I have a lower hose heater about 2 inches from the thermostat housing.
Thermostat housing gets hotter than hell. Heats by convection, I guess water on the other side of the thermostat is heated by the housing itself.
When the car is facing the wind it doesn't seem to retain the heat as well.
1 crank at -5 F and she's going as long as the wind is coming from the back of the car, not blowing away the heat.
Temperature Gauge reads a little below 40 on cold mornings.