Working in a cold garage

Nov 10, 2004 55 Replies

I'd consider warming the bench itself up, that would help with fingers. So do fingerless gloves, because they keep the rest of the hand much warmer, the blood supply to the exposed digits is warmer, so the uninsulated bits are kept warmer too.

Heated wrist and ankle bands work well too. Water filled ones require reheating every 20mins, but really do work. Have tried them. Other options is go electric, low v of course, with wiring connections that fall out efortlessly to avoid inconvenience.

Re insulation, any accessible bits can be insulated, just leave the spaces not accessible. This can be done piecemeal too. As the insulation builds up things will improve. Have done that b4. If youre the frugal type, empty 1.5" thick card food cartons work.

Sheets draped over shelf units trap air inside, effectively using them as basic insulation units.

Heat curtains help a bit too. They divide a room into 2 or more zones and reduce air exchange between zones, so you heat the bit youre in and the rest is only half heated.

With insulation, dont forget the floor.

One oddball system I saw worked well: the chap had resistance wire woven into a lightweight coat, and plugged it into 12v, kept him nice and warm. I would not use 12v for that myself, woudlnt want to go above 6v.

But the best solution is microwave heating. Uses tiny power levesls, heats the people but not the air. It can turn a freezing room into a pleasant fresh comfortable place in seconds. Have been lucky enough to try it, impressive too. The problem is that the long term safety of low level microave exposure is still open to question.

NT

That's a thought. Never heard of them - any information?

There's no point in thinking about it, there is no wall visible. Even the windows (double glazed) aren't visible. it could be said tht the contents of our garage make their own insulation.

Agreed, but then the contents wouldn't be easily ccessible. That would be his argument, I ko. Nothing if not predictable, Spouse!

Impossible.

He already stands on boards and mats. He says.

I like it! It might be put at the end of a very long list of priorities ...

It would be interesting to know more about though, even if never used.

Thanks for thoughtful suggestions.

Mary

It's quite a common way of keeping warm on a motorbike. I used electrically heated gloves for many years when I had a 35 mile commute that I did in all weathers. The gloves were really excellent, I had a switch that gave me three levels of heating, once warm the minimum level (which consumed only an amp or two at 12 volts) was usually enough to keep my hands comfortable.

You can also get electrically heated waistcoats etc. for use under motorcycle outer clothing but I've never tried those.

They're more directional and have faster warm up.

Try from the home page and put 'L00AW' into the search box.

OK, but to keep his hands warm they need to be in the right place at the right height and angle. They won't do much good on the floor.

Yes, cut the fingertips off the gloves, then wear the gloves so the fingertips are exposed. Have you never been to a market when the weather is cold and seen what the stallholders wear? :)

cheers, Pete.

I wonder why I've not noticed them in the bike shop ...

Mary

I'll try that.

You know, I suspect that he's intelligent enough to work that out ...

Indeed. I've done it myself. I get cold fingers. I'm sure it must have some beneficial effect but not enough to do fine work.

Mary

'cos they're not 'fashionable' and thus are not made by the big names like Shoei, Hans Gerick and so on. They also require a little bit of work on the part of the user to provide easy ways to plug/unplug them and this is (apparently) beyond many people.

Not to mention that most modern big bikes are fair weather/summer only vehicles. No one believed me when I sold my previous bike after doing

90000 miles on it in five years from new. Most bikes do only 2000 to 3000 miles per year believe it or not.

LOL! You think we look at fashionable stuff???

I can believe that :-(

I know, I was surprised the other day when our postmaster said that he's laid his Harley up for the winter - there was too much chrome to clean if it got muddy ...

People clean motor bikes! What's the world coming to?

We only have a scooter. I never liked bikes and am not keen on the Liberty either but it's cheaper to run than a second car for local trips. I'm going to have to do the test though, yeterday and today Spouse had to use the car to transport the willow he cut miles away and I was left here all on my little own with only my short fat legs for locomotion ... when I had a bike I didn't need to pass a test for it.

Thinks - suppose I could have got a push bike out ...

Mary

Mary

Polythene sheet, plastic bag sealer, must be a decent one so it doesnt leak, and take care to keep the water off the joins when sealing. Worked great. Cant remember what fixing they had, velcro maybe. Very effective indeed. Heated them in the zapper.

your choice.

not sure theres anything more to know...

NT

Um. You mean you make them yourself?

Well, I suppose that's fair enough, given the nature of the ng.

Well, I know nothing, zero, zilxh, nowt, about microwave heating ...

Mary

Well, there is a bit more to it than that...

cheers, Pete.

Well YOU tell him! He knows better than me on everything and better than anyone else so far ... I suspect you might have met your match :-)

Mary

I did indeed :)

There isnt much to know.... it heats you up, but doesnt heat the air up, so you can stay nice and warm with 1/100th the energy use fo a fan heater. But their safety has been questioned, due to shortage of relevant data.

NT

Maybe he likes freezing his fingers so he can come indoors to warm them up and for a quick hectoring^H^H^H^H^H^H^H chat... :)

cheers, Pete.

"to keep his hands warm they need to be in the right place at the right height and angle."

Hectoring doesn't come into his lust for pleasure!

Mary

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