Smoking in My Garage In The Winter

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shikano53

Lifer
May 26, 2015
2,060
8,084
I so wish I had a garage. Not sure how I'm going to make it through my first Chicago winter as a pipe smoker! Guess I'll be paying my local B&M lounges visits more often.
Man I feel for you. Between the wind and the humidity off the lake I can't imagine what that must be like.
I've only been through the 'windy' city once and I still have nightmares. My wife and I were riding from Windsor, Ontario back to our home in Tumbler Ridge, BC on our bike. We got caught in pouring rain at nightfall and we got lost during rush hour. I think we went through the same toll booth twice but my brain is still trying to suppress the memory. All I know is that my wife was trying to give me navigational input from a soggy map she had crumpled up in her lap. Between her screeching in my ear and the traffic it was an experience. I told her over the intercom to stop whining. She had the best seat sitting on the handlebars with a flashlight and besides she got less rain due to her aerodynamic shape and that I was the one doing all the work. She said something about, "you freaking asshole! I'm flying home tomorrow." When we finally got to a motel I tried to soothe her ruffled feathers by telling her she looked alluring with helmet hair and soaking wet chaps." I think the bottle of wine I managed to hand her through the locked motel room door that I had purchased for her at a nearby liquor store helped. I spent the next two hours sitting outside huddled beside the motel room door listening to her thrashing around and cursing about some idiot." I'm sure she was referring to someone who passed us on the freeway. I don't know why I had to sleep on the pull out bed that night, but there you go. Wives are so strange.

 

ssjones

Moderator
Staff member
May 11, 2011
18,317
11,068
Maryland
postimg.cc
32 degree smoking does seem too cold to me, you are a brave man!
I have a converted area of my garage as my winter "smoking Lounge". Even when Maryland temps drop to 20 degrees, the insulated garage stays around 45 degrees (as long as I can keep the door closed). I have a small electric heater to take the chill off. I meant to locate a heated seat pad, this post reminds me to intensify that search! My buddy gave me one of those propane outdoor patio heaters, I'm tempted to try it. Once the garage is warmed, it retains the heat nicely.
This was from Christmas 2013,with my son-in-law. I've since added a light/reading stand. The wife always puts a Christmas tree out there. The motorcycle is gone, replaced with my pipe restoration table and some additional lighting.


 

mustanggt

Part of the Furniture Now
Dec 6, 2012
819
4
Smoking on my covered porch is my lair for smoking no matter the weather. Whether it is 0 or 105 that's where I am. The gazebo is where I go if that damn infernal wind is blowing. At least it keeps me out of it in relative comfort. I tolerate cold way better than the heat. I can at least dress for the cold.

 

shikano53

Lifer
May 26, 2015
2,060
8,084
Looks really comfortable. Did you convert a car bay, or do you have a deep garage?
The garage is 24' deep and it is insulated with an insulated door. I know how dumb it looks sitting wrapped in an electric blanket but man, it sure is cozy. I especially enjoy going out in the evening when it is dark and cocooning myself in the blanket. That's when I try to prolong the bowl and really make it last.
Al, that looks really comfortable. I only have a little electric fan heater. I want to run another electrical outlet on a separate breaker so I can plug another heater in. I have a small motorcycle tire changing business that I run out of the garage and when it is cold out, I have to bring the tire/s into the laundry room to warm before putting them on the machine to mount them. Radial bike tires aren't too bad but the bias ply cruising tires, especially the HD tires can be a cast iron dog to put on if they are cold.

 

dochudson

Lifer
May 11, 2012
1,635
12
I smoke rain or shine under a 13'x13' pagoda setup on a section of my deck when it comes down for the winter this thing goes up on the same deck up against the house directly in front of an electrical outlet. Pipe, Kindle Fire and one of those small cube heaters and I'm good to go. Great to be out there with a good snow coming down.
825364.jpg


 

judcole

Lifer
Sep 14, 2011
7,149
32,911
Detroit
enjoying a tasty bowl of Stonehaven. Oh and did I mention it was 12C (54F) outside here today??
I had a bowl of Stonehaven, yesterday, too,Jim, after Thanksgiving dinner - but on my side of the river. it was the men folk - my good friend Homer, his son, 2 of my sons-in-law,and two grandkids - sitting outside enjoying good tobacco and the balmy Michigan afternoon.

 

cossackjack

Lifer
Oct 31, 2014
1,052
647
Evergreen, Colorado
Pipe last night, out with the dogs: 8 F

Pipe this morning, in garage with half-opened door: 2 F
@dochudson:

Great idea, though I would not be able to convince the wife that it was for hunting or photography, & she would probably have me committed, which she has contemplated when I smoke outside in the winter.

 

dochudson

Lifer
May 11, 2012
1,635
12
It cost me $75 and the heater was $29. It takes about a minute to pop up and maybe a couple fold it down. I could manage in the garage without it but I live in the sticks and have a great view

 

deathmetal

Lifer
Jul 21, 2015
7,714
32
The garage is 24' deep and it is insulated with an insulated door.
That makes all the difference. Here they list if a house has a "finished" garage, which means insulated walls, ceiling and door that seals so it can be air conditioned.

 

mso489

Lifer
Feb 21, 2013
41,210
60,433
Boy you look cold, electric blanket or not. I guess us swamplanders just get thin blood. I remember walking around downtown Chicago one night at nine below, to go to a gymnastics meet I had to write up to pass a gym class, especially since I wasn't much of a gymnast. Just getting out in that weather and walking was a fine workout in itself. When it got to about two below, the hazardous back streets of Chicago were safe as a convent. The criminals were all somewhere wrapped around a radiator. I walked from the train station to what used to be the lakeshore campus at Navy Pier. I was afraid if I waited for a bus, I would freeze in place.

 

ssjones

Moderator
Staff member
May 11, 2011
18,317
11,068
Maryland
postimg.cc
Correct Deathmetal, an insulated door makes a huge difference. I insulated all three sides of my garage before the drywall went up. During the winter, it would rarely drop below 40 degrees. After the first winter, I put insulation in the ceiling as well. Now, it rarely drops below 45 (and of course holds any heat I put in a lot longer). I do have to be careful running the propane heater on really cold days, it will suck all the oxygen out of the room pretty quick.

 

shikano53

Lifer
May 26, 2015
2,060
8,084
deathmetal, I can't imagine putting air conditioning in a garage, but it's all relational.
MSO, It's still cold. The electric blanket just gives you enough time to smoke a bowl.

 

deathmetal

Lifer
Jul 21, 2015
7,714
32
Now, it rarely drops below 45 (and of course holds any heat I put in a lot longer).
That's impressive. With an electric heater, that's sweater weather.
I am also wary when using any kind of combustion device in an enclosed space; some people here found out the hard way about generators.
deathmetal, I can't imagine putting air conditioning in a garage, but it's all relational.
It is, and it's fascinating. I have also lived in the North. We live in climates that are inversions of one another. Our winter is hot and lasts nine months; our summer is short and involves 30-60 F days for three months. It's also humid all the time and filled with bugs. Or as I call it: perfect.

 

patiobum

Part of the Furniture Now
Nov 5, 2009
661
37
Baytown,Texas
A suggestion : Don't try to heat the complete garage. If you have room, build a temporary shelter in your garage. Lay a 4x8' sheet of plywood on the floor, build a frame around it using 2x4s, leaving the top open. Cover the sides with sheet plastic and overlap the entry / front. Place a chair and electric heater inside ( with ample clearance from the plastic ) and voila, a nice schmoking place.
I have an insulted and heated radio / HAM, TV, computer room to relax in. And I am thankful for it.

 

shikano53

Lifer
May 26, 2015
2,060
8,084
I have an insulted and heated radio / HAM, TV, computer room to relax in. And I am thankful for it.
patiobum, that sounds like a great idea
73

VE6ENR

 
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