Wrapped Up
Posted: Wed 27 November, 2013 | Author: Lyle | Filed under: Commuting, Domestic, Driving, People, Work-related |2 Comments »Sorry, I know there’ve been a few ‘commuting-related’ and/or ‘driving-related’ posts this week, but for some reason it’s just how my brain’s working.
Anyway.
As things get colder and darker while commuting, as well as the things with headlights, I’ve also noticed another weird thing of late – particularly among colleagues when arriving/leaving the office.
They’re all wearing their coats (and in at least one case, a hat as well) while driving. And I don’t get that. Most of these people are driving at least 15-20 minutes, and in some cases much more. There’s other people I’ve noticed doing the same, but they work for different companies etc., so I’ve no idea how far they drive.
OK, they might be getting into a cold car. (I suppose) But – to me, anyway – it’s better to warm up the car a bit, let the heater do it’s thing, and appreciate a warm car. Then when you’re getting out, put on a coat/jacket/whatever to keep that warmth in while you’re walking to the office.
Surely if you keep the coat/jacket on while driving, you don’t feel the benefit of it when you do get out into the cold? And you keep the car colder, because you don’t need the heater on, so it’s all a bit counter-productive.
Or have I (as usual) missed something relevant?
It costs money (in extra fuel costs) to heat a car when it is cold outside (or, indeed, to cool it when it is hot outside). So they’re probably not as daft as they seem!
Plus, on a short journey on a cold morning, the car won’t heat up quickly.
Does it? (Cue totally non-technical understanding)
I’d always thought that the car heating came from the heat of the engine (hence taking time to heat up etc.) but that’s probably going to make me sound daft.
I get that cooling down (i.e. air-con etc.) has a cost, although in honesty I’ve never seen any real change between mpg with aircon to mpg without.