Battery Heaters

[123c]

Does anyone use a battery heater on their car? I have a 60 watt pad style heater I was using on my Mercedes, and I am thinking about sticking it in the Subaru.

Is there anything I should watch for when I use it, like over heating and melting the plastic battery tray?

[evolutionmovement]

I'm not sure you should bother. These are very easy engines to kick over. I live in MA and it gets cold here, but other than a single dead battery which may have had 200k on it, I've never had an issue starting the car. Kicks over on 1st or 2nd turn.

Steve

[vrg3]

Yeah, I had one on my old 123 diesel too but have never needed it on the Subaru. Diesel engines are a lot harder to start. I also had a block heater on the Benz but never needed it on the Subaru either...

How bad do your winters get in East Wenatchee?

[ciper]

Are you interested in the factory block heater from subaru? I helped my friend buy a legacy recently and it has one installed. Car was originally from Wyoming, but now its in California and the heater isnt needed.

[123c]

The Mercedes doesn't have the block heater installed, but I have one laying around and might install when I have the time.

The winters can be fairly cold in East Wenatchee, where the typical lows can be in the teens, and sometimes below zero... The reason why I am thinking about installing it is because I have heard my brother cranking on his Legacy on many cold morning, and it takes a few cranks to get it going. I know that the battery heaters help with the effiency of the batteries in the cold weather, and I know this will help start the car faster.

I am not really sure if it is worth installing a block heater on the car. If it was a diesel I would...