Freezing weather on the way

[Ediswan]

Anyone else's window washer scooshers frozen solid?

I had to look that term up.

AIUI, part of the problem is that the antifreeze at the open end evaporates. This forms a short plug of ice, through which the remaing anitfreeze diffuses. The longer you leave it, the longer the ice plug gets. Eventually, there is too much ice for the pump to push out. Pouring on warm water helps.

 

[Sorcerer]

I don't think I've ever seen frost and ice linger for so long in my lifetime, but it makes me dislike the cold weather even more than I did before. Every morning I've cut short my walks and got the bus just because I don't want to risk a neck-breaking with every step I take. That plus the fact it physically hurts to be outside and when your hands get wet you can feel it right down to your bones. I think at this point I can safely say that I prefer heat and humidity.

 

[DelW]

For the first time since I switched to a PHEV a couple of years ago, I've really appreciated the "precondition" option. Since the heater has to work without the petrol engine running, it's electric and can be operated on its own. All I do is set a departure time, and it will run the heater for long enough that by that time, the cabin is up to whatever temperature is set, and the windows will all have defrosted. No spraying or scraping, and it's nice and warm as soon as I get in. I just wish I'd had it back in the days when I used to drive to work at 6:40am in a diesel that took ten minutes before any heat came through!

 

[al78]

This month has reminded me of December 2010, which was the coldest December for 100 years. The current cold spell is not at that level and will be over this weekend as mild air pushes in across the UK and we are back to the normal unsettled pattern.

I had an unfortunate incident last week when I got home in the car and when I pulled the handle to open the door, it came off in my hand. It was around -4C at the time which may have been a contributory factor. Have booked it in for repair on the 4th Jan so have to wind the window down and open the door using the exterior handle when I want to get out of the car until then.

Have to cycle to the station tomorrow morning for work so have fitted the studded tyres on my mountain bike as there is still some ice around.

 

[AM9]

Yes, a couple of days ago. I've only just got the car, but I had kept a "winter bag" containing de-icer, anti-freeze, screenwash and a couple of scrapers. Could I find the damn thing anywhere?

I ended up having to buy a scraper in the Tesco petrol station - £1.99 for a bit of plastic that probably cost about 10p to make, if that.

Guess what I found this morning?!

The resolve to remember in future where you store it?

 

[Ediswan]

Have to cycle to the station tomorrow morning for work so have fitted the studded tyres on my mountain bike as there is still some ice around.

Out of interest, are they road legal in the UK ? I know it is normally stated that studded tyres are illegal, but that might be in motor vehicle regulations.

 

[GS250]

This month has reminded me of December 2010, which was the coldest December for 100 years. The current cold spell is not at that level and will be over this weekend as mild air pushes in across the UK and we are back to the normal unsettled pattern.

I had an unfortunate incident last week when I got home in the car and when I pulled the handle to open the door, it came off in my hand. It was around -4C at the time which may have been a contributory factor. Have booked it in for repair on the 4th Jan so have to wind the window down and open the door using the exterior handle when I want to get out of the car until then.

Have to cycle to the station tomorrow morning for work so have fitted the studded tyres on my mountain bike as there is still some ice around.

Remember this period well. Pretty sure we had 2-3 periods of heavy snowfall even in Greater London. One in early December, one exactly a week before Christmas on the Saturday morning. On both occasions it hung around for a good week or so. And pretty sure we had bit in late January too. There were all kinds of talk in the press about this becoming the new normal but it was little more than scaremongering.

I see its predicted to go up to 13c early next week. That's a hell of a swing temperature wise.

 

[gg1]

For the first time since I switched to a PHEV a couple of years ago, I've really appreciated the "precondition" option. Since the heater has to work without the petrol engine running, it's electric and can be operated on its own. All I do is set a departure time, and it will run the heater for long enough that by that time, the cabin is up to whatever temperature is set, and the windows will all have defrosted. No spraying or scraping, and it's nice and warm as soon as I get in. I just wish I'd had it back in the days when I used to drive to work at 6:40am in a diesel that took ten minutes before any heat came through!

Not possible with all PHEVs unfortunately, the PHEV version of the Kia Niro relies on the engine for heating the same as an ICE car.

 

[DelayRepay]

This month has reminded me of December 2010, which was the coldest December for 100 years. The current cold spell is not at that level and will be over this weekend as mild air pushes in across the UK and we are back to the normal unsettled pattern.

That's the year they had to call the army out to clear snow from the runways at one of the London airports, isn't it?

I remember it because I travelled up to Yorkshire for work and ended up staying a few extra days in the Premier Inn next to the office due to the bad weather. When the bad weather started, some of the staff who work in the office I was visiting were asked to stay overnight so they could open up the next morning. In an effort to help, I offered to walk across to the retail park to pick up any supplies people needed before the shops closed. I was expecting to be asked to get chocolate bars and tooth brushes, but I found myself in Primark buying a selection of male and female underwear!

 

[DelW]

Not possible with all PHEVs unfortunately, the PHEV version of the Kia Niro relies on the engine for heating the same as an ICE car.

That must be something of a disadvantage if doing local trips on the electric motor in this sort of weather.

I do notice that using the heater from cold (i.e. without preconditioning) takes about 3 - 4 miles off the electric range. Preconditioning at home can be done with it plugged in to avoid that, by using the mains power to run the heater.

I'm not clear if mine has ordinary electric elements (like a fan heater) or if as was suggested in an earlier discussion on here, it can effectively run the aircon in reverse, sending warm air to the inside and cold to the outside.

 

[gg1]

That must be something of a disadvantage if doing local trips on the electric motor in this sort of weather.

Definitely.

I have the regular HEV Niro so wouldn't have expected an electric heater on that version but on the Kia forums I'm a member of I see regular posts from annoyed PHEV owners who had bought one assuming (reasonably IMO) it would come with some form of electric heater.

 

[150249]

Looks like it's getting warmer for Sunday and Monday before getting colder again. Bbc weather is saying heavy rain and strong wind paired with temperatures of 16°C in Devon.

 

[McRhu]

As a matter of interest, is anyone else finding that the actual temperatures at their location is much lower than the ‘official’ one. My little, reasonably good, electronic thermometer (backed up by car thermometers) recently recorded -13.4 while the broadcast temperature was about 6 degrees warmer. I would imagine this would have implications for cold weather payments.

 

[InkyScrolls]

Yes - we've been consistently getting -9°C according to several pretty accurate thermometers but officially gone no lower than -5°C.

 

[Magdalia]

Whereas our local official weather stations last night had -11C in Cambridge and -13C at Woburn (just reported on the Look East weather).

 

[Lost property]

As a matter of interest, is anyone else finding that the actual temperatures at their location is much lower than the ‘official’ one. My little, reasonably good, electronic thermometer (backed up by car thermometers) recently recorded -13.4 while the broadcast temperature was about 6 degrees warmer. I would imagine this would have implications for cold weather payments.

The Met Office have this off to a fine art. The symbols often show pretty clouds and sunshine when the reality is that it's slinging it down. Click on one showing heavy rain for example and the script says "light rain" plus, the text often shows vastly different values to the ones shown below the symbols.

My local OAT has varied from -4C forecast to -8C real temps.

Snow is very pretty....on postcards and when viewed from anywhere warm and comfortable....and not involving having to work in it.

The only surprise is that this Gov't hasn't decided to use the Kelvin scale to trigger cold weather payments.

 

[Magdalia]

As a matter of interest, is anyone else finding that the actual temperatures at their location is much lower than the ‘official’ one. My little, reasonably good, electronic thermometer (backed up by car thermometers) recently recorded -13.4 while the broadcast temperature was about 6 degrees warmer. I would imagine this would have implications for cold weather payments.

Official weather stations measure temperature in a controlled environment called a Stevenson Screen. That ensures that the measurements are taken in a consistent way and comparable between weather stations.

Your electronic thermometer and car thermometer are not in a Stevenson Screen so do not provide valid data for comparison with temperatures recorded at official weather stations.

Some keen amateur meteorologists do install their own Stevenson Screen, so that they can compare their data with the official weather stations.

 

[birchesgreen]

Car thermometers are very unreliable, the one in mine said 8C yesterday, after getting out i was pretty sure that was incorrect by at least 9-10 degrees.

 

[Darandio]

Car thermometers are actually thermistors I believe and only give a reading of what is coming in through the front as they are normally located in the grill area. Get a cold day where you are following a bus and the hot air in it's wake is going to give you a false reading immediately!

 

[PeterC]

That must be something of a disadvantage if doing local trips on the electric motor in this sort of weather.

I do notice that using the heater from cold (i.e. without preconditioning) takes about 3 - 4 miles off the electric range. Preconditioning at home can be done with it plugged in to avoid that, by using the mains power to run the heater.

I'm not clear if mine has ordinary electric elements (like a fan heater) or if as was suggested in an earlier discussion on here, it can effectively run the aircon in reverse, sending warm air to the inside and cold to the outside.

I noticed that it took quite a bit of driving before the stop-start function kicked in at traffic lights with my IC vehicle. It did make me think about the seasonal disadvantages of an EV when you live in a terrace.

 

[150249]

Car thermometers are very unreliable, the one in mine said 8C yesterday, after getting out i was pretty sure that was incorrect by at least 9-10 degrees.

Mine said 47°C during the heatwave this year. It was the June 17th heatwave when it hit 31°C in Exeter. Just the 16 off

 

[McRhu]

Thank you all re: domestic and car thermometers, and the technology used by the official organisations. There was one interesting temperature anomaly which did show up on the actual local forecast: a 6 degree difference between my village's weatherstation and the one in Lanark itself:a distance of a mile or less. Is this a record? (pun acknowledged).

 

[Cowley]

Has anyone noticed their vehicles doing less miles to the gallon than normal during this cold snap? I’d say according to the trip computer in both the car and the van I’m probably getting about 15 percent less mileage than normal.

 

[AM9]

Has anyone noticed their vehicles doing less miles to the gallon than normal during this cold snap? I’d say according to the trip computer in both the car and the van I’m probably getting about 15 percent less mileage than normal.

I don't drive much at the moment, but it used to be so on short journeys because a greater proportion of the journey was run with the engine cooler, (running with the 'choke' on in old money). When I drove a diesel, it was even more exaggerated because it took nearly 6 miles of motoring for the gauge to indicate 'normal' temperature. Of course the diesel's 'choke' was a longer duration of fuel injection.

 

[PG]

Has anyone noticed their vehicles doing less miles to the gallon than normal during this cold snap? I’d say according to the trip computer in both the car and the van I’m probably getting about 15 percent less mileage than normal.

Yes. My work vehicles show roughly 8% reduction in the mpg which I think is down to having the heater fan on constantly.

 

[Ted633]

Has anyone noticed their vehicles doing less miles to the gallon than normal during this cold snap? I’d say according to the trip computer in both the car and the van I’m probably getting about 15 percent less mileage than normal.

Absolutely. I drive a diesel so it takes much longer to get up to normal temperature at the moment. Mpg is significantly poorer when the engine is cold. Tire pressures will also potentially be lower if you haven't adjusted them during the cold weather, again increasing fuel burn.

I'm about 10 mpg down at the moment (usually 65/70, now 55/60)

 

[Cowley]

Interesting stuff, thanks folks. Longer warm up time does make sense. I drove my daughters 1.2 petrol Skoda from Exeter to Newton Abbot and back earlier. I’d usually get about 45mpg out of it on that journey but I didn’t get it above 37mpg.

 

[brad465]

Risk of freezing rain tomorrow, which could be particularly problematic for all forms of travel.

 

[D6130]

Risk of freezing rain tomorrow, which could be particularly problematic for all forms of travel.

....including walking, unfortunately!

 

[DelayRepay]

Has anyone noticed their vehicles doing less miles to the gallon than normal during this cold snap? I’d say according to the trip computer in both the car and the van I’m probably getting about 15 percent less mileage than normal.

Yes. Like others I also drive a diesel so it's expected. I also waste about 5 minutes of fuel running the engine to warm up while I de-ice the car. So I guess that contributes.

On the other hand, I am fortunate to be able to work from home if I want to, so over the last week when the local roads have been covered in black ice that's what I've done. So I guess fewer journeys will compensate for using more fuel on the journeys I do make.