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AutoHeat
Automatically heated automobile... on a timer | |
My coffee maker has a neat timer feature which allows me to
program a time
(say, five minutes before I wake up in the morning) to start brewing
so
I can wake up to a pair of nice, hot cups of coffee.
So, I got to thinking (as we Halfbakers are wont to do) about adding
to
the convenience
of
Remote Start by including a timer option for
starting a vehicle, so it is preheated by the time you're ready to
leave
for work. Needn't be any less secure than current Remote Start
technology. Doors stay locked, can't shift into gear without the key,
etc.
This way, on really cold mornings, you don't have to wake up extra-
early to defrost the windows and get it comfortably warmed up.
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Annotation:
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Probably easily done with a smartphone car link
startup app. |
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I'm liking both of those ideas. I did Google for this, I'm shocked
it hasn't been done yet. |
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Remote starting from smartphones is baked (your
insurance is invalidated if you have a manual
gearbox). The best solution for this, however, is a
block heater. Electrical preheating of the engine
block will mean the (car) heater works almost
immediately. As a side benefit, it's very nice to the
engine. |
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You should also kill the engine after a time or open the garage door. Need to avoid carbon monoxide murdering someone sleeping off a drunk in the backseat. Someone might be you. |
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Car wouldn't require much pre-heating if it's in a
garage, Shirely? |
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// Need to avoid carbon monoxide murdering someone sleeping off a drunk in the backseat. //
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Oooh, nice ... <sniggering>
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What [bs0u0155] said about a block heater; actually running the engine is a very inefficient and expensive option. The oil will be warm when the engine starts, greatly reducing wear, if you use a block heater. It also reduces demand on the battery as it's much easier to crank a warm engine.
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Best is to have both a block heater and a battery trickle charger on the same timer. |
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//actually running the engine is a very inefficient and
expensive option//
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80% of the fuel was used in the first mile of my 5 mile
journey on icy mornings, according to my OBDII
readouts at least. |
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To be fair, that's pretty normal with top fuel dragsters ... |
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