Re: Heater relays and elements

[John Wayland <dat1200@europa.com>]

Hello to All,

Victor Tikhonov wrote:

> We don't have very cold weather in Portland, practically never snows.

Uh hummm...Victor, while Portland's winters are mild compared to say, Minnesota winters,
or perhaps compared to the kind of winters you had in your homeland, you're still a bit
off here...perhaps you haven't been living here long enough to realize that our recent
winters have been milder than what is the norm.  On the east side near the mouth of the
Columbia Gorge where I live, we usually get an ice storm each year, with temps at 20-25
degrees for days on end. When they hit, we lose power for a few days, cars slide sideways,
driving is all but impossible, and attempting to walk across the ice-covered grass of your
yard is like walking on ball bearings! One year, as our house faces directly into the icy
east wind coming out of the gorge, we had 2 inches of ice coating the entire front, so
bad, that the front door would not open! We also, get snow pretty much every year, though
the last two winters have been very mild and the snow was only a dusting. I can remember
one winter about 20 years ago, where we had 11 inches of snow, and most winters we get
anywhere from 2 to 6 inches of snow, and usually on several occasions each winter. Also,
about 10  Novembers ago, we had single digit nighttime temps for the better part of a
week. In the Pacific Northwest, our weather kind of rotates every ten years or so, and
we're due to have colder winters as as happened in the past.

>From Lee:

>I have found that 1500w is only adequate for a small car in a mild winter.

Hmm, sounds awfully close to what I've been saying. I use a single element in Blue
Meanie's heater, and just as Lee says, it's fine in this small car in milder cold temps,
but when we get those days of teens up to the mid 20's and with a 35 mph east wind huffing
away, I wish I had those twin elements I put in Red Beastie!

>For most cars, you'll
>need more like 3000w to match the stock heater's performance.

>From my own post:

>I used twin elements in Red Beastie's heater, and it was pretty
>much like the factory heater that came with the truck, only of course, it was instant-on
:-)

Portland is pretty temperate compared to the severe winters that other places get, but it
nonetheless, can get quite cold here, unless you think temps in the teens and low 20's is
the banana belt...don't forget to factor in that awful wind chill from the east gorge
winds. I travel quite a bit, and I'll take a 10 degree, low humidity, no wind winter any
day, over a 25 degree day at my place at 95% humidity with a 40 mph east wind!

See Ya.......John Wayland