those winters.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by Slig

Most places will close their carwash when it's below freezing. I personally don't really see the point of washing your car when it's negative 10....it'll freeze right up.

When I lived in an apartment complex up there with a heated garage and hose for washing, I washed my car every week. If I did it in the evening, the car would be dry by morning. No problem even at -20F.

[Ticky909]

wash the salt off, problem solved. Do you guys have alot of dead things on the side of the roads from all the salt like other cities that use the shock and awe approach of winter road salting?

[Slig]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

When I lived in an apartment complex up there with a heated garage and hose for washing, I washed my car every week. If I did it in the evening, the car would be dry by morning. No problem even at -20F.

Exactly why it's a huge advantage to have a heated garage. I'm curious to know how much it costs to keep a two car garage heated during a Minnesota winter. If it can be done for a couple hundred bucks I'd consider hooking it up in mine.

[Clifford63]

Originally Posted by Slig

Exactly why it's a huge advantage to have a heated garage. I'm curious to know how much it costs to keep a two car garage heated during a Minnesota winter. If it can be done for a couple hundred bucks I'd consider hooking it up in mine.

Big difference between attached and detached garage is what I am being told. In my old uninsulated stucco garage in Minneapolis, I hooked up a heater from time to time, but it was not very cost effective. I tried a couple types of propane heaters, and it burned through a 20 lb cylinder pretty fast. Borrowed a kerosene heater from a friend too. Also not very cheap to run.

I asked a bunch of my new neighbors about this with attached and insulated garage (3 stall). What they told me was unless it is below zero, the garage will stay between 30 and 40 degrees if you drive every day. The engine heat from the car will heat up the garage fairly well and insulation keeps it in. Having less exposed walls due to being attached, cuts down on the wind sheer too. All of them said this - don't bother heating the garage as you don't need to do that.

I will be finding out for myself before too long. My guess is that I may want to run my electric heater if I am working in the garage for some reason this winter.

[Slig]

Mine is detached so I might be SOL

[Clifford63]

Originally Posted by Slig

Mine is detached so I might be SOL

probably - Mine was made of solid white pine and covered in stucco. Not exactly a sieve. I was surprised by what I am told to expect with the new house.

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by Clifford63

probably - Mine was made of solid white pine and covered in stucco. Not exactly a sieve. I was surprised by what I am told to expect with the new house.

I would say that what you hear is pretty close to our experience. The people we bought our house from left a large thermometer in the garage and it rarely is lower then 30° and usually around 40° in the winter. The key is not only to have your garage insulated but make sure you have an insulated DOOR too.

With car washes today it isn't all that hard to find a day to wash your car. Since most have dryers you don't usually run into problems. If you time it right and wash your car before any cold snaps you will drive around with a clean car for a long time.