Cold snap thinking about closing

[Kirb]

Having a cold snap and looking at closing my 5-bay SS. Can I shut off floor heat to bays with no damage? Im going to keep heat on in equipment room and trough. I also could just lower the temp and still close bays. My anti-freeze test good. Also is it worth it for the savings in gas?
Thanks,
Kirb

 

[mjwalsh]

Kirb,

When I first put in my deicer system that is the exact same question I also had. There are issues such as your cement exposed to freeze & thaw damage, drains freezing & time factor in warming up the concrete. I decided to leave it on & then when there is a sudden warm up in the weather we are ready to go without delay. From past experience closing for too long can frustrate the customers that do want to get in so they expect you to be closed even when you are open. Do you have doors on both ends of your bays?

 

[soapy]

I have thought about getting some of the large concrete blankets they use when pouring concrete in freezing weather. Put these in most of the bays and keep one or 2 bays open. I think they would save a lot in heat bills and could be removed for the sunny wash days. They provide a lot of insulation value.

 

[Kirb]

mjwalsh,
I wish I did but I have no doors.

 

[Randy]

I just checked the weather for Akron Ohio. I don?t think you?ll be washing many cars next week, -3 a couple of nights. I?d shut it down, pull the Guns, Foam brushes and pump anti-freeze into everything.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

The funny thing about this is that the three coldest days that are forecasted are supposed to be sunny. I plan on putting out balloons and having coffee, hot chocolate, and doughnuts. For those of us that experience 2 or 3 days of sun per month in the winter, there is no way I can shut down. I am going to try and make the most of it, maybe I can post some pics.

 

[Rockstar]

I'm on the westside of Cleveland and I know whats going though your mind,but after four years of trying to make everone happy,including yourself, shut it down.I have tried to be a hero and fight the fight and at the end of the day I still wounder WHY?? Here are some of the things I'm doing to survive!
1. I only run the bay lights,not the other 11 250 watt mh outside lights and shut they off at 10:00 pm

2.keep the floor heat just above freezing,not 40 like I have been told in the past and alot of times I use rock salt in the bays and turn the heater off. I watch the weather as it were the stock market and roll the dice!

3.My three s/s bays have a weep system and with the tf gun,foaming bush,and the wand all weeping,so was I.Approx 50 gal.and hour for all three bays, Guess what? I'm down to just the to wand.This time of year thats all they care about and for the tf gun I wish I never spent the money on it!!

Anyway good luck to everyone! I owe,I owe,I owe so off to work I GO!!!

 

[Waxman]

I'm with Bubbles G; stay open and make the most of it.

I do have doors on SS so I close them each nite.

I weep the Wands.

I keep my floor heat on, but it calls for less 'fire' with doors shut at night.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

Rockstar: I understand your point, but weather like this isn't uncommon. It may have been for the last couple of years, but it is not something out of the ordinary for January. I work 12 hour days 6 days a week and don't have time to winterize it for a few days of colder weather. My wash has been running great in this cold weather, why mess with it now for some EXTRA cold weather. Numbers may not be skyrocketing but I am always operable and willing to accept someones money whenever they want to spend it. I wouldn't say it's stupid to close, but in my situation, I would rather leaves the lights on and be known as the 24-7-365 wash, regardless of the weather.

I am serious about posting some pics. If the sun comes out like they say it will, I will be pretty busy. We will just have to wait and see.

 

[Jeff_L]

I like the advertisement of "Open 24x7x365 no matter the weather".

 

[Laser Tracer]

You should be able to shut your heat down any time as long as boiler has the proper antifreeze level. Leave your circulator pumps on

 

[Dirtychuck]

How do you test the antifreeze in floor heat? Do you just use an automotive bulb-style antifreeze tester or is there a better/different way?

 

[jcollins]

Yes, you can check the antifreeze with an automotive bulb-style antifreeze tester.

Keep in mind, the floorheat tubing is not all you have to worry about freezing. If it freezes "under" the concrete slab, the slab can "heave" up and break the hard copper plumbing and/or the tubing. I was just at a wash Friday that this happened to here in Ky. .....Gonna be expensive to repair.

 

[soapy]

Testing your antifreeze will depend on which type of antifreeze you use. Ethyl Glycol or automotive type uses a different tester than propolyne glycol. Floor heat systems generally use propylene glycol because it is safer for the environment if there is a leak. It is a little tougher finding a Propolyne glycol tester.

 

[Waxman]

I use the test strips from 'no burst'.. Mine tested a bit low after 3 years, so today we added 1.5 gallons to the system and I will re-test in a couple days.

 

[MEP001]

Every time I change the oil in my car or truck, I use an evacuator and remove and replace a couple quarts of transmission fluid to keep it from getting too nasty. Would that be something helpful for a floor heat system to keep the whole thing being from needing purged and refilled?

 

[Waxman]

I just drained out a couple gallons via a sillcock on the boiler piping and then my friend used a pump to pump the new antifreeze back into the same valve we drained from. Worked slick and took a couple minutes.

 

[JMMUSTANG]

Just make sure that you pour a lot of salt all over the bays and property.
No matter how well your underground heat is working water will freeze.
You don't want someone slipping for the few bucks you'll receive.

 

[Bubbles Galore]

I load my property up with salt. Some of my customers think they are walking on pebbles. I tell them I just want everyone to be safe, when really I am thinking about all of the detailing I will be able to do in the spring.

 

[Tpoppa]

I closed my 4 bay SS for this cold snap. I have the floor heat running with a low flame in the boiler. It's enough to prevent damage and the boiler will keep the equipment room from freezing. No point staying open for this:

A WIND CHILL ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 AM EST SATURDAY.

WIND CHILL VALUES TODAY ARE EXPECTED TO BE BETWEEN ZERO AND -5 DEGREES AND POSSIBLY AS LOW AS -10 FOR A BRIEF PERIOD THIS MORNING. PERSISTENT WINDS CHILLS OF -10 TO -20 DEGREES CAN BE EXPECTED TONIGHT INTO FRIDAY NIGHT AS EVEN COLDER AIR FILTERS INTO THE REGION.