Oops, as I often find myself, I am standing corrected.

Yeah, sure, that 900 Watt heater looks like a good mate to the timer.

"Battery blanket"

You Canadians have all the good stuff.

--
Jack "Rocket j Squirrel" Elliott
1984 Westfalia, auto trans,
Bend, Ore.

On 02/11/2014 05:35 PM, James wrote:
> I didn't mention the timer, I mentioned the 'Little Buddy' heater -
> which is rated at 'only' 900 watts, but that's because the usual
> application is to have it running off the same 15 amp extension cord as
> the engine block heater, which is typically 400-500 watts.  I know
> people here who also have a 50 watt 'battery blanket' to give the
> battery a bit of a lift on a cold morning.
>
> And really, while Ottawa is cold compared to, say, Toronto or Virginia,
> it's not cold by Canadian standards - we leave that to Saskatoon,
> Thunder Bay, Edmonton, etc., where those three items are standard
> equipment on cars.
>
> (In the Yukon I believe that they start the car in October and keep it
> running until the spring comes in May....)
>
> James
> In Ottawa, where right now it's 7F, going down to -14F tonight (-14C and
> -24C for those of us not in the USA)
>
>
>  > Date: Tue, 11 Feb 2014 17:23:28 -0800
>  > From: camping.elliott@gmail.com
>  > To: jk_eaton@HOTMAIL.COM; vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>  > Subject: Re: DIY windshield de-icing solution?
>  >
>  > Looks like a cool little timer.
>  >
>  > Most 120V household electrical heaters in the US are rated at 1500
>  > Watts. The timer James in snowy, cold Ottawa ON mentions has the
>  > following load rating: "10Amp, 1250-watt resistive, 4-Amp, 500-Watt
>  > Tungsten/ 4-Amp Ballast."
>  >
>  > So if you likee that timer, get a heater rated appropriately.
>  >
>  > (I don't know whether your basic standard hot-coiled-wire heater is
>  > purely resistive, or whether it draws higher current when it first turns
>  > on, like a tungsten light bulb.)
>  >
>  > --
>  > Jack "Rocket j Squirrel" Elliott
>  > 1984 Westfalia, auto trans,
>  > Bend, Ore.
>  >
>  > On 02/11/2014 05:12 PM, James wrote:
>  > > That's a good timer, but team it with a heater meant to pre-warm a
> car interior, like a 'little buddy':
>  > >
> http://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/little-buddy-110v-car-warmer-0303405p.html#.UvrKWF8o5Mt
>  > >
>  > > James
>  > > Snowy, cold Ottawa ON
>  > >
>  > >> Date: Mon, 10 Feb 2014 00:03:36 -0500
>  > >> From: psdooley@VERIZON.NET
>  > >> Subject: Re: DIY windshield de-icing solution?
>  > >> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>  > >>
>  > >> Yeah, that's the idea. Run a cord to the house and get one of these:
>  > >>
>  > >>
> http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005WQIDHY/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UT
>  > >> F8&psc=1
>  > >> http://tinyurl.com/lm98bod
>  > >>
>  > >>
>  > >> -----Original Message-----
>  > >> From: TonyCollin [mailto:tonycollin@gmail.com]
>  > >> Sent: Sunday, February 09, 2014 11:46 PM
>  > >> To: Project Pat
>  > >> Cc: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
>  > >> Subject: Re: DIY windshield de-icing solution?
>  > >>
>  > >> Pat
>  > >>
>  > >> Do you use any old type of space heater?
>  > >>
>  > >> I could see something like this working to heat up the interior of
> a tin top
>  > >> and making it more pleasant before take off.
>  > >>
>  > >> T.
>  > >>
>  > >> On Feb 9, 2014, at 9:18 PM, Project Pat <psdooley@VERIZON.NET> wrote:
>  > >>
>  > >> Sorry I didn't read the whole thread, but has anybody mentioned a
> space
>  > >> heater inside the van? Set on a timer to turn on 20 min before you
> leave
>  > >> the house. The inside will be toasty warm and hopefully the ice on the
>  > >> glass will melt.
>  > >
>  > >