog/skim ice on the windshield and the unit looked at had good reviews unlike some of the higher wattage units. If I need more watts then I will buy another one and use this one needed in the wall house. We usually do not get real cold AND have lots of ice or snow. It happens but if we have ice I ain't driving anywhere until the sun comes up which usually melts the ice off the truck. The problem happens when we have a bit of rain followed by freezing temps. The road will be ok but then ice will freeze on the windows which can be a PITA. Usually I can get the ice off pretty easily with the alcohol in a bottle but then I start driving and the moisture on the window will freeze back up. Hoping the little heater can warm up the truck enough to prevent this freeze up and clear the windows. The refreeze and window fog has been so bad at time I have had to pull the truck over and clean the windows again.

For sure I am getting the silicon spray. If we get a bit of rain and then freezing temperatures some of the truck doors freeze shut. I have never been completely frozen out of the truck but it has made for some interesting mornings. I have learned to open the door by pulling on the BOTTOM of the door. I could see someone breaking a door handle drying to open a door that was frozen shut...

Later,
Dan

 

[dmccarty]

Agreed, 200w won't work fast up north here in "real" cold - I was meaning for Dan to try it down in the Research Triangle (N. Carolina).

Rgds, D.

HEY! It is REALLY cold down here! At least to us it is! :laughing::laughing::laughing:

When I first moved up here from FLA I felt like a piece of ice for a few winters. I would wear long johns to work, a heavy shirt and a heavy wool sweater but I was still COLD. I even had really heavy coats but I still was not warm. Now, I seldom wear the heavy coats and I have not worn one of the sweaters in years. I laugh at myself when I remember wearing a coat back in FLA when it got cold. Now, I use that coat to go skiing but I can remember wearing that coat to class and feeling cold in FLA. I bet it was 50-60 degrees when I was wearing that coat in FLA! THAT was cold! :shocked:

Later,
Dan

 

[dmccarty]

One thing if ya want or can you plan on putting the plug in a lot I would get one of these types of plugs (just make sure your block heater watt rating is less than the units rating to automatically kill power if it warms up.


Amazon.com: Farm Innovators TC-3 Cold Weather Thermo Cube Thermostatically Controlled Outlet - On at 35-Degrees/Off at 45-Degrees: Patio, Lawn & Garden

That's pretty much what I was thinking of - nice range of temperatures.... could even use one for AC in the summer.

Rgds, D.

I looked at this item and it had what I consider too many bad reviews. People were complaining about the device not working. There also was a comment that it would NOT work with an AC. Customer support said it would not work with an AC unit and one guy found out the hard way it would not. I don't understand WHY it would not work with AC. Maybe pulling too many watts?

Anywho, I think I looked at this unit a year or so ago in regards to keeping the well house above freezing. In the end, I figured the cheapest and most reliable approach was to run 4 CFLs.

Later,
Dan

 

[3930dave]

HEY! It is REALLY cold down here! At least to us it is! :laughing::laughing::laughing:

When I first moved up here from FLA I felt like a piece of ice for a few winters. I would wear long johns to work, a heavy shirt and a heavy wool sweater but I was still COLD. I even had really heavy coats but I still was not warm. Now, I seldom wear the heavy coats and I have not worn one of the sweaters in years. I laugh at myself when I remember wearing a coat back in FLA when it got cold. Now, I use that coat to go skiing but I can remember wearing that coat to class and feeling cold in FLA. I bet it was 50-60 degrees when I was wearing that coat in FLA! THAT was cold! :shocked:

Later,
Dan

I used to get down to Phoenix late Feb/early March on business. I remember well being out for dinner and chatting with a buddy from Ontario, one evening. After living all his life in Ontario (Can.) he had only moved there the year before - we were standing on a sidewalk about 8:30pm - he was shivering wearing a decently thick cloth jacket. I was enjoying what I thought was a warm Spring evening wearing only a thin short-sleeved dress shirt.

For most people, your body does adjust pretty quickly.

With any decent quality silicone spray, you'll be pretty happy with the difference in your door seals. Funny, a lot of people up here don't know that trick. Depending on vehicle design/useage, the truck/hatch can often freeze up worse than the doors. Don't forget the hood, that will usually freeze up the same time you run out of WW anti-freeze - unless you get a free pass from Murphy down your way !

Rgds, D.

 

[Pilot]

I see that last year the record low temp was -35F (Historical Weather For The Last Twelve Months in North Bay, Ontario, Canada - WeatherSpark) and there were plenty of other cold days. I suggest not blankets, but down sleeping bags.

 

[westcliffe01]

I recall sitting in my hunting blind in the daytime with a 5000btu marine propane (vented) heater going. The blind has a 4x8' floor plan, 6 ft to the eves insulated with 1.5" EPS 1/2" external and 1/4" internal ply 2" EPS in the roof, and that sucker could barely keep the frost off the single pane blind windows (on the inside)...

So you need to understand what we think when it is suggested that 200 or 400W is going to do the job in MI, let alone Canada, where the only thing between you and the north pole is a bit of barb wire... I know, SC is a different world. My uncle in VA has a winter that seems to be 6-8 weeks long...

I am going to try the 200w one first.
Dan