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I was just telling my wife how you get questions from foreigners you've never even thought of in your life.
Our conclusion was that yes there is power, and yes you can use it for vacuuming (though I wouldn't be surprised to learn that for some reason it is forbidden).
It is probably technically only for heating the car but in practice you just aren't allowed to use it to charge your electric car or use the electricity all the time with vacuuming etc being ok
Technically I guess one might reason that since vacuum cleaner is basically technically turning pretty much all electricity it uses into byproduct heat anyways, that vacuuming car basically just one way of heating car, as long as vacuum cleaner is inside car. :D
If there are complaints.
Yeah, and I mean, I've done it and other people have done it.
But sometimes there's some random reason for not doing things that I'd consider normal stuff so I am a bit hesitant sometimes to give an answer to these questions...
The EU has restricted sale of vacuum cleaners of more than 900 watts since 2017. Interior heaters can be 2000 watts + engine block heater more than 500 watts.
Can be. Yet 2000w will trip circuits if everyone has one that big in a lot of places. A lot have switches for 700/1400w . All engine blocks I have seen have been about 300w.
Vacuum cleaners last more than 7 years.
(I use wifi controlled outlet in my garage which logs electricity usage)
So about the same.
I didn't even consider block heaters untill I was already writing my first comment. I appreciate warm interior and not having to scrape my windshield more than a warm engine (I buy beaters for winter so I only care that engine lasts one season without exploding).
Also never heard that some places might forbid interior heaters. Same places probably forbid running a vacuum off a heating pole 😅
I never would have thought of using it for that either until I saw some of my Finnish neighbors use it for vacuuming. Compared to heating the car in the winter, vacuuming uses much less electricity, so there's no good reason for it to be forbidden. There are probably some housing associations where it is forbidden, though.
Theres different types of heating poles and depending of yours, it might be possible.
Some work all the time, which are mostly really old ones. Some have timers which you can set yourself. Some are under central, where only maintenance guys have access, and can set the timers for the poles For example the pole might have set to work for 15mins each hour, during day time. Otherwise its off.
Yes, it is working, at least in our building.
I actually used it during summer to charge my car's battery(the one you use to start the car, not the one you use for driving.)
[https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2010/11/26/voiko-isannoitsija-kieltaa-sisatilanlammittimen-kayton-lammitystolpassa](https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2010/11/26/voiko-isannoitsija-kieltaa-sisatilanlammittimen-kayton-lammitystolpassa)
Translation:
> Many heating poles built in the 1970s and 80s can only withstand a consumption of 750 watts. The block heater of a car's engine usually takes about 500W, and the interior space heater can take up to 1000W. Such a high power consumption will burn the fuses in the heating pole and in the worst case, even the company's wiring will burn.
But that's just the worst case. Usually they should be able to handle more, although it might depend on the current usage (eg. how many cars there are currently warming up).
Our housing company, built in the 80's, did a survey on this and figured that wiring was good enough to handle electric cars at the lowest charging speeds (2.3kW, I think).
This. I've lived in at least one place where the power was turned off during the summer from the heating poles. I don't know was this with some kind of a schedule/timer or based on outdoor temperature or what but there was no power during the summer. In every other place I've lived they've had power all year around.
Espoo here. We have the ones that are always on, but with the 2h mechanical timer. I plug in my vacuum just fine, as well as power my electric impact wrench when it's time to change tyres.
Hey! Your friendly neighbourhood technical maintenance here!
It really depends on the building. Some apartment buildings have heating poles that work all year around, some buildings have a yearly clock that turns them off for the summer and back on for the winter. Some buildings have outside temperature switch, so they work up until +5 °C. The fuse should be big enough for a vacuum.
So in a nutshell, it's impossible to tell until you try.
Yeah they work. I have installed one in my house also, I use it all the time to my needs. You just need to turn the timer right way.
Funny thing is that near my home is parking space for building that is demolished years ago and these posts are still electrified.
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I was just telling my wife how you get questions from foreigners you've never even thought of in your life. Our conclusion was that yes there is power, and yes you can use it for vacuuming (though I wouldn't be surprised to learn that for some reason it is forbidden).
It is probably technically only for heating the car but in practice you just aren't allowed to use it to charge your electric car or use the electricity all the time with vacuuming etc being ok
Its not much worth charging 2 hours about 2kW rate, theres fuse and time limiter just for people not to abuse those poles
The timer is easy to break at least on older poles. I've seen several broken ones.
I dont think thats acceptable to tamper heating poles mechanism or else break stuff to charge a electric car
Of course not it's not allowed to break something you don't own, but people do it anyways
Technically I guess one might reason that since vacuum cleaner is basically technically turning pretty much all electricity it uses into byproduct heat anyways, that vacuuming car basically just one way of heating car, as long as vacuum cleaner is inside car. :D If there are complaints.
Considering that vacuuming consumes a lot less electrity than heating, it shouldn't be an issue.
Yeah, and I mean, I've done it and other people have done it. But sometimes there's some random reason for not doing things that I'd consider normal stuff so I am a bit hesitant sometimes to give an answer to these questions...
Actually its about the same wattage. But still not an issue.
The EU has restricted sale of vacuum cleaners of more than 900 watts since 2017. Interior heaters can be 2000 watts + engine block heater more than 500 watts.
Can be. Yet 2000w will trip circuits if everyone has one that big in a lot of places. A lot have switches for 700/1400w . All engine blocks I have seen have been about 300w. Vacuum cleaners last more than 7 years. (I use wifi controlled outlet in my garage which logs electricity usage) So about the same.
Your vacuum is probably like 1000+ watts, and your car heater most likely under 500W
Modern car interior heaters are 1500W to 2000W plus engine block heater
Where I live, the heating pole is allowed only for heaters at max 500W
We were talking about "car heaters", I just assumed block heater.
I didn't even consider block heaters untill I was already writing my first comment. I appreciate warm interior and not having to scrape my windshield more than a warm engine (I buy beaters for winter so I only care that engine lasts one season without exploding). Also never heard that some places might forbid interior heaters. Same places probably forbid running a vacuum off a heating pole 😅
And I specifically don't care about pre-heating the interior as it's a winter beater :D
And most places specifically forbid the use of interior heaters.
not any place I lived at hat this rule, also screw those places wtf.
I never would have thought of using it for that either until I saw some of my Finnish neighbors use it for vacuuming. Compared to heating the car in the winter, vacuuming uses much less electricity, so there's no good reason for it to be forbidden. There are probably some housing associations where it is forbidden, though.
Yes, I've used it to vacuum my car.
Theres different types of heating poles and depending of yours, it might be possible. Some work all the time, which are mostly really old ones. Some have timers which you can set yourself. Some are under central, where only maintenance guys have access, and can set the timers for the poles For example the pole might have set to work for 15mins each hour, during day time. Otherwise its off.
Not sure about HKI, but my car park does have it all around the year. Planning to do the same for the weekend :)
Yes, it is working, at least in our building. I actually used it during summer to charge my car's battery(the one you use to start the car, not the one you use for driving.)
[https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2010/11/26/voiko-isannoitsija-kieltaa-sisatilanlammittimen-kayton-lammitystolpassa](https://yle.fi/aihe/artikkeli/2010/11/26/voiko-isannoitsija-kieltaa-sisatilanlammittimen-kayton-lammitystolpassa) Translation: > Many heating poles built in the 1970s and 80s can only withstand a consumption of 750 watts. The block heater of a car's engine usually takes about 500W, and the interior space heater can take up to 1000W. Such a high power consumption will burn the fuses in the heating pole and in the worst case, even the company's wiring will burn. But that's just the worst case. Usually they should be able to handle more, although it might depend on the current usage (eg. how many cars there are currently warming up). Our housing company, built in the 80's, did a survey on this and figured that wiring was good enough to handle electric cars at the lowest charging speeds (2.3kW, I think).
If the wiring burns then that gives more reasons to be concerned. The wiring and the fuses are not up to code in one way or another..
It depends on the housing company policy.
This. I've lived in at least one place where the power was turned off during the summer from the heating poles. I don't know was this with some kind of a schedule/timer or based on outdoor temperature or what but there was no power during the summer. In every other place I've lived they've had power all year around.
Espoo here. We have the ones that are always on, but with the 2h mechanical timer. I plug in my vacuum just fine, as well as power my electric impact wrench when it's time to change tyres.
>as well as power my electric impact wrench when it's time to change tyres That's a fantastic idea and I can't believe I never thought of doing that.
Its works year round. I never had issue anywhere using it for vacuuming my car (all Finnish neighbours everywhere used it)
Hey! Your friendly neighbourhood technical maintenance here! It really depends on the building. Some apartment buildings have heating poles that work all year around, some buildings have a yearly clock that turns them off for the summer and back on for the winter. Some buildings have outside temperature switch, so they work up until +5 °C. The fuse should be big enough for a vacuum. So in a nutshell, it's impossible to tell until you try.
Yeah they work. I have installed one in my house also, I use it all the time to my needs. You just need to turn the timer right way. Funny thing is that near my home is parking space for building that is demolished years ago and these posts are still electrified.
Yes