Yes Bill, I had the block heater installed at the dealership. The heater for my 04 HCH was $59.00 and another $60.00 to have it installed (which inclued new anti-freeze). I'm still not sure of the wattage used (I ordered a meter from Amazon , but I'm still waiting for it to arrive) but I use an outdoor timer and set it so its on for 5 hours. I so happy I had it installed. So far, my mileage hasn't dipped below 40 MPG and it would have been higher if not for the fact that I can't plug it in while I'm at work. I leave for work at 4 AM and lately the temps have varried from high teens to low 30's and with the 5 hour time limit on the heater, it starts up at 1,000 RPM and with mild heat (unlike when I leave work which starts up cold at 1,700 RPM).

Hope this helps

I will post my findings on wattage later.

 

Does anyone know if the '06 HCH has either a plastic dipstick tube or plastic oil pan, as both the above description advising the dipstick oil heater is Not for vehicles with plastic dipstick tube or plastic oil pan.

 

Here is a link to a PDF of the install instruictions for a Honda 2006 Civic Hybrid Heater Block ~$ 50 on anythinghondaonline.com

http://www.anythinghondaonline.com/P...lockheater.pdf

 

Thanks, RIHCH!
That was exactly what I was looking for. I'll be interested in the wattage, but in the mean time I'm going to get one installed before it gets any colder here!
Appreciate the info!

 

Larry,
These dipstick oil heaters have been around for years, but I've never heard anything good about them. They heat up the oil, of course, but the block heaters heat the coolant, which is going to give you a much better chance at the car performing better when cold. I'm sure all of the systems that are controlling things like auto stop are deriving their info from the coolant temp. Mine will auto stop at 9 bars on the coolant guage, but won't seem to do it before that. Also, I've heard horror stories of the oil heaters shorting out. Not a good thing when it's submerged in oil. The ones I've seen are pretty low wattage, which is a good thing for protection but won't do much to solve the cold start issues. Just my opinion.

 

I got my block heater installed this week in my '06 HCH (now that winter is about over, duh! - but I've had the car for less than a month so...).

I put a meter on it and found out that it pulls 3.325 amps at 122 volts, or about 400 watts. In my area of the country I pay 8.61 cents per killowt-hour (or 8.61 cents for every 2.5 hours I run the heater), so I won't be saving a lot of money on gas with it, even if it gets me into auto stop quicker. I'd have to save a gallon of gas at $2.30/gal for every 25 startups to break even. (hope my math is right - somebody correct me if I goofed)

But I bought it hoping it would get me warmer a little earlier on my morning commute through city traffic, so I'm not in it for cost savings anyway.