Kenlowe Engine Pre-Heater

[Lloyd]

I was reading the Sunday Times at the weekend and was interested to learn about this bit of kit called the Kenlowe Engine Hotstart or Pre-Heater....

http://driving.timesonline.co.uk/tol...cle1429082.ece

Has anyone any thoughts on the pro's or cons for this?

http://www.kenlowe.com/pre-heaters/cars/whatwill.html

The article was claiming that the unit helped reduce initial engine wear on cold starting through warming the coolant prior to starting and also reducing fuel comsumption as less choke or over fueling was required...

I doubt their environmental claims as the electricity to pre-warm is based on oil/gas/coal fired generation in any case. But, with a view to minimise cold start engine wear I was interested.

Comments welcome.

Cheers,

[Greg_S]

Yeah I saw that too, I think its more likely to be used in the colder climates so Im sure there are members that have experience with similar products too

[s2driveruk]

Sure one of the Finns/Swedes will have a thing or two to say about these. I think they are also widely available in central/eastern Europe too where it is much colder through the winter months. There's a few manufacturers, I think Eberspacher (or something like that) also do parking heaters. As you say, circulates warm coolant to aid starting and so on. Probably a bit overkill for the UK

[Ross]

I noticed most cars were fitted with block heaters when I lived in Canada. Wasn't essential, but when the car's parked below -40 cracked blocks weren't unheard of... that said, I didn't ever use one and had no issues. Other than the gearbox feeling like it was full of treacle, and cold air in your face (cardboard in front of the radiator helped the engine get to temp).

So I'd say as per David's post, probably a bit overkill for the UK, though I must admit warm air would compliment the heated seats rather well on those frosty mornings!

Cheers
Ross

[Jas11n]

I can understand the system of warming the coolant etc, but I'm a bit lost as to it's claim that it can aid a reduction in engine wear
How can warming the coolant reduce engine wear? it's the oil that has drained back down into the sump and the subsequent restart of an engine without a full coating of oil on lubricated surfaces until oil is circulating properly, that causes engine wear in the first few seconds of starting, isn't it??
Hence the market for the likes of Magnetec which claims to stick the the lubricated surfaces and make a cold start a bit less of an ordeal for an engine. Even though stuff like that makes no mention of the alloy parts within every engine

Just a thought.

Jas..

[Ross]

Jas,

I wondered the same thing and went and did a little reading - aparrently, the rich mixture washes oil from the cylinder walls meaning there is more engine wear. So, pre-warming = leaner running from start-up = less engine wear.

[silizium]

Here in Finland those pre-heating things are very popular. Someone said me that one cold start equals 600km of driving, don't know if it's true. I don't have one in my car yet.

Heater is heating engine to +5 celsius.

-Siliz