Diesel question

[BroncoMama]

With it being the lovely season of winter, or in our neck of the woods, cold as sh!t season, what is the general consensus on putting your diesel truck on a timer instead of leaving it plugged in all night? Up until quite recently, we had both trucks on a timer that came on about 5:00 in the morning till 8:00 and that worked just fine. Due to a tragic turn of events we no longer have that timer and are now just plugging in both trucks before we go to bed and then they get unplugged whenever someone goes out and does the deed. Here is my question: How much electricity does that really draw? Do I need to go get another timer to keep our electric bill down or is it really not that big of a deal in the whole scheme of things?

Discuss.

 

[red]

not that big of a deal. my dads 95 yukon with a 6.5L diesel is plugged in all night every night that its below freezing, raised the electric bill $15.

 

[offroaddave]

not that big of a deal. my dads 95 yukon with a 6.5L diesel is plugged in all night every night that its below freezing, raised the electric bill $15.

Ouch! that would seem like a big deal to me. I'm suprised it's that much.
X2, that could add up quick.

 

[Shawn]

Build a garage, that's where I keep mine...........

 

[Rot Box]

I usually plug mine in 2 hours before work, but that's only because I work swing and don't have to wake up early....

I try to avoid all night plug in's but sometimes there is no way around it. Also $15 isn't too bad when you are comparing your power bill with your gas bill

 

[turbohaulic]

If it were me I would just go to Lowe's/Home Depot and get a new timer. Then all you have to do is spend $15 once.

 

[Meat_]

How cold are you getting? At a certain point (consistently below 0F) it's better for the truck to be warm all the time, everything will last longer. I rarely plug mine in unless it's going to be REAL cold or if I'm going to be leaving early in the morning..... if you are only hitting single digits I would either get another timer or put them on a switch in the house.

 

[Kiel]

They say on the ford heaters 3 hours is good. I have mine on a timer, becuase it was about 12-15 bucks month, I want to say it's a 1000 watts. I only plug it in when it gets below 25 at night.

 

[BroncoMama]

Build a garage, that's where I keep mine...........

Already have one, neither truck will fit in it though, thank you very much Mr. Helpy-McHelperton.

It probably isn't a bad idea to go get another timer. Then my OCD won't kick in every morning about 11 when I go dashing out to unplug the thing for fear of raising my electric bill! I like the idea of the trucks enjoying being warm and lasting longer though. Is that a valid thought when it's just cold, not wickedly cold? Being that they are both Ford's, we have to plug them in due to their extreme dislike of anything less than, well, warm.

 

[Shawn]

:tara::tara:

 

[red]

haha yea the powerstrokes are really picky about the temp. you daily drive the truck correct? reason our bill is an extra 15 bucks a month is because his yukon is almost always plugged in now that its almost constantly below freezing (wants the engine to last as long as possible). so overall, since he doesnt travel much, its plugged in about 20 hours a day on average during winter. your bill should be less haha.

 

[BCGPER]

I have no idea how big your heaters are, so I'll just use 1000 watts as a nice round number. If your utility is charging you $0.08 per kilowatt hour, your block heater is costing you 8 cents an hour to run.

 

[78mitsu]

I leave mine plugged in from about 1800 when I get home until 0700 when I leave. I've not seen noticable change in my utility since I started plugging it in.