idea for block heater control

[emery]

In several recent discussion the topic of turning on a block heater just when it was needed has come up. Here are two ideas...
1) I just installed a wireless remote outlet($15 in hardware stores) out in the barn and now from the house about 100' away I can turn on the heater before I go out to start the beast.
2) Another idea would be to use a low voltage relay like the one that turns on the furnace and just run the control wires back to the house and a switch.

My "heater" by the way is a set of 500w halogen flood lamps placed under the oil pan and hydraulic filter. Sears had a great deal for a pair of these on a tripod for $20

The remote outlet was rated at 1000w which matches my light wattage but you would have to check what a block heater requires.

 

[cowboydoc]

That's a great idea Emery. I did the same thing but to turn on my barn lights with a remote switch instead of my heaters.

 

[MossRoad]

X10 sells some high amperage outlets as well. I use a 20 amp outlet for my pool pump. It would handle a block heater. I programmed the module to run it when I needed. I also set up one of the cheapy keychain remotes to turn it off manually. I carry it when I'm working on the pool, so I turn the pump on or off when backwashing, etc... You could even set it up with a temperature monitor to turn the block heater on if the temperature drops below a pre set level, only between the hours of X and X(whatever hours you normally heat up the tractor) on these days(the days of the week that you normally use the tractor). It is easy stuff to do and is great nerdy fun! /w3tcompact/icons/clever.gif