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Mr. Luddite[_4_]

On 12/30/2017 1:28 PM, John H wrote:
On Sat, 30 Dec 2017 12:33:23 -0500, wrote:

On Sat, 30 Dec 2017 02:35:31 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

On 12/29/2017 9:06 PM, True North wrote:
On Friday, 29 December 2017 20:32:03 UTC-4, Mr. Luddite wrote:
On 12/29/2017 7:21 PM, Alex wrote:
Mr. Luddite wrote:

Rethinking my early morning Dunkin' Donuts run.

4 degrees F. right now with a wind chill of minus 5-10.

Got remote start on that Colorado?

Thankfully, yes. This morning I let it run through two complete, 10
minute warm up cycles before I ventured out. Temp had actually dropped
another degree to 3.

Below a certain temp the remote starter also automatically turns on the
seat heater which is nice. Makes a big difference!

From what I've read...warming up while sitting idling isn't good for the vehicle or the environment. They say it's better to drive away slowly for the first 5-10 minutes.
I have a dedicated long extension cord that I use to plug in the block heater. I bought an electric battery blanket also but haven't installed it yet.
An hour before I go anywhere on mornings below -10C, I throw the inside switch that controls 2 of my 3 outside plugs. The Highlander starts easily and warms up much faster.

Car manufacturers used to warn about idling a car for long periods
because it was bad for the catalytic converter. Don't know if that's
true anymore as remote starters in cold climates have become very
popular. I don't have a garage and when you use the remote start it
also turns on the windshield and rear window defroster full blast.
Without that benefit, I'd be sitting in the driveway for a while anyway
waiting to see where I was going.

In any event I only use it on these very cold mornings. My total drive
to and from the local Dunkin's is only 10 minutes and I like doing it
without freezing my ass off.

I can see why the rest of the world is ****ed at Americans. You ran
your car for a half hour to take a 10 minute drive for a cup of coffee
and a doughnut. Maybe Uber should deliver doughnuts ;-)

Would that Uber guy be saving a lot of resources?

I can really empathize with this. I used to go to a local 7/11 every morning for coffee, when I was
stationed at Fort Belvoir. The manager and I would shoot the ****, and the coffee was always on the
house. He wouldn't let me pay. Said he really liked having a customer in the place at 5:30 AM. Made
him feel a bit more secure.

5:30 am is just about the time I arrive at Dunkin's every morning. The
girls there know my voice when I pull up to the order speaker and
automatically know what coffees and donuts to get. I gave the morning
crew there a $100 tip on Christmas Eve morning. They have to be there
before 4 am to receive the donuts that are made and then distributed by
truck. They probably have remote starters too. :-)

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