[stevekennedy]

The hot water warms the glass this buys some time. The hot water tends to run off more readily so less is left on the glass to freeze. The coldest air temp we have worked in is about -5 degress cent. We ended up with a few drops of frozen water on the windows when finished. Customer was commercial and was quite happy with results. Res customers tend to have their heating on full pelt and we have no problems at all. Sometimes the odd frozen drop of water but nothing more. Only problem is with consevatories. Usually can do them trad or just miss em out that clean and reduce price.

[East coast window cleaning Services]

Vince, thankfully you are right we don't have many days that this will happen...or hopefully not....WFP or Trad, if the temperature is cold enough to freeze water then you have to seriously consider should you be working at the time! Wait for a while and then start, H & S is a big issue here, someone has already mentioned ladders, would you want to be balancing them on icy conditions and wfp as your water hits the ground it freezes! not good for either yours or customers safety. Work sensibly work safe!

Another issue I found on the colder days was mud freezing up on the rungs.  It can be lethal.
Be careful out there !!

Good point one that comes to mind from last year was water freezing up around peoples front doors after cleaning the windows i warned me customers when i finshed that it might be slippery most seemed ok

[Wayne Thomas]

A couple years ago I couldn't work one morning because the water in my tank was partly frozen with ice floating at the top of the tank. The pump would work but couldn't get it to pump through microbore hose. So I swapped my microbore (6mm internal) for minibore (8mm internally) and sorted myself out with a hot water system after insulating my tank, hoses, r/o, the lot. Never had anymore problems with very cold morning starts and can easily clean windows that would normally freeze up if cleaning traditional method. The water is more or less dry before it has a chance to freeze nowadays.

[Peter Fogwill]

I have personally done a test with freezing a glass of hot water, and a glass of cold water.  The cold water froze first, perhaps it hadn't heard of the undergraduate or the Mpemba effect.

A hot water system will keep you working a lot more hours in the winter than a cold water system will.

A good idea on houses is to do the doors with a scrim, this reduces the amount of water lying around the door area.

Peter

[Captain Scarlet]

out of interest what temperature was the hot water when you put it into the freezer? luke

[Peter Fogwill]

out of interest what temperature was the hot water when you put it into the freezer? luke

Luke, It was water boiled in the kettle, and water from the tap.  I put them outside.

It dosn't  really matter though, the hot water will give you enough time to clean and rinse the window before the water freezes on the glass.  The droplets left behind when you are finished the window will or can freeze, but they will evaporate spot free when they defrost.  More importantly (because most buildings have heat inside),hot water in your tank or container will stop the water freezing in the pipes, or brush jets.

Peter

[Nathanael Jones]

I'm looking into water heaters at the moment,.. If anyone knows of cheap ones that could be adapted for WFP use, let me know!
There's no way I'd spend thermopure kind of money for maybe 2 weeks out of the year below freezing though.

[windowwashers]

I'm looking into water heaters at the moment,.. If anyone knows of cheap ones that could be adapted for WFP use, let me know!
There's no way I'd spend thermopure kind of money for maybe 2 weeks out of the year below freezing though.

below freezing I doubt they would work, if the tips freeze at the end of the hose and on brush, warm water traveling through a freezing pipe would be cold by the end of it and frozen straight away. Please correct me if I am wrong.

[clevs]

Well im glad to see my post has created so much interest !!  Getting a little techinal now I think LoL Thanks guys for all your comments, very helpful........  Cheers

[Jon-scwindows]

how do you use heated water? do you have a special heater for it or what?

[NWH]

At what temp do you hot system users heat the water to so you don`t crack the glass on houses on really cold mornings.

[Wayne Thomas]

25-40 degrees Celsius. The colder the day the cooler the water to minimise the risk of cracking panes of glass.

[Glen]

For traditional window cleaners I remember someone saying that Isopropyl (also known as rubbing alcohol) can be added to your bucket to prevent the water from freezing. Is this the case? If so at what quantities and is it damaging to your skin?