The Problem

In areas where temperatures often drop below ‒20 °C (‒4 °F), such as the northern US and Canada, cars have trouble starting up. When a car starts, the engine pumps oil through the engine block lubricating the moving parts. At temperatures below 0 °C, the oil is thicker and denser than usual and increases friction wearing down the engine parts and in extreme cases preventing the engine from starting. This created the market for oil heating devices that warm up the oil pan in an engine using electricity. These devices take commonly two forms: dipstick heaters, which are put in place of the drain plug in the oil pan, and heating pads which are glued directly to the bottom of the oil pan. Despite the widespread use, these devices have several drawbacks. Users plug their car in for hours to fully heat the oil pan, making the immediate use of engine difficult. A standard 300 W oil pan heater is usually left on overnight and consumes 2.7 kWh of electricity. We plan to replace the energy-inefficient block heaters with novel materials that store and release heat in response to changing environment.