Its freeeeeeezing in Transylvania!

[Paul64]

Hi,

I thought I would give you an update as to what is happening here in Transylvania. Its freeeezing! Winter has truly set in and has come as a bit of a surprise to me. When living in the UK, there would be cold snaps maybe with snow, but you can always guarantee within a few days things would warm up and then the slush would take over. Here in Ojdula we have been averaging temperatures as low as -15 to -20oC every night. This is ongoing and it really changes the way you live from day to day.

When starting the Land Rover in the morning I have to scrape the inside of the windows as much as the outside. A period of at least 5 minutes warm up is essential and running the engine at full revs when this cold I know really isn't a good idea. I have 75% antifreeze to 25% water too, just to make sure the pipes remain intact. As you all know from a recent thread on here I have had to change one of my two batteries too. Although it is not charging above 13.6V it seems to be enough to keep it going without any top up overnight. I have just bought a rad muff which I will put on this week. I keep hoping it will warm up for a day so I dare take my gloves off to fit it! I am also looking out for snow chains which will be durable enough to take the weight of the Land Rover when running over the occasional protruding rocks. She runs quite well in fresh snow with the mud terrains on, but have noticed that she will slip about a bit on compressed snow when other vehicles have used the same route. I was thinking that it would be better to run the chains on my 7.50x16 AT's rather than MT's? Any opinions on that?

As mentioned in previous posts, a lot of the work and preparation during the fairer weather seasons is geared toward the harshest of seasons, the winter. Only now am I grasping this concept of good winter preparation, because it really could be a matter of life and death. When I first came here I thought it would simply be a case of calling the gas company to get connected and the same with water. Oh, how wrong I was! No gas supply in the village and no mains water. Everyone uses wood here, and the earlier in the year you buy your wood the cheaper it is. First you contact the supplier, then the wood is supplied to you by weight. You then need to arrange a horse and cart with one of the villagers. The cart is weighed before loading, then is weighed again when fully loaded, then you simply pay for the weight of the wood. The wood is usually supplied in one metre lengths, which then need to be reduced in size again. You then need to call another villager to come to your place with a portable circular saw to cut the metre round lengths to approximately 30cms long which then need reducing again to thin or tick chunks depending on the purpose of use. This reliance on each other in the village could be a subject matter for a whole new post, but suffice it to say, I think this one factor alone promotes a very healthy, socially orientated and respectful community, that could teach us a lot in the west. Here where living conditions can be harsh are dealt with by a mutually cooperative spirit to get through this together. In a sense life is taken much more seriously as the consequences for not doing so could be ultimate and harsh.

Here is my neighbour Zsolt Vitalyos cutting wood

Quality of wood is also a factor to consider when buying. The harder the wood the slower it burns. Then you have to decide how thick the pieces of wood need to be. For faster burning especially when cooking smaller pieces are better. For overnight burning to keep the cold out of the house, thicker and bigger is better.

Earlier this year I had to make a decision as to how my heating was to be delivered to my house. Central heating or traditional stoves? I have the use of both at the moment. The place where I am staying at the moment because my house has no water has a traditional wood burner with hot plate for cooking. The burner is surrounded with bricks and then thick tiles which retain the heat overnight. I find this system very efficient. The downside is that they tend to take up a lot of space and you need one in each room. So I have opted for a wood burning stove which is located in my garage which has a system of water pipes surrounding it. This water after being heated is then pumped around the house to radiators. It also heats the water to a water tank in the bathroom for the shower. This tank can also be heated with electricity, so no need to light a fire in the summer. The common name for this is a 'hybrid system'. The heating system is closed and combined water with antifreeze. I still do not have a water supply, so will have to consider a bore hole very soon! This is a pity as I have my new kitchen floor down, so if I had water I could move in permanently.

[roybatty666]

What a beautiful country!

I actually like the idea of more basic living, hopefully in a few years when the Mrs's trust fund comes through we will move to Canada and are looking at Yukon as it is pretty sparse and property in the middle of nowhere is dirt cheap, but like you the main utility services will be non existent

[Turbocharger]

Thanks Paul - always interesting to see how other people live - as you say there's a lot we could learn from the sense of community, but also it's notable that wood-fired central heating is close to zero-carbon in operation, so long as the woodland is sustainably managed (and I can't see that it wouldn't be).

Chilly in Bristol today - minus 2 degrees this morning

[GBMUD]

Thanks for the update Paul, I always enjoy seeing the different way of life you have there. I guess that -20°C puts the -6°C we have been getting here into perspective.

Obviously in winter you will suffer from freezing, but is a rainwater harvesting system a viable alternative to piped water during the warmer months? I guess if you have a bore-hole instead of a water meter it is less of an issue.

Chris

[q-rover]

Get some proper snow tyres. Never mind AT´s or MT´s marked with M+S.

Cooper do a very good tyre called the Cooper Discoverer M+S.

LINK

Looks very nice outthere, also have you considered an Eberspacher or Webasto, or at least a block heater

for those cold early morning starts.

[reggie]

Chilly here in my little Village in Worcestershire as our boiler broke down the other day, we do have an open fire which I use all the time in Winter but it only heats the living room so We've had to buy an oil filled radiator for the bedroom as the convector heater we had in there also broke the other night. Its below zero here but good job it isn't -15 as in Transylvania

[western]

good pics Paul, good to see you & the 110 are coping well.

[V8 Freak]

Wow Paul.....

Such a beautiful place.

Showed Mrs Freak your website, will show here these pictures when she's finished watching a movie on TV. I think we will be visiting you at some point in the future. The country looks fantastic and I think we will need to come and explore.

Thanks for sharing the way of life with us....

Neil

[roybatty666]

You could allways sip your MTs to help them on the hardpack snow and ice

[David Sparkes]

You could always sip your MTs to help them on the hardpacked snow and ice

I'm sure that would help, but the thing with real cold weather tyres is that the rubber has a different formulation, which works better in cold conditions than the 'normal' rubber we get in the UK.

I have relations currently living near Basle in Switzerland, and it's standard practice, even for mundane MPVs, to have two sets of wheels, one with Winter or Alpine tyres on, identifiable by a snowflake symbol on the tyre wall. Yes, they have lots of sipes, but it's also the rubber which helps.

I don't have enough information to recommend specific makes, but if the name looks Scandanavian or Nordic it's a fair bet they will do the job.

Cheers.

[jacks906]

suppose will have to wait till next winter

not long till the move

dave

[Les Henson]

Your second picture is beautiful Paul.

Just to be a bit of a wimp - I was removing the Diff on a Freelander this morning in -3 temperatures.

Les.

[tychoS]

When starting the Land Rover in the morning I have to scrape the inside of the windows as much as the outside. A period of at least 5 minutes warm up is essential and running the engine at full revs when this cold I know really isn't a good idea. I have 75% antifreeze to 25% water too, just to make sure the pipes remain intact. As you all know from a recent thread on here I have had to change one of my two batteries too. Although it is not charging above 13.6V it seems to be enough to keep it going without any top up overnight. I have just bought a rad muff which I will put on this week. I keep hoping it will warm up for a day so I dare take my gloves off to fit it! I am also looking out for snow chains which will be durable enough to take the weight of the Land Rover when running over the occasional protruding rocks. She runs quite well in fresh snow with the mud terrains on, but have noticed that she will slip about a bit on compressed snow when other vehicles have used the same route. I was thinking that it would be better to run the chains on my 7.50x16 AT's rather than MT's? Any opinions on that?

With regard to tires I can recommend a set of proper winter tires for snow and especially for ice and slush. Stopping distance and the ability to steer is greatly improved with these once it gets cold.

I'm at the moment running Nokian Hakkapeliitta LT 235/85R16 on a 90". There are several variants available, the variant I run have a somewhat AT like pattern that works ok in the mud as well so some offroading capability is preserved.

In the past I have run Michelin 4x4 Alpin also on a 90". While they offer superb ice and wet road performance they are entirely a road tire and no good in mud and the like.

There ae many other makes and models to choose from.

In many countries with proper winters such as Sweden it is against the law to drive a car on non-winter tires in a specific date interval during winter. Even in Denmark where winter tires are not mandatory, more than half of privately owned cars have two sets of wheels, flashy alloys with road tires and black steel rims with winter tires.

[baxxter]

I have 75% antifreeze to 25% water too, just to make sure the pipes remain intact.

I understand that 50/50 mixture is best against freezing? No point to add more antifreeze?

I don't have enough information to recommend specific makes, but if the name looks Scandanavian or Nordic it's a fair bet they will do the job.

I have heard from people who have used non-studded M/S tires (which came under imported cars) that they are no good in real winter conditions. So there really is difference between M/S tires and winter tires!

In many countries with proper winters such as Sweden it is against the law to drive a car on non-winter tires in a specific date interval during winter. Even in Denmark where winter tires are not mandatory, more than half of privately owned cars have two sets of wheels, flashy alloys with road tires and black steel rims with winter tires.

Here in Finland you have to have winter tires at least in december to february, meaning at least M/S markings and 3mm tread depht. Almost everyone has two sets of wheel, and I guess more than half have studded tires.

[baxxter]

Two years ago in Lost in Frost 24h trophy competition I remember it was -24C in the night and -20C during the day. I smashed drivers door in the beginning and it didn't open, so i climbed through window for the rest of competion. I really hurt every time I forgot to wear gloves and touched something metal We went for a warm cup of coffee in the middle of competition, and it was most painful thing to come back to outside after that!

Our friends 3.3 diesel nissan patrol had its glowplug relay jammed in the night before competion, so all six glowplugs broke. After over an hour of heating with gas torch and one can of aerostart it finally started. At first it only ran when aerostart was burning in intake manifold and engine sucked that flame I really thought they would break the engine, but it's still running great! Our volvo fl7 truck didn't even promise to start when were to go home, fortunately one friend had big alternator and batteries in his 24v C303 volvo, so we managed to start our truck.

It wasn't that much fun then, but afterwards I can only think it was great experience. Next Lost in Frost is in the beginning of march, so welcome to Finland

[Paul64]

What a beautiful country!

I actually like the idea of more basic living, hopefully in a few years when the Mrs's trust fund comes through we will move to Canada and are looking at Yukon as it is pretty sparse and property in the middle of nowhere is dirt cheap, but like you the main utility services will be non existent

Obviously in winter you will suffer from freezing, but is a rainwater harvesting system a viable alternative to piped water during the warmer months? I guess if you have a bore-hole instead of a water meter it is less of an issue.

Yes, it was a baptism of fire when I came to the village. I naively thought I would simply make a few phone calls and get connected to gas, electricity water and drains. None of these was true. Electricity took months to connect with new meter box and cabling. No drains at all in the village, so had to have a trench dug from the house to a point 30 metres down the garden where a septic tank had to be dug out and built. No gas hence the woodburner. This still works out far cheaper than any other source of fuel, i.e propane or oil. Water has been by far the biggest issue.

Here are the options:-

A traditional well, lined with rocks with bucket on a pulley system. This is usually one metre across ad the rocks come from the local river and are lined on top of each other like dry stone walling. Usually you need 4-5 guys to dig and line such a well. A chap is lowered down on a pulley with chair to brush wash the stones.

Tradtional well again, but this time with cement rings one metre across and 30 cms deep. This also needs washing but less often.

Both the above options can be used with a water pump, although a pump with double motor is required as the water table is approximately 14-18 metres deep.

Bore hole. Not very popular in my village as the ground is incredibly hard and rocky. If the drill bit goes on the bore the cost is passed on to the customer. You are warned up front! The other advantage is that this is drilled in a day rather than weeks to dig a traditional well.

There are 6 or 7 cooperatives in the village that have small resevoirs in the forest. This is then piped directly to homes with no treatment. These resevoirs are much higher than the grazing land so the water is pure and there is no risk of ground contamination. The problem is that I live in the 10% of the village furthest from the forest with no pipework grid in close vicinity. To although I could opt into a cooperative I would have to pay for and arrange connection.

David Sparkes Posted Yesterday, 03:26 PM

I'm sure that would help, but the thing with real cold weather tyres is that the rubber has a different formulation, which works better in cold conditions than the 'normal' rubber we get in the UK.

I have relations currently living near Basle in Switzerland, and it's standard practice, even for mundane MPVs, to have two sets of wheels, one with Winter or Alpine tyres on, identifiable by a snowflake symbol on the tyre wall. Yes, they have lots of sipes, but it's also the rubber which helps.

I don't have enough information to recommend specific makes, but if the name looks Scandanavian or Nordic it's a fair bet they will do the job.

Yes, point taken David. I am still exploring the options but I think chains are essential. I only venture to the nearest town for supplies so 80% of my driving is local and off road. I like to spend a lot of my time in the mountains with the forest ranger. I have noticed that if there is no previous use of a track my LR copes quite well in the snow. However, when there have been two or three previous vehicles using a track and the snow is compressed I struggle to get up even a small incline. The ranger always takes great delight in telling me that his Dacia 4x4 flies up the same track with no chains on. I told him my LR is a lot heavier which he countered by telling me last week he transported a dead dead horse to the same place to feed the odd bear that has decided against hibernation!

tychoS Posted Yesterday, 07:15 PM

In many countries with proper winters such as Sweden it is against the law to drive a car on non-winter tires in a specific date interval during winter. Even in Denmark where winter tires are not mandatory, more than half of privately owned cars have two sets of wheels, flashy alloys with road tires and black steel rims with winter tires.

I drove in Sweden more than 10 years ago within the arctic circle and remember the studded tyres. They were great!

Les Henson Posted Yesterday, 04:20 PM

Your second picture is beautiful Paul.

Just to be a bit of a wimp - I was removing the Diff on a Freelander this morning in -3 temperatures.

Thanks Les,

The 2nd picture was taken on a drive up to a volcanic lake. The trees at the top of the road had snow attached to the trees sideways where there was some wind. Very picturesque location at all times of the year.

jacks906 Posted Yesterday, 04:14 PM

suppose will have to wait till next winter sad.gif

not long till the move smile.gif

V8 Freak Posted Yesterday, 02:43 PM

Wow Paul.....

Such a beautiful place. I think we will be visiting you at some point in the future. The country looks fantastic and I think we will need to come and explore.

Thanks for sharing the way of life with us....

Your welcome over anytime!

Looks very nice outthere, also have you considered an Eberspacher or Webasto, or at least a block heater

for those cold early morning starts.

I was going to be clever and tell you this morning that my LR fires up every morning without a hitch. However, it dipped to -24oC lat night and she struggled a bit this morning. When she di get going there were some very strange noises coming from the engine compartment! I also remember a REME captain talking about oil sludging at low temps being a problem when he was in Bosnia years ago? I know my cousin David who is joining my business in April is looking for a webasto. I think I will start looking at block heaters as a starting point.

[JimAttrill]

75% antifreeze is too much. After 60% the freezing point of the coolant rises until at 100% it is only -12°C

Read this very interesting article from Alaska, where it also gets a bit cold

http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF6/680.html

[David Sparkes]

Yes, point taken David. I am still exploring the options but I think chains are essential.

Ok, back to your original question, about whether AT or MT tyres were the best candidates for chains, someone asked a similar question around going to a competition, in snowy France. I think it was Kev Baldwin who responded along the lines of 'the chunker the tyre the harder it is to get / keep the chains tight'. The unspoken understanding being that loose chains wear faster.

You are probably aware that most modern chains are reversible, but don't leave it too long before changing to use the other side.

When my brother was testing chains, then hiring them to UK tourists going abroad, he felt the main difference between the expensive and the very expensive chains was not their performance on the road, but the ease with which they could be fitted. But these people would be expected to attach and remove the chains several times a day as they moved from tarmac to snow and back again. Not really your circumstances, where it looks as though you sew yourself into your long johns in December, and don't cut the stitching until March or April :-)

I mean fit chains in December, etc, of course!!

Cheers.

[Paul64]

75% antifreeze is too much. After 60% the freezing point of the coolant rises until at 100% it is only -12°C

Read this very interesting article from Alaska, where it also gets a bit cold

http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF6/680.html

That makes very interesting reading. Looks like I will have to drain some of it off. I did check the resevoir this morning before start up and it was free of ice. However, it was a bizarre sight to see my windscreen washer resevoir full of frozen blue liquid. This was put in neat as well!

Thanks Paul - always interesting to see how other people live - as you say there's a lot we could learn from the sense of community, but also it's notable that wood-fired central heating is close to zero-carbon in operation, so long as the woodland is sustainably managed (and I can't see that it wouldn't be).

Chilly in Bristol today - minus 2 degrees this morning

The wood burner is very efficient, especially when using hard wood. Mine is a VIADRUS which I think is made in Czech. It has a water pump connected which kicks in via an external thermostat, when the burner hits a core temp of 40oC. The burner also has has a built in thermostat which operates the vent flap via a pulley system. This flap starts to close when the core temp hits 60oC which slows the burning. This is very good when you have large chunks of wood in the burner for overnight use. Usually you still have red coals in the bottom of the burner by morning, and this thermostat pulley system takes away the need for overnight top ups of wood.

[Paul64]

Ok, back to your original question, about whether AT or MT tyres were the best candidates for chains, someone asked a similar question around going to a competition, in snowy France. I think it was Kev Baldwin who responded along the lines of 'the chunker the tyre the harder it is to get / keep the chains tight'. The unspoken understanding being that loose chains wear faster.

You are probably aware that most modern chains are reversible, but don't leave it too long before changing to use the other side.

When my brother was testing chains, then hiring them to UK tourists going abroad, he felt the main difference between the expensive and the very expensive chains was not their performance on the road, but the ease with which they could be fitted. But these people would be expected to attach and remove the chains several times a day as they moved from tarmac to snow and back again. Not really your circumstances, where it looks as though you sew yourself into your long johns in December, and don't cut the stitching until March or April :-)

I mean fit chains in December, etc, of course!!

Cheers.

Yes, I read that thread referring to MT's and loose chains, so maybe the chains are better going on my 7.50x16's, which really negates the need to have a specific winter tyre. If they go on now, they can stay on as you say. Not much tarmac to be seen here unless I go into town. Things get back to normal tomorrow so I will pay a trip to a motor factors in Covasna that have a huge range of chains. It will also be good to compare prices with the UK too.

[smo]

With regards to your water supply i'd seriously consider a bore hole over any other method for reliability, also i'd consider a basic filtration system followed by a UV treatment before drinking - you may think its pure, and the locals may say its pure and ok but it would be much safer with such a system in place for guarenteed 100% safe drinking water.

Good luck out there - stunning scenery

[baxxter]

I was going to be clever and tell you this morning that my LR fires up every morning without a hitch. However, it dipped to -24oC lat night and she struggled a bit this morning. When she di get going there were some very strange noises coming from the engine compartment! I also remember a REME captain talking about oil sludging at low temps being a problem when he was in Bosnia years ago? I know my cousin David who is joining my business in April is looking for a webasto. I think I will start looking at block heaters as a starting point.

Webasto/eberspacher have their problems, and you don't want to wait spare parts when it's -25 season Electric block/coolant heaters are 100% reliable, atleast when you have something to connect to. Get electric heater first for reliability, then add fuel-powered heater for extra comfort.

[jacks906]

hi baxxter

do you have a link to these block heater as an example

cheers

dave

(edit to add)

somthing like this do you mean

http://www.roverparts.com/Parts/PRC9674G.cfm

[David Sparkes]

What's the mains voltage in Transylvania?

[Happyoldgit]

Great thread Paul. I'd like to come out there for a snoop around at some stage before they carry me off in my wooden box.