Was that winter?

[Clean zero]

Surely you will damage the pump if it freezes up can’t you put it on a lower setting for the night

 

[johnny bravo]

Looks like the Frost has finished now in the N.E. clear now for all next week. 3* / 5*

 

[johnny bravo]

Why has this cold spell & especially the last one caused so many problems? I put a greenhouse heater in the van & that helps but may need 2 as some of the hose was still frozen despite a drive of 20 mins to work, had to do a trad bungalow first. Makes u think about getting hot water system but wouldn't pay more than £200 like Squeaky Dave!!

id be afraid id fek the water tank up leaking out the hole wher you fit the thermostat. handy if they had a Submersable thermostat

 

[THL4KEL]

id be afraid id fek the water tank up leaking out the hole wher you fit the thermostat. handy if they had a Submersable thermostat

You can always make a rubber gasket if you mess it up. Just cut hole smaller than the element and put
pressure on it when screwing it in if you ever decide to the put one in.

 

[kevinc250]

Surely you will damage the pump if it freezes up can’t you put it on a lower setting for the night

i can mate, it has the lowest setting at 1.1 kw i have used it before when it was -7 overnight a few years ago and remember the van being 9c in the morning, i calculated that the heater had used 250ml of fuel overnight so, not too shabby, if its only -2 or 3 overnight my pump will be fine hosereel will have some ice i guess but a quick blast from the heater gets rid of that, i have to say at this point that my set-up is more than likely different to yours, i have an purpose made insulated tank/double skinned if you like.
it does lose heat during the night with the whats left of the days hot water still in the tank,(diesal water heater) so keeps the van from freezing longer than others would do
i've spent many a year searching for the answer to our freezing problem and, a lot of money too, i've long since got past oil filled rads/green house heaters, duvets and wrapping the tank with insulating foil i even did heat tracing, ruined a shower tray de-frosting poles and hose reels, had 100m of hose layed along our road in the sunlight hoping it would warm up the hose chopping hose connectors off to remove the one inch long bits of ice, hair dryer/hot air gun to get the pump moving
. along came univalves and yet another problem, never mind the jets.
not to mention the daily turnover lost from everything being frozen, i'm sure what i've said above will be common place with members during this cold snap, i bought the cheapy chinese air heater and, y'know it is the best thing i have ever bought for my van, it does what it does, heats the van up when its frozen solid, i don't have the condensation issues others have in the autumn and early new year as i just turn the heater on let it warm the van up to dry it all out and then open the doors to get rid of the moisture its that simple. i'm probably the only one on here who has one of these but, if you go onto social media there is a lot of window cleaners who use them it just takes time for new things to become common place as the average window cleaner doesn't like change or new things.

 

[THL4KEL]

i can mate, it has the lowest setting at 1.1 kw i have used it before when it was -7 overnight a few years ago and remember the van being 9c in the morning, i calculated that the heater had used 250ml of fuel overnight so, not too shabby, if its only -2 or 3 overnight my pump will be fine hosereel will have some ice i guess but a quick blast from the heater gets rid of that, i have to say at this point that my set-up is more than likely different to yours, i have an purpose made insulated tank/double skinned if you like.
it does lose heat during the night with the whats left of the days hot water still in the tank,(diesal water heater) so keeps the van from freezing longer than others would do
i've spent many a year searching for the answer to our freezing problem and, a lot of money too, i've long since got past oil filled rads/green house heaters, duvets and wrapping the tank with insulating foil i even did heat tracing, ruined a shower tray de-frosting poles and hose reels, had 100m of hose layed along our road in the sunlight hoping it would warm up the hose chopping hose connectors off to remove the one inch long bits of ice, hair dryer/hot air gun to get the pump moving
. along came univalves and yet another problem, never mind the jets.
not to mention the daily turnover lost from everything being frozen, i'm sure what i've said above will be common place with members during this cold snap, i bought the cheapy chinese air heater and, y'know it is the best thing i have ever bought for my van, it does what it does, heats the van up when its frozen solid, i don't have the condensation issues others have in the autumn and early new year as i just turn the heater on let it warm the van up to dry it all out and then open the doors to get rid of the moisture its that simple. i'm probably the only one on here who has one of these but, if you go onto social media there is a lot of window cleaners who use them it just takes time for new things to become common place as the average window cleaner doesn't like change or new things.

Which one have you got fitted?

 

[Clean zero]

Sounds good setup a lot of hours spent sorting it sounds very professional thanks for sharing the info

 

[johnny bravo]

ive ended up putting one of my
gas heaters in the van if needed. The van is like a warm living room in 15 minutes . Keeping anything away from the front of it . Keep checking

 

[johnny bravo]

You can always make a rubber gasket if you mess it up. Just cut hole smaller than the element and put
pressure on it when screwing it in if you ever decide to the put one in.

Maybe next year now or Summer

 

[kevinc250]

Which one have you got fitted?

i have the upright 5kw one with the integral fuel tank on top,red in colour, i realised i made a typo with the fuel figures on low heat it is 100ml of fuel per hour on the lowest setting not 250ml for the night that should have been 1250ml on that paticular night apologies for the mistake.
they have shot up in price though, i guess thats because i see people on social media buying them to heat outdoor offices etc as its cheaper to run than gas and leccy,
still, they are one of those bits of kit that you have and rarely use but when its cold or the back of the van is wet you are very glad that you have bought one,
i see on ebay they are around £170 now but still taking into account the days off work as the equipment is still frozen from the day before its actually a no brainer.
actually thinking about it you could use the heat from the exhaust to heat the water in the tank-i do that with my hot water heater so theres no reason why you can't do this with the air heater if you wanted to.

 

[ks789]

my body can take the cold too but not my hands, i've tried for years and all sorts of gloves, i like the ones from screwfix the argon ones but they still lose heat. the only thing that has worked for me are mittens strangely enough, ok you may look like a boxer using them but they are lovely and warm if you go on ebay and type in german army ski mittens the ones with the edges like elasticated look are the better ones in terms of wear (been wearing them for a few years now)i suffer from white finger when its cold and trust me the pain is not nice and these do help with getting the heat back into your fingers.
i've just ordered a couple of pairs of gloves again, from ebay as my son uses them for work (hgv driver), i can say that they are wind proof as we were going down the m62 over saddleworth moor near manchester a couple of weeks ago i put one on and held my hand out of the window, couldn't feel a thing through them and yet they are very light to wear, search redrum running gloves on ebay i hope this helps you mate having cold hands is a proper pain and whilst we all want to be macho its only later on in life when arthritus sets in we then realise we could have prevented it earlier.

Sounds a good plan, tried many gloves but not really given mittens a go, wouldnt have thought of them to be fair but they could be the ones, cheers bud

 

[ched999uk]

I watched a vid the other day by a gardener who was working in the cold and used these Hand warmer pads - 8 hrs plus inside their gloves. They had them in their palms and where working with hand tools and said they didn't get in the way at all. You could use them on the back of your hands inside your gloves. Depends on how often you remove your gloves. Might be worth a try if your hands are too cold.

 

[Part Timer]

@PC you did jinx it, just spent 12 man hours doing a frozen gutter that usually takes 4 man hours ?

 

[Clean zero]

That was hard going I’ve got some to do told them will be in touch when it’s not frozen.Glad I did after your experience

 

[dazmond]

Never ever do I need anything more than nitrile gloves in freezing cold weather. Having a hot water system helps as the hose is always warm plus I run my hand through my brush many times during the day with the hot water pumping to get rid of bits in the bristles....
I'm 51 now and I'd really hate to use cold water in this weather.....?

 

[steve garwood]

Never ever do I need anything more than nitrile gloves in freezing cold weather. Having a hot water system helps as the hose is always warm plus I run my hand through my brush many times during the day with the hot water pumping to get rid of bits in the bristles....
I'm 51 now and I'd really hate to use cold water in this weather.....?

Have you hot water?
It’s just you never mention it ?

 

[kevinc250]

Have you hot water?
It’s just you never mention it ?

heated seats in the van too,

 

[spruce]

heated seats in the van too,

............... and he can get a head start as he has a heated front windscreen, which to be very honest, I wish my van had.

 

[Clean zero]

Yes I can vouch for that certainly helps at the moment

 

[dazmond]

There's absolutely no need to suffer if you ve been window cleaning for many years....

Invest in your business,spend some money and get a hot water system whether its a simple immersion heater or a diesel heater installation and it'll make working in cold weather much more comfortable...

So many window cleaners I know are always moaning about this,that and the other and are working with crappy equipment and cold water....I feel sorry for them....?

Some don't like spending money on their business which is foolish in the long run IMO....

 

[johnny bravo]

Never ever do I need anything more than nitrile gloves in freezing cold weather. Having a hot water system helps as the hose is always warm plus I run my hand through my brush many times during the day with the hot water pumping to get rid of bits in the bristles....
I'm 51 now and I'd really hate to use cold water in this weather.....?

your still a kid