Idle Waste | Green Energy News

January 16, 2005 – Vol.9 No.43

IDLE WASTE.

Neighbors of this editor have auto-start devices installed in both their vehicles. On chilly mornings he can start his truck, she her car, from the warm comfort of their home. Both vehicles reside on the street: We share the air. The vehicles, idling for minutes, are toasty warm, windows fully defrosted, when they leave for work.

On one occasion another neighbor ran out early one morning, started his car to warm the seats. Hours later the car finally ran out of gas and stalled. (He got busy with projects inside and forgot it was running.)

While excessive idling is illegal in 42 U.S. states, those laws are mostly geared to trucks, not cars. That, apparently, is changing. Idling cars will be targeted for tickets soon in some localities.

Idling wastes gas, causes pollution and can damage engines. But people in cold climates, understandingly, don’t want to get into a steel icebox in sub-freezing temperatures.

The solution, according to Webasto Product North America, is to install an engine preheater.

Connected to a vehicle’s cooling system, preheaters are gasoline or diesel fueled devices that warm engine coolant (antifreeze) and pump it through the engine block and heating system. With the car’s heater and defroster turned on, the interior will get warm, the windows will clear of ice and frost, and the engine block (and the cold lubricating oil in it) will be warmed sufficiently for easy starting. All of this for a fraction of the fuel needed to (wastefully) run an engine at idle.

The company says that while the technology has been popular in Europe for years (and invented decades ago) price may be a stumbling block in the U.S. market.

An installed preheater (such as Webasto’s Blueheat model) can cost $1800. But the company says prices would drop with higher production. And, if installed at the factory as an option, the cost of the preheater could be spread out over the monthly payment schedule for the vehicle. Automakers should be taking a closer look at this technology Webasto thinks.

The company claims over 2 billion gallons of fuel are wasted each year through idling. Visit Webasto Product North America http://www.webasto-us.com/ .