It is January in Edmonton. -35°C. Your neighbour plugs in their car at 10pm. At 6am, they turn the key. Nothing. The block heater cord is frayed. The element burned out last year. They just did not know because nobody checked it.

Now they need a tow ($150–$300), a block heater replacement ($200–$500 installed), and they are late for work. All preventable with a $100 check in October.

Every car in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and northern Ontario needs a working block heater. That is millions of vehicles. And most owners never think about their block heater until it fails at the worst possible moment.

The Block Heater Service

  • Block heater inspection: $50–$75. Check cord, plug, element resistance. 10 minutes.
  • Cord replacement: $80–$120. Most common issue — rodents chew cords, insulation cracks in cold.
  • Element replacement: $200–$500 installed depending on vehicle. Less common but higher revenue.
  • Timer installation: $50–$100. Helps customers save electricity — plug heater on 2 hours before start instead of all night.

The October Campaign

Send to every customer in September: "Winter is coming. Is your block heater working? Book a 10-minute check — $50. Better to find a problem now than at -35°C in January."

200 customers × $50 check = $10,000 in inspection revenue. Of those, 30% need cord replacement ($80–$120 × 60 = $4,800–$7,200) and 10% need element replacement ($200–$500 × 20 = $4,000–$10,000).

Total from one campaign: $18,800–$27,200. From a 10-minute service that most shops do not even offer.

Bundle With Winter Prep

The "Prairie Winter Package": block heater check + battery test + coolant concentration check + tire pressure adjustment + washer fluid top-up. $149. Takes 30 minutes. Catches every common winter failure point.

Track every winter prep, every block heater replacement, every battery test with Mekavo. Next October, you know exactly which customers to contact. Free for Canadian shops.

The cold is coming. Every year, without fail. The shops that prepare their customers in October are the shops that do not get 6am emergency calls in January.