Too Hot to Work

[Fred Woodward]

Came home this evening and found this in the shop. I think it's too hot to be in my shop area. :D
I also need to get some better DC hose.

[Jim Becker]

...or at least an opportunity to get a different kind of hose! (But yea...that does look like it's hot)

[Tom Jones III]

Somebody needs to explain to me why I don't mind running with triple digit heat index but I just can't make myself work in the shop. I ran a 10k yesterday and later tried to work a few minutes in the shop, I felt like the crab at a crab boil.

[Allen Bookout]

Sometimes I think about moving to someplace around Austin but I guess that I will just forget about that. Looks to hot for me. Your hoses might be fozen in the winter also.

Thanks for bringing me back to reality!

Allen

[Fred Woodward]

Sometimes I think about moving to someplace around Austin but I guess that I will just forget about that. Looks to hot for me. Your hoses might be fozen in the winter also.

Thanks for bringing me back to reality!

Allen

Yes, it's been pretty hot around here this year; they're reporting it as the 5th hottest August on record for this area. 23 days over 100F (average is 10) so far this Summer. Yesterday it was 105 at my house when I arrived after work at 5:15 pm.
But,......I've been to SW Florida too. It can be pretty stifling when the breeze stops.

[Todd Griffin]

Its called air movement. While running, you feel air moving over your body, thereby cooling you off (to some degree). But in the shop (garage for me), there is no air movement unless you have fans or AC. I choose not to work in the shop (err...garage) if it is over 85 even though I have fans going. But I will cut the grass, etc, when it is hotter.

[Tim Solley]

Yes, it's been pretty hot around here this year; they're reporting it as the 5th hottest August on record for this area. 23 days over 100F (average is 10) so far this Summer. Yesterday it was 105 at my house when I arrived after work at 5:15 pm.
But,......I've been to SW Florida too. It can be pretty stifling when the breeze stops.

Yep, yesterday when I got home the thermometer in my truck read 104. Too hot to work in the shop (garage where the sun beats down on the door all afternoon). Luckily for me I have a new baby to take care of and have no time for shop work lately. Wait...did I say luckily?

Tim

[Dick Bringhurst]

I feel for you, but can't quite reach you. It's going all the way up to 78 today. Dick B.

[Andy Fox]

Somebody needs to explain to me why I don't mind running with triple digit heat index but I just can't make myself work in the shop. I ran a 10k yesterday and later tried to work a few minutes in the shop, I felt like the crab at a crab boil.

I run too (not 10k's--I measure it in time rather than distance :o ), and I have the same problem. I think there's two factors that make us uncomfortable working in the heat but fine running in it:

1. Evaporative cooling due to air movement (as already mentioned by Todd). I use that as a motivation to run faster. :)

2. Temporarily decreased cognitive ability due to reduced blood flow to the brain. Blood is rushing to capillaries near the surface of the skin to cool the body down, and this diverts it from the brain and other organs. This is taken to an extreme in heat exhaustion/stroke, but it starts as soon as you start to sweat. I just don't feel like working once I get so hot, and it's harder to concentrate on complex tasks. I'd even go as far to say that a person is more accident-prone when they start to sweat significantly. Here's the summary of one study on the cognitive effects of heat:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pubmed&cmd=Retrieve&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=11282316&query_hl=2&itool=pubmed_DocSum

My shop is in my air-conditioned basement :D , but I do all of my sanding outside.

[Jeff Horton]

Your hoses look like I feel after doing an Home Inspection.;) Had one to do this afternoon. I put the thermometer in the scuttle while I did the attic. I was suprised it was only 105 in the attic. Of course humid as a shower and no air movement. Here in Gods country we have upper 90's all summer. I only remember one summer that ever this hot. We lived on the lake and the water got so warm it wasn't fun to swim, even as a kid. It was like getting in bath water. I never like to see summer end but I am ready for fall!

I have a daylight basement shop and A/C. Sure has been a blessing this summer!

[John Kain]

I break a sweat if I even look into my garage these days. It's been over 90 degrees as long as I can remember.

I've got a bookcase all but done for my son's room, but it's too darn hot to stain and finish the thing. It's disappointing really, while unfinished in the garage it has picked up a couple gouges from the kids and other things. If it picks up anymore, it's going into the spare bedroom............:p

[Mike Hill]

I live close to Tim and Fred and have worked in the shop from early morning till 3 or 4 p.m. every day this week. I run a large exhaust fan, but it does not help much. Basically I drink coffee till noon and then start drinking tons of water :) Will insulate the ceiling and walls of the garage this winter and get the air conditioning going for next year. All kidding aside, it has been rough this year.
Mike

[John Kain]

I'd even go as far to say that a person is more accident-prone when they start to sweat significantly.
You are correct, and it goes without saying after watching runners in heat conditions. Not only do you lose muscle control, you are also mentally altered by electrolyte distubances and hypovolemia (not hydrated). There is new research about sweating profusely that goes into how drinking alot of water will hamper your mentality even worse, in that your body cannot adjust to the free water intake fast enough to balance your normal body sodium balance. Just some stuff to think about around power tools when the body and brain are acting a little slower than usual. Like I said, I don't work in my garage this time of year considering the heat for more than a small stretch at a time.