Heated cupboard anyone?

[Macavity]

As I move into my small observatory, I've been contemplating the question of storage for my more COLD sensitive stuff. On the interweb, I see "some bloke", with a shed-workshop, keeps his high precision tools in a heated cupboard. He uses low-wattage, old-fashioned RED(!) bulbs. Since I'm ordering a "half-height" steel office cabinet (Similar Volume ~0.5 metre cubed!) as general storage, I began to wonder...

He claims temps of 25 Deg © in a wooden, under-bench store - Using 60W(!) bulbs, throughout the UK winter. But maybe it would be possible to remove the worst chills with a LAGGED cupboard and lower wattage (battery powered) bulbs...

Scope (no pun intended) for experiment - Has anyone ever tried this?

[Merlin66]

Get one of those 12V Doggie Blanket heaters (Maplin) they are about 600 x 600 and give of enough heat to keep everything warm and dew free.

Get two...one for the storage and one to drape over the scope...

[Macavity]

Get one of those 12V Doggie Blanket heaters (Maplin) they are about 600 x 600 and give of enough heat to keep everything warm and dew free. Get two...one for the storage and one to drape over the scope...

Hey - Great idea. After all, I've been heating up FELINES, at significant expense, for a number of years now! LOL. Might be more versatile and safer too...

[The Sailor]

Ha ha, bought two of those heated blankets, one for the cat and one for the OTA, fits well for both

Jim

[MarySkater]

Please excuse a newbie for a stupid question... I've only been reading this forum for a few weeks, and it's only in that time that I've realised you need to let a scope cool down to ambient outside temperature to get good results. So now you're discussing ways to keep your scope warm...?

I thought an unheated shed which defaults to ambient temp would have been a good place to store a scope. (With due regard for security.) So why warm it up? Or is the problem damp rather than just cold?

Mary

[m.tweedy]

I use one of these to keep my shed dry it is a 2 foot long tubular heater

[Macavity]

Please excuse a newbie for a stupid question... [politely snipped] ... I thought an unheated shed which defaults to ambient temp would have been a good place to store a scope.

I suppose I was thinking more about STORING the sundry stuff one gathers, apart from the scopes? Electronica... battery chargers, Ancient LCD screen... things that might rust?

I suspect there's an element of neurosis here (LOL), but a source of low HEAT - in a store cupboard, might seem to be "a good thing". I see the cat (feline) heaters are about 12W (12V / 1 Amp) which seems not totally incompatible, with the general idea of "leisure" battery power - On very cold nights. If the idea FLOPS, I will anyway donate the heat pad to the cat!

I suspect, if the weather gets TOO BAD, most of the stuff will continue to clutter up my lounge.

The "expensive" stuff will doubtless remain there anyway! <sigh>

[martin_h]

I use one of these to keep my shed dry it is a 2 foot long tubular heater

I use a couple of those in my obs too

[MarySkater]

I suppose I was thinking more about STORING the sundry stuff one gathers, apart from the scopes?

That's what I thought you meant with the first post, but then Merlin and Sailor talked about heat blankets for the OTA, which confused me.

In any case I don't have a scope (or a shed) but I do have 2 cats... so I might find myself buying these heat pads after all

Mary

[Merlin66]

The Doggie blanket just gives enough heat to stop the electronics etc getting damp/wet during the wet season(s)

I remove it when I open up and use it under my eyepiece case and laptop (to keep the dew of them) when observing...think of it as a dew strap more than an electrical heating element...

[The Sailor]

Here you are Mary, what I bought:

Heatpad

Jim

[MarySkater]

Thanks, Jim, I've bookmarked it.

Mary

[yesyes]

Here you are Mary, what I bought:

Heatpad

Jim

"Watt voltage is 15 -16"

made me giggle... ;-))

[mikeknowle]

Just be careful it doesn't turn into a lovely warm 'holiday destination' for all the rodents and creepy-crawlies in your neighbourhood!

[Macavity]

Good point. Though surprisingly little (fauna) lives up here at 600' - And, with the frequent howling WIND, I sometimes think it was a personal mistake too...

I love a GREAT solution... in search of (many?) an application though!