I was enlisted. I have photos of our barracks with extension cords coming out of all the windows to the cars. We’d stuff towels in the slot that resulted from not being able to close the windows completely. Same thing in the NCO trailers that I lived when I made buck sergeant. The in-town apartments had the posts.
I did a “satellite view” of GFAFB recently. It’s a ghost town. The planes are gone (except for a few gutted displays), the barracks I lived in are gone, the NCO trailers are gone, and almost all the cars and people are gone. Broke my heart to see it.
I’ve lived in Minnesota most of my life and have never needed a battery heater.
But here’s what you do need.
The most cold cranking amps for the battery for your vehicle in that group size. A well tuned engine. And if you want a heater? Install a frost plug/block heater.
Instead of trying to heat a battery where the wind chill strips the heat away from the battery, the block heater heats the coolant up. Which makes the engine start easier which uses less cold cranking amps from the battery.
But yeah you’re right! It’s getting damn cold up here!
Thanks all… I think I am going to find somebody’s garage to do it in… I have opted for the block heater (Silicone stickon) and wiring the battery Blanket out the bottom rear of the door. Figure it will stick out a foot and then I can just tuck it in the door when not heating.
Snow blowed the drive this morning… 20MPH wind… felt like I was naked in the walkin freezer…
Gotta agree. I’m in Minnesota too. You really shouldn’t have a problem with a good battery and good tune if its only ten below. If it gets down to -20, I’d want to maybe drive it around late before putting it away for the night. Block heater is the normal and best way to go if still concerned. I used to do overnights in Bemidji and Duluth in -20 with no block heater and never had a problem. I didn’t like it but the car still started.
Oh yeah, and wind chill is meaningless. It just measures how fast something cools off. Air temp is the important figure.
oh… just ordered a thermo cube and a mechanical timer too… BTW… car started with key fine, but everything sounded hard… power steering didn’t like it either…
God, I don’t know how anyone takes cold like that on a regular basis. We’ve got a relatively short bad cold snap going here in OK with wind chills of sub-zero and I’m ready to move to the equator already.
Three weeks of winter around Xmas and that’s enough for me.
Can’t even imagine what those poor schmucks out on the oil rigs are going through even in this area.
Ya dress appropriatley, and the body adapts, I ws surprised the other day, warmed up to 8 degrees, and did not even feel the need to zip my jacket, I used to have a mustache and always loved the frost build up on my lip hairs.
One of the big problems around here is the wind. Supposed to be blowing 35 MPH with highs in the 20s tomorrow and snow on the weekend. It all sucks…
I watched the Cactus Bowl game with OK State which was in Tempe, AZ and noticed people in the stands dressed up like Eskimos.
Guess your brother may may have to head that motor home way down Mexico way to find any warmth…
You can have that Minnesota cold. My mother lived her first 20 years in White Bear Lake before she decided she’d had enough and left for sunny CA. I remember hearing stories of how grandpa had to plug in the car at night and take the battery into the house so the car would start in the morning. Yuck.
You get used to it… in a sense. After I left I never missed it.
I remember in the early spring, it would get up to 30F and we’d all be taking our parkas off as if it were summer. When I got discharged I took my arctic gear home with me thinking I might use it, but it was too warn for NH winters. My feet would sweat in the “bunny boots” even on the coldest days, and my body would get too hot in the parka.
Oh. and as Bing said, wind chill is only a way of representing how fast an object cools. It never gets below ambient, but with wind it gets there faster. That matters to a car when parking it at work or while going shopping or whatever. Park it into the wind and the engine will have less residual heat when you come back out… that means the heat will take longer to work, the defroster, etc. And it also helps to put a blanket or piece of corrugated cardboard over the radiator. Without it the engine just might not get to operating temperature in the morning… even on the highway.
I remember too my manual tranny fluid getting so cold that I couldn’t feel the gates. Shifting it in the morning was like dragging a canoe paddle through wet concrete.
And the foam in my seat would get as hard as a marble park bench. Of course that was long before heated seats became available.
Builds character. I used to enjoy being out in the cold and the snow but I just like to stay inside now. We haven’t really had a good ole big blizzard though in a long time.
My wife just informed me though that Disney is offering 35% discounts and air fare from Minneapolis to Orlando is now $147. Tempting.
I have lived in a climate with cold winters most of my life. A new heavy duty battery and a block heater is all you will need. Hooking up a batter warmer under the back seat is, in my opinion, a risky business.
A block heater can be installed for about $100 for the type that actually goes inside the block thorough the frost plug. Those are the most reliable. All my cars since the 50s have had block heaters.
An oil with a viscosity of 0W30 will flow easily at -45F.
I have found with my 10 year old/100k+ vehicles when using it(just winter months) that starting at temps as low as -22F (actual temp not meaningless to cars wind chill) I have no issues.
As you have stated, you don’t need either the block heater nor the battery blanket. your car started fine with the key. I bet you car could start at -25F with the key as well.
I wouldn’t go thru the work or expense if everything worked as advertised. I have a plug in block heater in my car but don’t use it because it is extra hassle plugging and unplugging every night.
Especially when the car starts anyways. If i had an issue, I certainly would plug it in.
