The block heater is 1000 watts not 1500. This is still like having 10 100 watt light bulbs running all night, so for sure use a timer, under $20 at Lowes. I also would be careful about drilling through the chrome part of the bumper, I have seen a lot of rusting from people doing it, even if they seal the edge with galvanized paint it still rusts over time. If you look on my pics the plastic cowl piece under the chrome part is a good place, these are usually black or in my case painted white, there is a metal bumper behind the plastic so it is a nice rigid mount, but if you get any rust around the hole it won't show. The chrome ones, as well as white and black can be found at any decent boat shop or Cabellas as I said above.