Q: My sister has a new Hyundai or Kia (hope it doesn't make a difference). She does not have a garage and lives here in Minnesota. She had an engine block heater in her old car. She went to have one installed in the new car, but they advised her to get a car starter instead. I have tried to research this for her, without much luck. Could you please advise us what would be the best choice with an explanation. Thank you! - J.D. S., Minneapolis
A: At first blush, your sister's quest and the shop's recommendation seem misaligned - like asking for snow tires and being shown car stereos. One makes it easier to get going; the other makes the driving more pleasant.
The purpose of a block heater is to make your car easier to start. A warm engine starts easier than a cold one. While a remote starter also warms up the car, it does so after the engine is running; its purpose is to warm up the passenger compartment. Here's the scenario: it's cold out, you dread climbing into an icy car, so you push a button on a remote switch, get your car running from some warm entryway and let it run a couple minutes until the engine and its coolant have warmed up and the car's heater is blowing warm air. Then you go out and climb into a warm car. (Or in the summer, run the car's air conditioner.) You can have the defroster going, too. The warmth from a remote starter is post-start-up warmth; with a block heater, it's pre-start-up warmth for the purpose of making the engine easier to start in the first place.
The typical remote starter may make the starting process more convenient - pushing a button at a distance - but it does not make it easier for the engine itself to turn over and start. If it's 35 below zero and you have a weak battery, your car may not start without a block heater. The same car likewise will not start with a typical remote starter, as that device is only doing at a distance what the driver would otherwise do from the driver's seat - send power to the starter motor, which turns over the engine, flowing fuel and generating spark so it will start.
Because it warms the engine before it is running, a block heater allows the car's passenger-compartment heater to blow warm air sooner. Perhaps in the conversation about the two devices, this fact got trotted out and became the focus of the conversation. If a warm interior is your sister's main objective, then the shop is right; a remote starter getting her car running, warmed up and blowing hot air into the driver's area before she opens the car door will create a more pleasant cabin than the block heater under the hood. But it doesn't replace what she had before. If she had a block heater for the purpose of getting her un-garaged car fired up on the coldest days, a remote starter is not a substitute for that device. On the other hand, if her focus is creature comforts, then a remote starter is the pampering option.
I've said that the "typical" remote starter makes engine starting more convenient, but not easier. It's possible that someone has made a remote starter that incorporates a block heater. If so, it will need an external power supply - a block heater plugs in to a regular electrical outlet.
It sounds like you and she are after a block heater. They're simple, effective and inexpensive. That's the device that will get her car fired up on the very coldest days Minnesota can serve up. Note that my wife and I leave our vehicles outside year round and most winters have no problem starting them cold. We always buy high cold-cranking amp batteries, which are best for this climate.
