Three Ways Of Running Your Winter Water Fed Pole + A Window Cleaning Nutter

Glyn Hewitt of "Adders rinse and clean" gives us his "Adders Guide to get working on Cold days":

"There are a lot of posts just lately about not working in this cold weather." "So what I thought I'd do is show you all how I go about working and if that helps anyone then great!" "OK, first just to show you how cold it was for me - here is my van."

"This picture was taken at 9.30 a.m., it was so cold that I could impale an apple on my brush."

"OK, the first thing I did was take my pump in last night, they say prevention is better than cure, so I thought if the pump is not in the van there is no way it can freeze. Here is my pump set up so I can easily take it in at night."

"OK the next thing was to fill my van up - this is a picture of the master tank."

"As you can see its outside and the water inside was frozen."

"I needed to fill up so what I did was take the hose that goes from the tank and put it in the bath to defrost." "I connected it back up and left it to run as you can see there was still ice pouring out of it so I let it run until that had stopped."

"OK, tank now filling, so I brought the hose reel and poles in and left them near the radiator so they could defrost."

"When I connected everything up, the hose was still not defrosted, so that went in the bath as you can see - it looks like a spaghetti bath!"

"Right tank all filled and the hose all nice and warm." "Time to see if all is OK." "And it was time, now at 11.00 a.m. and heres my works partner on our first job."

"Who says that you need a hot system in the winter months!"

OK... recap:

1 Never leave your system with out some protection from the cold.

2 Take as much gear inside as possible.

3 Never start work too early when the water can freeze up again.

4 Finish work early as well.

5 Never go back to ladders in the icy cold, that's just stupid.

6 Remember that w.a.s.p are the greatest rock band of all time!

"Hope all you lot managed to get working this week - all the best your fellow window cleaner, Adders!"

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The Electric Window Cleaner says "I found a Rubbermaid, she was cheap and keeps my water warm for ages.  A 25 litre drum looses approx 1 degree each hour. It holds 2  x 25 Litres or one and a hose reel and brush, which is handy to warm a frozen brush - its like a warm box. I also find that you dont need hot, if you store the 25l in your home they are approx 20 degrees, warm enough to work with. However if you use zillions of gallons then this is not for you.

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MyWagga says in the video below, "Even if you live in a hard water area, it may be possible to use your domestic hot water system to fill some barrels through a DI." "It wont damage the DI and you will have enough hot water to do some work until the weather changes." "Some sort of insulation for the barrels might be good."

(The Nutter) The coolest window cleaner in town: Is Jamie Powell the coolest window cleaner around? Well, he certainly was on Tuesday. Despite the freezing weather he stripped to his boxers the polish the panes at the Journal offices and publicise his charity fundraising drive. Jamie, 40, who lives in Tisbury, will be braving the elements in his underwear as he goes on his rural rounds in the run-up to Christmas, and hoping that customers will feel moved to pay him a little extra to support the Prostate Cancer Charity. The father of three said: “It’s a good charity. I chose it because my godfather, a good friend of my dad’s, is battling prostate cancer. Luckily he’s doing OK.” And how will he cope with the chill winds atop his ladder? “It makes absolutely no odds to me,” he said bravely, if perhaps rashly. “I’ll just keep moving and hope that somebody will make me a nice hot cup of tea.”

A quick disclaimer for the information above. Due to the fragility of membranes & vessels in cold weather, this information is provided for the user who assumes the risk for taking any of the above advise! Winter working is taken at the users risk.