COLD WEATHER

[muffinski]

Just wondering how you folk in industrial units and unheated premises are managing in the cold. I have resorted to fingerless gloves and a woolly hat, even thhe dog has her winter hill walking coat on. Recently brought a basic insulated plastic mug for tea, been the best £7 quid I spent, you can make a brew and forget about it or be busy with a customer and half hour later still hot to drink. Any one used those space heaters?

[Graysalchemy]

What you want is one of these



I move mine around were ever I am working. Going to get a few more as well.

Hat and fingerless gloves and insulated mugs are a given as well, but so is a warm office to slide back into when it is jus to much in the workshop.

[muffinski]

whoa how much is that to run?

[muffinski]

just worked it out, about 43p an hour, not bad at all.

[prospero]

Out in the shed - sorry, external workshop, I put in a big window over the bench while I was converting it.
It faces in just the right direction to catch the sun in the morning. I also put in plenty of insulation. The upshot
is that on a sunny morning it can get up to about 80degF inside. Which is nice. So if I can do any cutting up that
needs to be done in the morning it's warm enough. By afternoon it's like an icebox.

I got a few of those little oil-filled radiators inside. And on a really cold day I don my thick woolly jumper
which comes down to my knees. Thick socks also help.

[Steve N]

Thanks Greys, I think I might just get one of them, look just the job

[Graysalchemy]

They are I see them in most industrial workshops I have visited. They are pretty robust as well I did have a Chinese import which went bang and caught fire which definitely wasn't a good idea. If you get one make sure you get the 240V one they do do 110V for building sites.

[Steve N]

Just ordered one off Amazon, after wasting 20-30 mins on Builder Depot web site, trying to create an account, kept sending around in circles, also much cheaper Postage & Packing on Amazon, just £4.95 Express Delivery, much cheaper than Builder Depot £27.50 +VAT !!!!!!!!! total price is over £24.00 cheaper on Amazon

[Not your average framer]

A good set of thermals and a warm woolly hat for me thanks. I got some really good high tech thermals from M & S a few years ago, they were made from special fabric from Japan. A very thin fabric, but amazingly warm, they were very expensive, even though they were in the January sales. I've never regretted the extra that they cost, because they are really warm to wear.

I've not got around to getting some nice thermal socks and still want to get some, but I haven't seen any in the shops where that I been. I'll be switching on my storage radiator quite soon now! But I always try to leave until I really need it, to minimise the bills at a difficult time of year.

[Keith Hewitt]

Thick socks also help.

Would that be the ones Chickie knitted for you ?
She seems to have vanished - do you hear from her.
I still have Scarfy 2

( Peter - this chatter will bemuse the others )

[prospero]

Yes Keith. I do still have the socks and very warm they are too, although I tend to wear them
only on special occasions.

Chickie sometimes appears on FB.

[caro]

My tips: keep your core warm with lots of layers and then your extremities will do better.
Wear woolly or thermal bands on your wrists (cut up a pair of old socks)
wear a scarf or snood round your neck
Keep moving, walking up stairs or stepping up onto a box will put your heart rate up, and lots of warm blood circulating. Just raising your hands above your head will put your heart rate up.
if you have to stand in one place for a while: stand on a box - the coldest air is at floor level, but watch out for back ache, because the workbench will be the wrong height,
or maybe stand in a small insulted box which will have warmer air than the surrounding air - I haven't tried this, I'd probably forget and fall over the box!

[muffinski]

keep your core warm

dug out my Buffalo special 6 shirt last night been using this with just a base layer underneath, been keeping fairly warm with it today, plus wearing two pairs of bridgedale socks is helping. Buffalo clothing system link if anyone interest. Made for wearing in harsh conditions but is the business. Got mine 2nd hand.

http://www.buffalosystems.co.uk/

[Roboframer]

...or maybe stand in a small insulted box!

Like this one? [Imgur](http://i.imgur.com/WobJdg9.jpg)

[muffinski]

ha ha well spotted

[Tudor Rose]

We use one of these https://www.amazon.co.uk/Bullfinch-Heat ... bin+heater delightfully known as a bin heater, it is not the prettiest of things but it really does kick out some decent heat when it gets going. Even when the weather is really cold we don't have to have it running all the time but its great for getting the workshop up to a reasonable temperature quite quickly.

We have an industrial unit of 1600 sq ft with most of it open plan and very high roofline. We tried various heater types when we started up and had a torpedo heater but that was very noisy and not that efficient. We borrowed a bin heater when the torpedo one went in for service and liked it so much we bought one (it wasn't as expensive as the one on amazon but then it was a few years ago). It runs off propane gas and we have a dehumidifier going as well to keep the humidity under control. Removing moisture from the air also makes a huge difference in how easy it is to heat the space. Dry air warms faster than moist air so even if you don't want to get any decent heating going, using a dehumidifier will help keep you warmer.

Warming the air as well as keeping ourselves warm makes it a nicer place for customers to be. We still have to wear warmer layers, but not to the extreme of hats and gloves.

[caro]

in case you have not come across the 'insulted box' technique, specifically it has to be got really irrate and giving off tremendous heat for max benefit. I thought Buffalo gear was going to be something to do with ice hockey, but no, from Sheffield, thanks for that link might give it a try..

[Graysalchemy]

Be careful with gas burners your insurance may not cover you. I know mine won't. Wood paper flames not a good combo. Also condensation in a small space.

I don't try to heat my 2000sq ft box there is no point it would be a waste but heating the area where you are working makes sense to me.

[prospero]

Get a hair dryer or better still two and point it/them up your trouser leg(s).

And before anyone quips, I did get that off 'Are You Being Served'.

[Pro-Am]

As mentioned in a previous post, its the opposite in Australia, 10am and it's already in the high 30's upstairs in our workshop. They are warning of heat wave conditions this weekend especially further north, and there is a total fire ban in force in the Hunter so no weekend BBQ's.

The wife only has a small fan on to blow a bit of air around, fortunatly the landlord after a year of lobbying has agreed to install a second air conditioner which will go in on Monday.