What's the going rate for block heater plug-ins?

[para transit fellow]

What's the going rate for an overnight plug in?

Trying for quick research for the Calgary area.
We share our industrial yard with a landscape/trucking outfit. They have 4 gravel trucks and four 4 x 4 (with snow plows) plugged in. We have the utility account. The plug-ins are on a temperature controlled circuit but not on a separate meter

I was paying $7/night in Cochrane in 2010

Hoping that someone's workplace has faced a similar scenario.

[YYC in LAX]

Can't help you with the cost, but a tip to cut costs...using a timer is a great way to save money. Have the block heater kick in 1.5 hours before you need the vehicle in the morning.

[Northendzone]

I would think diesel gravel trucks need more than 1.5 hrs when it is -20......

[Nage Waza]

I don't think you are asking the right question...Do you mean how much power would those vehicles draw if they were plugged in? To accurately figure this out you have to determine a few variables.

Good luck.

[You Need a Thneed]

How many watts is the block heater? Either way, they wouldn't be using $7 worth of power per night. Maybe 25 cents.

[ken0042]

I think what he is asking is how much do people pay to rent the plugin from somebody else. For example you always see school buses parked at Superstore on 130th, and in the winter I think they get plugged in. I think the question is- how much does Southland pay Superstore for being able to use the power.

As for a 25¢ cost- that could be too low. I know in my one car the block heater uses 400 watts; I would think in a big diesel engine it would be more. Even assuming the electricty rate is 8¢ per kw/h, that usually only counts towards about half of the power bill. So make it 16¢, and then assume the heater is on for 14 hours per night. (Plugged in at 5pm, unplugged at 7 am.) That's $2.24 on a work night. A Saturday or Sunday plugged in could use power 24 hours. Now you are at $3.84

Make the heater 1000 watts instead of 400, and you have new numbers.

[You Need a Thneed]

That's why a timer should be used.

[Fusebox]

I think what he is asking is how much do people pay to rent the plugin from somebody else. For example you always see school buses parked at Superstore on 130th, and in the winter I think they get plugged in. I think the question is- how much does Southland pay Superstore for being able to use the power.

As for a 25¢ cost- that could be too low. I know in my one car the block heater uses 400 watts; I would think in a big diesel engine it would be more. Even assuming the electricty rate is 8¢ per kw/h, that usually only counts towards about half of the power bill. So make it 16¢, and then assume the heater is on for 14 hours per night. (Plugged in at 5pm, unplugged at 7 am.) That's $2.24 on a work night. A Saturday or Sunday plugged in could use power 24 hours. Now you are at $3.84

Make the heater 1000 watts instead of 400, and you have new numbers.

For most commercial and almost all industrial installations, power is charged at a different rate depending on the time of day. Power in the middle of the night is about ten times less expensive than power from between the hours of 5-7pm. Superstore don't pay the same price for all the power they use each month, they pay a different rate each day and often for each hour.

Only a matter of time before this becomes commonplace in residential homes.

[Fusebox]

Buy yourself one of these, hook it up to a timer that cycles on for twenty minutes per hour throughout the night, and you'll find that a typical block heater will cost you about 30c per night to run.

http://www.amazon.ca/P3-International-P4460-Electricity-Monitor/dp/B000RGF29Q/ref=cm_cmu_pg__header