Talk:Block heater

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This is verbatim what "answers.com" says, and even uses the same picture. Are they copying wikipedia, or is wikipedia copying them? 97.81.94.127 19:23, 11 October 2007 (UTC)

Answers.com is a recognized Wikipedia mirror. —INTRIGUEBLUE (talk|contribs) 23:25, 3 December 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Pollution

The article claims that block heaters "reduce pollution" due to improved fuel vaporization. While it may be true that the emissions from a warm start are less than the emissions from a cold start, I question whether it saves emissions overall...e.g., leaving a 350 watt heating element on for 10 hours releases about 2 lbs of CO2 per kw/h, or ~6 lbs over the 10 hours. That's the equivalent of about 1/3 of gallon worth of gas emissions. I seriously doubt that the car emits that much more CO2 during the 5 minutes it takes to warm up, but if possible I'd like to hear from someone more knowledgeable before I change it. 65.27.147.47 23:26, 7 November 2007 (UTC)

At cold temperatures, the difference in fuel consumption and especially emissions is huge. I don't have the exact numbers but saying that a cold start from -20 °C will generate twice as much emissions for the first 5 km wouldn't be hyperbole. And even at that temperature, a couple of hours of heating is enough. Storpilot (talk) 00:27, 19 November 2007 (UTC)