Kat’s 13150 1500 Watt Aluminum Circulating Tank Heater (13150X)

Used this in a custom engine heater for our racecar to eliminate cold starts. Most pre-built heater kits are around $1500 and all seem pretty basic so I figured I’d build one myself. I paired this up with the $20 VW/ Audi water pump. We have an onboard electric water pump on the car but I wanted this to be completely standalone. I did a test run in cold conditions and here’s the results:Cold Temps:Oil – 13c (55F)Water – 15c (59F)Ambient Air – 15c (59F)30min Temps:Oil – 15c (59F)Water – 37c (99F)Ambient Air – 15c (59F)1hr Temps:Oil – 19c (66F)Water – 45c (113F)Ambient Air – 15c (59F)1.5hr Temps:Oil – 24c (75F)Water – 51c (124F)Ambient Air – 16c (61F)Our coolant capacity is approximately 8.25L with an oil filter heat exchanger and gearbox heat exchanger.The initial 30 minutes is a huge climb and it slowly tapers off around an hour and after that the increase slows down significantly. Maybe a 2000w heater would get us closer to 60c in this cooler weather. During the summer I’d imagine we’ll have no issues getting close to 65c in an hour starting at 28c in the mornings. 70-75c would be more ideal for us but can’t complain for the price!