Moving to Edmonton, AB
 

Hi Prairie Redliners :)

I'll be moving from the US to Edmonton in the next month for 2 years. My S2000 will stay home but I plan to take 2 other cars up with me. Do most Edmontonians equip their vehicles with engine block heaters?

Regards,
Brian

You bet we do! currently -30C here just north of Edmonton. If you're not parking indoors, your car probably wont start!

Welcome!

*phew* I was worried you were asking _for_ your s2k... ;)

Yes, anything Daily Driven will be happier if it's either plugged in, or parked indoors. (When it's -20C or lower usually the cutoff.)

Why? Mine's been a daily driver year round for 13 years. It's been parked outside overnight when it got down to -38*C. Yeah, it was plugged in. It started up in the morning, warmed up nicely, plowed my way out of a parking lot that had over a foot of snow on it, got me to where I needed to go, turned great, stopped great, handled great, had to turn the heat down before I got to my destination. To this day, it hasn't rusted into a pile of goo. It's also supercharged for the past 10 years and has a vented hood. Rain and snow hasn't even made the engine shrink when it got wet and it gets really wet at times. I've seen more damage from guys schmucking into cones at the track or spinning out into the weeds.

Thanks guys. I've lived in Northern WI near Green Bay for a year and my daily driver at the time had no issues starting. However, Green Bay does not get as cold as Edmonton :eek:

Xviper do you also live Edmonton? When I first joined this forum I used to reference a lot of your posts regarding lubricants. Thanks for your contributions to the community :hello:

Not Edmonton. 200 miles to the south - Cowtown. I don't post much anymore, only when I see something so astonishing that it needs commentary. And every now and then when I see a question that appears to be genuine.

I'd also suggest a battery blanket/warmer too. Canadian Tire or PartSource has these available, so you can grab one locally when you get here. About $25-30.

If your other vehicles do not have provision for block heaters, then try an oil pan heater - my A4 is such a car, so I have a Wolverine oil pan heater on it:

http://www.wolverineheater.com/

However, I'd suggest buying one of these in the US first, as they seem to be about 50% more expensive here!

A lot of people (myself not included) also acquire remote car starters. Apparently, these things are quite popular in the Middle East as well, but for the entirely opposite reason... ;)

Personally, I never plug my car in unless it's at least -20*C.

Thanks for the suggestion on the battery blanket and magnetic pan heater. I am having problems finding a block heater for my Mazda here in the states. Luckily Honda offers the block heater for the CR-V.

Are power outlets readily available in public parking spaces?

Not usually. Certainly not on the street, meter parking. Most malls don't have them either. Typically plug ins are available in private lots, ie. condos or office parking lots. Sometimes you see them at Imparks, but not usually. Something to shop for if you need to find pay parking on a monthly basis. One option, I suppose, could be to acquire the remote car starter, then start the car over the lunch hour for 15-20 minutes, then shut it down, to keep fluids warm.

But we are talking quite extremes here. It is atypical to have -30*C for extended periods of time. It does happen, but infrequently. This past Christmas it was at least -20*C for about 7-10 days. I plugged the A4 in (as it is parked outside) but I don't think I plugged in my wife's LR3 (it's parked in our unheated, but insulated, garage). With a pretty fresh battery, and a modern, in-shape car, you probably won't have any problems starting if the car is left for a few hours in, say, -30*C - like a hockey game or shopping at the mall. My experience is that you may run into more trouble with older cars and older batteries and you leave the car out for an extended period of time.

One other tip - make sure your extension cord is cold weather rated. I think the cheapest to find these are at Princess Auto, everyone else seems to gouge. I have the blue ones rated for -50*C, the yellow ones are supposed to be good for -40*C but ones I have already start to stiffen up at -15*C or so.

Other literature put out suggests that plugging in the car continuously overnight doesn't do much benefit, but that only plugging it in for a few hours before anticipated start is sufficient. Thus you can get into a block heater timer. I am a bit paranoid about coking up the oil in my A4's oil pan, so I have the pan heater set up to go on for 4-5 hours before I typically leave for the office. That said, the LR3 I don't worry about, I just leave it, as it's a traditional block heater that just heats the coolant.

My engine builder suggests that oil pan heaters are to care for the engine; traditional block heaters that heat the coolant are to care for the occupant. ;)

Start shopping for winter tires yet? ;) All season tires tend to lose their effectiveness at 7*C. Winter tires' tread patterns and compounds make them far superior. Unfortunately, they are not (yet) mandatory, like in Quebec. They probably should be though, by that's personal experience. All of our winter driven vehicles are thus equipped.

Where are you going to work and live? I'm sure the other local forum members, and of course myself, can make recommendations on whatever you need (services, restaurants, etc). I bloody well hate winter, but it's okay if you can find enough to amuse yourself.... :)

I'll be working in downtown at 105th St and Jasper Ave. I'd like to find a home with a fenced yard to rent because I have a dog. Any recommendations on neighborhoods?

Thanks for the tip on the temp ratings for extension cords. I'll probably have my car equipped with a set of winter tires before I get a block heater. I used to have Dunlop WinterSports on the S2K and they were great in the cold and the occasional wet snow. Now the S2000 only gets driven on nice days when the roads are completely dry.