The engine block heater - you know how you've got to plug it in overnight to keep it warm? I was wondering how much wattage it pulls from the plug. I had an idea - connect a power inverter to a dc power supply like a jump starting device. Would a 700W continuous supply inverter be good enough? Of course direct AC supply should be the best, but it's not always easy to find parking right next to you door. Any ideas?
My guess would be no, 700W would not do the job - more like twice that amount. The electric meter really seems to spin when mine is plugged in! Besides, if you're thinking about using another battery in the car somewhere that much draw would really start a lot of sulfating in the battery and create some dangerous gas in the cabin.... to say nothing of putting a lot of load on the inverter and creating a fire hazard.
On the other hand, even a little amount of heat helps - lots of us remember the "good old days" when we'd squeeze a light bulb down into the block overnight for a little extra... or the old dipstick heaters - they'd only draw about 200W.
From past experience even in the coldest weather 2 hours of heat from the block heater is enough to loosen up the engine and start it easily.
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