COLD WEATHER ISSUES

[zhasan]

Originally Posted by lyall12

Is the garage insulated and in use?

I'm in Calgary with an attached insulated garage. We don't have a heater of any sort in the garage, and nothing ever freezes in it. Heat transfer from the house and vehicle is always enough to keep it above freezing and melt snow/ice off of car overnight.

What about using a large cooler combined with a small heater?

I know some coolers can be very efficient at keeping temperatures stable. Some claim to keep ice solid for a week. Throw a small heater in and you may be set indefinitely.

You've given me something to think about and work with here.

Garage is insulated.

It is in use. I park my car inside and the snow is gone by the morning.

After reading your post I paid attention to the floor and the water is not frozen or icy.

What I've noticed is that.. I have a bottle of Olive oil that seems frozen or atleast by the looks of it.. maybe its just curdy now. The pop cans don't freeze at all but they are chilled to the maxx.

I'm thinking If I insulate the water containers and build a small insulated cabinet for the RO/DI I may be able to get away in the -30 plus weather.

[SeaHorse_Fanatic]

I have a friend in Powell River who built an insulated wooden box outside for his sump and water change system. Since it's well insulated, its had never had any temperature issues, (neither too hot nor too cold). Something like this would be ideal for use in your garage or outdoor space. He stained the wooden box so it looks nice and not ghetto.

Anthony

[lyall12]

Originally Posted by zhasan

You've given me something to think about and work with here.

Garage is insulated.

It is in use. I park my car inside and the snow is gone by the morning.

After reading your post I paid attention to the floor and the water is not frozen or icy.

What I've noticed is that.. I have a bottle of Olive oil that seems frozen or atleast by the looks of it.. maybe its just curdy now. The pop cans don't freeze at all but they are chilled to the maxx.

I'm thinking If I insulate the water containers and build a small insulated cabinet for the RO/DI I may be able to get away in the -30 plus weather.

If the snow/ice is melting off your car over night, you're all set I think.

I've got cases of water, juice, etc out there. And it never freezes, even when near the main door. Makes a great beer fridge.

You can probably get away with storing without freezing. Especially if you add a small pump for movement.

The water will likely be near freezing during the winter. It would take a bit of effort to get it up to temp for water changes, but doable if you bring what you need inside first.

If you're putting the ro/di unit in the garage you'll definitely want to insulate it. The ro membrane is less efficient at colder temperatures. I lose at least 10%-15% production with the rodi in the house just from the change in incoming water temp in the winter. I know some people run the water line through a sort of heat exchanger before the rodi in the winter, or carefully tie in hot water as well.