The Ongoing Super Mega Weather Thread v3

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by DoubleF

I keep meaning to do this but I never do... and I already have the heater and extra smart plugs.

All you need is a flat extension cord. It's a tiny bit of a chore always having to open the liftgate to remove or replace the heater, but it's so, so worth it to get into a nice toasty warm interior in -30 degree weather.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

All you need is a flat extension cord. It's a tiny bit of a chore always having to open the liftgate to remove or replace the heater, but it's so, so worth it to get into a nice toasty warm interior in -30 degree weather.

That's funny, my dad used to do that with his truck for early morning work back in the early 90's. Block heater and cab heater, -30 no problem!

[PaperBagger'14]

Originally Posted by OutOfTheCube

It's BS too, here's an article from January that says it was 65 people, which was an all time high

https://calgary.citynews.ca/2023/01/...e-amputations/

There's an interesting quote in that article:

"Millar says that despite shelters having the space, more of Calgary’s unhoused are choosing to sleep outside."


I'm assuming this has to do with rules for being housed in shelters and also the poor conditions and hostilities of other people. What are the rules for staying overnight in the different shelters? I had heard rumors of sobriety and not being in possession of drugs as one of the conditions at the drop in, but I have no clue what's true.

[Fuzz]

https://twitter.com/user/status/1630775363612844032

Hey! That's us!

[Northendzone]

i really dislike winter when the weather was like yesterday and the streets are huge puddle of water

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by timun

I've heard this before from others, but frankly I don't see it. In my experience the stereotypical Vancouverite driver is neither fast nor slow, neither aggressive nor passive, but rather on the whole woefully inept and incompetent. My overwhelming impression of Vancouverite drivers is not knowing where they're going nor what they're doing. Basic navigational skills and basic driving skills are just... bad.

IMO the worst drivers aren't the speeders or strugglers. It's the unpredictable drivers that are oblivious to driving laws and what's going on around around them.

[calgarygeologist]

Looks like it will be a pretty miserable week for temperature with over lows below -20 every day which really sucks.

[DoubleK]

Can't wait to fly to Arizona on Friday. I'm done with winter.

[OldDutch]

Originally Posted by calgarygeologist

Looks like it will be a pretty miserable week for temperature with over lows below -20 every day which really sucks.

Odd I don’t see that on weather network. Cold this week, but not -20 lows, then warms this weekend.

Hope it sticks!

[calgarygeologist]

Originally Posted by OldDutch

Odd I don’t see that on weather network. Cold this week, but not -20 lows, then warms this weekend.

Hope it sticks!

Weather Network is much more mild and I'll gladly take -10 overnight vs -20. I hope they are right.

[rotten42]

I'm so sick of this weather! Can't wait to get on a plane out of here!

[DoubleK]

Pretty epic sundogs right now

[Wormius]

Better than those last few days of slush though, imo.

[CorsiHockeyLeague]

Originally Posted by TorqueDog

All you need is a flat extension cord. It's a tiny bit of a chore always having to open the liftgate to remove or replace the heater, but it's so, so worth it to get into a nice toasty warm interior in -30 degree weather.

Maybe I don't understand what you're doing here. Is the play to have the heater plugged into a smart plug, and then sitting inside the trunk of your car with an extension cord running under the (slightly open) liftgate, such that you wake up in the morning and turn on power to said heater from your phone and it turns on and heats your car?

If so, my main questions are:
1. If your lift gate is ajar to allow for the cord to the heater, do you not have concerns about your car battery draining? I'm pretty sure that even if I turn the cabin lights off manually I'd still wind up with some drain from that.
2. This is sort of part and parcel with the general concern about running a space heater in a situation where you're not physically present: do you not worry that it might fall over or something? Somehow cause a fire?

I have a skookum space heater in my (unheated) garage and could put it in the car (or frankly just leave it in the garage and figure out a way to set it to turn itself on at 4am every day) but I'm a bit wary of having the thing running when I'm not there, even if it's for a few hours.

[Sliver]

You guys should just get something like this: https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/t...html?rrec=true

Way less screwing around...you just feed the cord through your firewall and leave the cord accessible like you would with a block heater cord. I had one of these in the fricken 90s. They work like a charm. Windows are clear and vehicle is toasty warm.

[Ironhorse]

Originally Posted by Sliver

You guys should just get something like this: https://www.canadiantire.ca/en/pdp/t...html?rrec=true

Way less screwing around...you just feed the cord through your firewall and leave the cord accessible like you would with a block heater cord. I had one of these in the fricken 90s. They work like a charm. Windows are clear and vehicle is toasty warm.

My dad had one of those in our 1976 Pontiac Safari wagon. I remember busting my shins against it under the dash.

[Erick Estrada]

Looks like it's going to be an abysmal start for spring. There's going to be a lot of snow on the ground in April as temperatures look to be below average for most of March with a fair bit of snow.

[Looch City]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Looks like it's going to be an abysmal start for spring. There's going to be a lot of snow on the ground in April as temperatures look to be below average for most of March with a fair bit of snow.

I just want to see some grass already

[Sliver]

Originally Posted by Ironhorse

My dad had one of those in our 1976 Pontiac Safari wagon. I remember busting my shins against it under the dash.

Yeah, you can mount them anywhere. Putting one where your legs would hit is a little weird.

[TorqueDog]

Originally Posted by CorsiHockeyLeague

Maybe I don't understand what you're doing here. Is the play to have the heater plugged into a smart plug, and then sitting inside the trunk of your car with an extension cord running under the (slightly open) liftgate, such that you wake up in the morning and turn on power to said heater from your phone and it turns on and heats your car?

If so, my main questions are:
1. If your lift gate is ajar to allow for the cord to the heater, do you not have concerns about your car battery draining? I'm pretty sure that even if I turn the cabin lights off manually I'd still wind up with some drain from that.
2. This is sort of part and parcel with the general concern about running a space heater in a situation where you're not physically present: do you not worry that it might fall over or something? Somehow cause a fire?

I have a skookum space heater in my (unheated) garage and could put it in the car (or frankly just leave it in the garage and figure out a way to set it to turn itself on at 4am every day) but I'm a bit wary of having the thing running when I'm not there, even if it's for a few hours.

What I have is the heater plugged into a smart WiFi socket, and the heater is always turned on but the smart socket isn't. So when I know I have an appointment or reason to use my vehicle that day, I can use my phone to turn on the smart socket (thereby turning on the heater) about 3 hours in advance which is enough time to warm up the inside of the vehicle quite nicely. I can set it on a timer as well, so it can begin warming at 5 AM for an 8 AM start to my commute.

The liftgate isn't ajar, it's closed and the cord is pressed into the rubber weatherstrip. I move the cord to a different spot every time I put the heater in so it isn't leaving a permanent dimple in the weatherstrip. As a result, the vehicle regards the liftgate as 100% closed and there is no risk of the battery draining. I'm also not worried about the heater falling over, I specifically bought one with a stand and form factor that would make that very unlikely; relatively heavy, low center of gravity, and wide stance (it's linked in the first post). I can imagine this being a concern for one of those tall, slim, and light space heaters.

The heater itself has overheat protection too, and since I'm only ever running it for a few hours at a time (when I am expecting to use the vehicle within three hours), I'm not worried.

My solution is basically just a far less permanent version of what Sliver posted, plus a WiFi socket for some automation.