Date:         Sun, 9 Nov 2014 07:09:00 -0800
Reply-To:     Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Don Hanson <dhanson928@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Re: Block heaters for Air Cooled
Comments: To: James <jk_eaton@hotmail.com>
In-Reply-To:  <BLU177-W21B4178862296E23745F02E0830@phx.gbl>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8

> At  11/6/2014 12:43 PM, Jamie Fitterer wrote:
> >Anyone know of a block heater for the air cooled van?  This would be
> >used in cold climates for winter starting.
> >

   One thing we always did in Jackson Hole, Wyoming winters was to have
your car block heater plugged into a circuit that has a switch inside the
house.(or a timer, if you were really fancy)   Most block heaters take an
hour or two to heat the motor and they usually take a substantial amount of
electric when running..   Winter nights in the north are very long, It's
not very economical to connect the block heater the evening before and run
them for 12+ hours,  If you can switch it inside the house,  when your
alarm goes off and you haul out of bed, you can flip the switch or circuit
breaker for the car heater as you start your coffee and by the time you're
ready to head out, the motor will cooperate...
   My 1957 36hp bus was often the only vehicle that would start at -40
below in the small town of Wilson....I would often end up with a full load
of hitchers on very cold mornings, heading to the JH Ski Area to work....
Later in my residency there, wealthy people came along and bought garages.
And some of them took jobs, too...so sometimes people would just wave me
and my old Splittie bus past in the morning, knowing that there might be a
vehicle with heat coming behind me...