Make sure you have a timer on that engine heater
Monday, January 2, 2012
It can not only save on your energy costs but also reduce wear on the engine
by RALPH WINFIELD
Many of us need to start diesel tractors for routine tasks around the farm, such as livestock feeding or snow removal in colder weather.
In these conditions, there is no question about the desirability of preheating the engine block or coolant prior to starting the engine. A warm engine starts more quickly with less wear to engine components, especially when the lubricating oil is also warm. For warming oil a magnetic heater can also be attached to the oil pan.
Block heaters are standard equipment on just about every new farm or industrial tractor sold in Canada. Most newer heaters located in the side of the engine block will be about one kilowatt in size. I tested two of mine and they are just over 900 watts (1,000 watts is one kilowatt). Magnetic oil heaters are usually 200 to 300 watts.
By calculation then, for every hour the block heater is plugged in or is on, about one kilowatt hour of electrical energy will be used. Some older or in-hose heaters will be of lower power rating.
Tests performed at the University of Saskatchewan many years ago proved that a four-hour preheat was equivalent to having the heater plugged in 24 hours a day. It was also shown that a two-hour preheat will provide about 75 per cent of the benefit of the four-hour preheat.
Most of us in Ontario do not have the same cold weather temperatures as Saskatoon, where the tests were conducted. Thus, a two-hour preheat is adequate for most of our needs.
The use of a commercial (three-wire) portable time clock should be a "must have" item for all of us who require a predictable start time each day. For example, if you want to start the work activity at 7 a.m., you set the timer to ON at 5 a.m. and OFF at 7 a.m.
The timer gives maximum benefit without requiring you to go out and plug the tractor heater in at five in the morning. However, the real benefit is in saved electrical energy. If two hours ON time is adequate, the electrical energy cost will be about 30 cents per day.
If the heater were plugged in at 7 p.m. for a 7:00 a.m. start the cost could be $1.80 per day. Over a 30-day month, the savings would be $1.50 x 30 or $45. That is more than enough to pay for the timer!
With a one-month payback, how can you go wrong? But you are probably saying there will be a day when you have to start blowing snow earlier. And, yes, you could be right. But if you are in the critical snow-blowing/moving business, you will be watching the weather forecast very closely. You can simply bypass the timer for individual nights when required.
Many tractors have air preheaters which can be used for emergency work startups or the inevitable – an electrical power failure.
If you must use an emergency starting aid, such as ether, please use it with discretion. If you lack experience with the use of ether, do get a lesson from a service person who has seen the results of misuse. It is not a pretty sight, when pistons are broken and connecting rods are bent.
Another word of caution is in order. Please do not install a water-heating element, such as a block heater into engine oil or a hydraulic fluid. The watt density (surface temperature) is too high and it will ruin the oil or fluid.
Preheating an engine pays dividends in prolonging engine life. If you insist on wasting electrical energy by leaving your engine plugged in 24/7, do discuss the implications with service personnel for the engine or tractor you own. Sleeve seals have leaked coolant into the oil pan of some engines when the engine was preheated continuously without coolant circulation.
Timers on block/coolant heaters are very cost-effective and save energy even if you are using off-peak energy. BF
Agricultural engineer Ralph Winfield farms at Belmont in Elgin County.