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Engine Heater - Twin Hornet 22


AaronDC8402

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On 12/25/2017 at 12:10 PM, steingar said:

I got one of those Hornet thingies, ran me about 0.25 AMU.  Basically sits in the engine bay and cranks out heat.  Shuts itself off if the temp reaches 70 degrees.  I keep cowl plugs in and blankets across the nose, the idea is the engine stays warm all the time.  Its worked a couple years now, and my airplane is always ready to go when I am.  Had a Tanis heater in my old plane, it was nice too.  Nice thing about those is you can do the same thing, keep in your cowl plugs, cover the nose with blankets and the engine bay stays nice and toasty warm all the time.

The difference between the Tanis and the Hornet is about 0.75 AMUs.  

So do you leave the Hornet on all the time? Or do you turn it on before a flight? The documentation suggests that it might be much slower to heat vs other options. 

I'm also curious which models will fit a Mooney cowl (and particularly a J cowl). The video from the manufacturer shows the heater going somewhere on top of the engine, which seems like a really small/narrow space. Best guess is that only the smallest dual-fan model would work. Which one do you have?

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On 12/26/2017 at 10:21 AM, AaronDC8402 said:

 

We didn't get the Hornet. We ended up with a stick on oil sump heater. In Tennessee, we don't have need for much more than that, and I have little interest in flying to anywhere cooler in the winter. 

I have started using a space heater in the cabin prior to cold morning flights. I know it's good for the avionics, but it's also really nice to sit down on already-warm leather seats when it's 30 degrees outside.

 

Thanks. I used an oil sump heater for many years, but started supplementing with a space heater and was blown away by how much warmer the entire engine compartment gets. But the space heater is a DIY job and I don't leave it unattended. 

The Hornet apparently was designed to leave running 24x7 if you like, with no part of the heater getting hot enough to damage anything. I think my biggest fear would be critters making a home in the warm cowl, but I dunno what other shortcomings the Hornet might have. 

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On 12/28/2017 at 12:25 AM, toto said:

So do you leave the Hornet on all the time? Or do you turn it on before a flight? The documentation suggests that it might be much slower to heat vs other options. 

Yup, it stays on all the time.  On full blast you can hold it in your hand, it really doesn't get all that hot.

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I'm also curious which models will fit a Mooney cowl (and particularly a J cowl). The video from the manufacturer shows the heater going somewhere on top of the engine, which seems like a really small/narrow space. Best guess is that only the smallest dual-fan model would work. Which one do you have?

I slide it inside the front cowl opening and perch it in there.  Might be a bit harder in the J, but I bet it could be done.  Could probably slide it on top of the battery as well, though I haven't tried that.

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Don't be fooled by the price,  EZ heat makes a really good product , way cheaper than the competition, simple install,  it will keep your engine toasty, just make sure sump is very clean when installing.   I  use an old soft sleeping bag over the cowl, leave it plugged in all the time when its cold( except when flying of course)  No advantage of unplugging it. 

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