Will it work and how long before I break even?

Honestly not enough for me to be concerned about. It's not like I'm idling for 2 hours every morning. 15 - 30min tops. I might burn an extra half tank of fuel every month for the 2 - 3 months of bitter cold, ice and heavy snow were have here. If I can't afford that, I can't afford to drive a truck.

Another option I use is to park in the garage. That could actually be an expensive option though if you need to buy a house with a garage...

 

My scanguage shows 0.4 gph burned at 600rpm idle. This is for a 2002 4.7L

 

For years, pops has always used a piece of plastic poster board that came from one of my old science projects long time ago on whatever he drives.

I just let the truck run when there is frost. I prefer to let the truck come up to operating temp before taking off if it can be helped.

Speaking of frost, this morning there was a frosting at work. This video is from my dash cam, and four times normal speed. Real time about 3 minutes?
https://youtu.be/Dh1zBL7NxOQ

 

It is costing you over 14 cents per day to warm your truck up.

 

$1.79x(1/8)=22cents. x30 days is $6.50.

60w bulb x 8hrs/day x 30 days = 14.4 kWh x whatever you pay per kWh.

Insert your own price of gas and kWh above. Unless you are paying Zeus to light your house, or are rocking Griswold lights, it seems that a drop light is the cheaper choice.

Personally, I think that the (1/8) a gallon of gas is a gross overestimation for a 12 minute idle but then again I will live and die defending my remote start.

 

You guys are really selling me on just warming it up every morning. That feels to be the most logical. You lightbulb guys have me thinking though. I can’t say I’d be real enthusiastic about lighting up my interior every night, but something like this could be just the ticket. I could build a dual light outlet and mount it somewhere in the cab. It’ll cost more than a work light and bulb, but much less than the “dehumidifier.” Could be a fun project.

 

Some facts to consider: less than 10 percent of an incandescent light bulb's energy is given off as light, the rest (more than 90 percent) is given off as heat. Making the incandescent bulb a poor choice as a light source, but a very efficient heat source. So I wouldn't bother with the ceramic heater light bulb insert. But then again, I wouldn't bother with the idea of a heater at all. Seems like a lot of fuss to save a few pennies worth of fuel. @Nick T gave the actual fuel burn rate number via his scangauge: .4 gallons per hour. That's 1/10 of a gallon for every 15 minutes of warm-up/idle time. If you cut the warm-up time to 10 minutes, that's 1/15 of a gallon per day to warm up your truck. 2 gallons per month if you do it every day.

If the plan with the heater or light bulb was to run it all night, then I think you'd be way ahead of the game by simply warming up the truck for 10 minutes each morning.

 

https://youtu.be/KQetemT1sWc

 

Have you considered a simple metal carport to park the truck under? I know it would be more money than the suggestions offered here, but would provide a good degree of shelter from the elements, both in summer and winter.

 

Here is a cheaper alternative:

 

That tent cover comes in an 8 foot box. Just saying.

I picked this one up yesterday.

Currently defrosting the windshield of the Sequoia. which has your engine.

 

This is hilarious. . Spend pennies making what I posted above, spray it on the windshield, and in seconds you are driving away.

 

The portable garage is a no go in my neck of the woods. The HOA wouldn't have it and if they did, the 30-40MPH winds we get a dozen times a year wouldn't treat it nicely.

 

I used to hear them overhead not infrequently. Now days it's the EA-18G.

 

I think you misunderstand. An E6-B is an old flight computer to make calculations.

 

Thanks for that. I’ve never seen that before; do you think the couple kissing at the beginning of the animated sun rising, is jon and yoko? Alone by themselves, without the boys......
I grew up listening to a old Abby road vinyl that was my moms.
I’ve had why don’t we do it in the road, stuck in my head this week after I heard a bad ass cover of it on our local granola radio waves

 

You are going to laugh, but I only recently started listening to The Beatles.

 

I won’t laugh out loud....
But that’s great!!!
What are some of your favorites so far? I’m a big magical mystery tour fan, mostly the older stuff(the drug induced stuff not the Brittany spears poppy stuff)
Every year on the boys camping trip we end up playing most of their catalog.

 

Norwegian Wood is my current favorite song, but I really don't know their songs except for what's played over & over on the radio. I understand I have a lot of catching up to do.

 

I misread your post. I read EA-6B.

 

i use several of these on a large boat during the winter. I put them in the staterooms and heads. They are not intended to really heat the rooms but rather help keep mildew at bay.

 

Keep a below-zero rated fluid in your washer reservoir... like this:

$16 Prestone AS250 De-Icer Windshield Washer Fluid - 1 Gallon

https://www.amazon.com/Prestone-AS250-Icer-Windshield-Washer/dp/B001E1RVKQ
I let my vehicles warm up for about 5 min then sit in the driver's seat and squirt the windshield. Good to go. It gets pretty cold here and I don't even own an ice scraper.

 

That's cuz they suck! Never liked them and never will. Probably the most overrated band ever created.

 

That's my fall back position, but they did make some decent music.

 

Number 9 is ok if yer trippin ballz.

 

Yeah that one is not bad. Just saying overall, I just don't get it. I think I like more Lennon songs than Beatles songs.

 

Agree. As soon as I found Led Zep I was done with The Beatles. I get the appeal though.

 

No worries!