Kat’s 24150 150 Watt 4″x 5″ Engine Oil Pan Heater

put this on the oil pan of my 3 series bmw. i live in the warm south but keep this plugged in 2 hours before startup each morning. engine starts much healthier sound and 5 speed stick shift tranny shifts smoother in cold weather @ startup b/c the tranny case gets conductive heat thru the oil pan.if you live in warm climate I would not reccomed keeping this plugged in overnight….it’d be a waste of energy and these get darn hot. I’ll zap the exterior temps of my oil pan and tranny case and report back with the case temps from my infrared temp gun.overall product works great. i did install with a bead of high temp silicon around the edge (after first cleaning the oil pan of grime with some type of solvent..acetone maybe).Put it on a timer and let it run an hour or two before startup. its bound to reduce wear on engine. well worth the money b/c it costs mere cents in electricity.UPDATE AS OF 12/2/2012 with the temps from a laser temp gun:OK Here are the temps I zapped:w/ no power to the stick-on heaterAmbient in garage = approx 68Laser gun temp on oil pan = 68Laser gun temp on tranny case = 68Laser gun temp on lower block = 68Laser gun temp on vanity cover = 68OBDII temp from coolant temp sensor in head = 66.3After turning on pad for 1 hour:Ambient in garage = approx 68Laser gun temp on oil pan = 94-86 depending on where I zap itLaser gun temp on tranny case = 72Laser gun temp on lower block = 78Laser gun temp on vanity cover = 69OBDII temp from coolant temp sensor in head = 68.0After turning on pad for 2 hours:Ambient in garage = approx 68Laser gun temp on oil pan = 92.6-99.5 depending on where I zap itLaser gun temp on tranny case = 75Laser gun temp on lower block = 83.6Laser gun temp on vanity cover = 70.7OBDII temp from coolant temp sensor in head = 71.6After turning on pad for 2.5 hours:Ambient in garage = approx 68Laser gun temp on oil pan = 93.5-102.2 depending on where I zap itLaser gun temp on tranny case = 75.5Laser gun temp on lower block = 83.9Laser gun temp on vanity cover = 71.6OBDII temp from coolant temp sensor in head = 71.6I’m using this heater in Texas to warm up oil before short trips. So what do these numbers indicate to me? They indicate that the oil temp is at best climbing 30 degrees over abient temp. Thats not as favorable as I was hoping. I’m going to put another 150 wattt on the oil pan and see if I can get more heat to the oil before startup b/c short trips w/ cold oil is not good for the engine.If you live somewhere up north where its cold and get snow then I would highly recommend the 250 watt pad if your oil pan holds enough oil. From what I hear a 250 watt will warm the oil and possibly provide enough heat to thaw snow and ice from hood and windshield. From kats I believe the specs on side of heater for a given oil capacity are as follows:100 watt for 2-5 qts engine oil150 watt for 5-8 qts engine oil250 will for 8-20 qts engine oilp.s. the silicon sealant I used was from auto parts store and it was black in color. the sealants have a heat rating on back and the black stuff was rated to 400 deg F.