AIBU to leave my engine running for ten mins at 6.45 each morning (M-F)?

[ThreeJumpersIsNotEnough]

Neighbours have just come to the door with a Christmas card and a polite request to be more quiet in the mornings.

I usually leave at 7am to drop dd at breakfast club and get myself to work at 8am (I work Mon-Fri only - no weekends).

Now it's getting colder, the car is unbearably cold in the mornings so last week I started nipping out 10-15 mins earlier while dd was brushing her teeth so the car would be warm for us getting in and the frost/ice would be mostly melted from the window.

Neighbours have revealed that they are normally woken by me leaving most mornings at 7am but they can put up with it as I leave immediately so they are able to go back to sleep. However, they are not willing to put up with what I've been doing recently as they have found it impossible to go back to sleep having been awake for so long waiting for me to leave with the engine running ...

They have suggested I park further away from the house.

This is my first winter with these neighbours. They only moved in beginning of the year and we're polite to each other but not any more than 'hello' acquaintances. We live very rurally - just our two houses - in woodland area. Any noise carries and it is mostly silent (why I moved here - now I'm the one being a noise pest, it would appear). No street lights. 5 minute drive down our landlord's private (god awful road) onto the public road where there are other houses.

If I parked further away, that is further for me and DD to walk to the car each morning - in the pitch black - with our bags. Likewise, it is further for us to walk to the house each evening when we get back.

Not sure what the solution is. I told them I wasn't keen to park farther away (due to the above concerns) but they've asked me to give it a try at least for tomorrow. I've agreed to try it.

AIBU to ask for your ideas on what a peaceful resolution to this would be?

Gosh - my kids must be super hardy! We cycle to school. (And ds is on the back of my bike so doesn’t even get the warmth from exercising.)

Not a blanket, a hot water bottle, a heater or a seat warmer in sight!

So far none of their limbs have fallen off.......

So you walk everywhere then?

Not really the point - whataboutery is always the lazy/greedy person’s answer to any environmental challenging. But yes, since you ask, I don’t drive and I take public transport to work.

Hi, just a friendly warning- don’t let your child wear a coat in the car if she’s still in a car seat! The coats are designed to hold air between their layers which means the seatbelts won’t work properly in the car seat as they won’t be tight enough!

I need to run the car for a few minutes in the morning so I can see through the windscreen. I spray de-icer on the windscreen and windows, get in, wipe the windscreen, open the windows a bit and put the heating on. The windscreen keeps steaming up until the car has been running a few minutes.

I don't see what else I could do?

When I lived at my parents, I had a bedroom downstairs at the front & the next door neighbour used to leave his van running for me about 10 mins every morning bar Sunday god knows why at 6am in the morning, a good hour and a half before I had to get up.
I rejoiced when he retired!
So, yes you are being unreasonable but you do know that now, it probably took quite a bit of guts for them to tell you!

*It’s just incredible how many people think they’ve got the right to pump out endless quantities of carbon monoxide

Going vegan would save far more carbon dioxide in the long run if that's your problem*

Sorry but

My post referred to carbon monoxide, not carbon dioxide. Carbon monoxide is odourless gas that’s highly toxic to humans (and other mammals) and is emitted by combustion engines. Nothing to do with going vegan.

Of course it’s the point! You don’t get to decide whose convenience is fine for pumping nasty fumes and whose isn’t if you’re doing the same for your own convenience, which using a fume emitting vehicle is.

YANBU. They live in a residential area FFS. You need to put up with residential noise. Unless you are in the habit of complaining about them then they need to let people do life.

They're not in a residential area. From the OP We live very rurally - just our two houses - in woodland area. Any noise carries and it is mostly silent

And reading the rest of this thread - no wonder the planet is fucked.

Blue Star De-icer is fab and removes the need for endless scraping.

And environmentally dubious.

YABU.very.

im with you op. i might heat mine up for 5 mins if im leaving early. im not putting my baby in a cold car chair. perhaps cut down from 15 to 5 minutes.

Good god.

Buy de-icer. Nip out 10 mins before you leave and spray the windows.

And wear a bloody coat. How do you think the rest of the planet cope?

the OP has admitted, pages ago that she is BVU and will apologise

And environmentally dubious

Compared to running an engine?

I don't think you are being unreasonable. I think if you have neighbours then you have to accept that they make some noise and this may be early if they are going to work. Many of our neighbours have the car running on their drives in winter whilst it warms up or they are scraping ice off it. If they are fortunate enough to be the neighbour in bed listening rather than out there themselves in the cold, then I think they're a bit rude to moan.

I’d love to be a fly on the wall in the lives of some people on this thread.

But I’m not using one, as my previous post said.

However, the question is about whether it’s ok to leave a vehicle that emits toxic gases idling and stationary in a residential area for 10-15 minutes every morning for your own convenience, not about driving as a form of transport per se.

Clearly some people need to use cars to get to work (because they can’t take public transport and walk like I do). That doesn’t mean those people have no right to a view on environmental issues.

It’s worth noting that older diesels will need some time to warm or else they just won’t pull. Even in summer turn on and go isn’t necessarily an option, especially if towing a decent weight.

I’ve had two that need a ten to fifteen minute idle or I go up the hill to the main road at 10mph, equally disruptive to other people.

Yes yabvu. A bit of cold isn’t going to hurt you, spray de-icer and off you go. You do not need to sit in the car and wait for de-frost either! Enjoy the lovely countryside you live in and get you and dc a scraper! That’ll warm you up!

I would feel it unreasonable if the OP has a big V8 with no silencers and a fast idle to be fair.

I'm with your neighbour here. I use warm water to melt the ice away.

Ok for the avoidance of doubt it is illegal to leave a car engine running without someone being in charge or control of the vehicle. 22 years in the police I think I know what I'm talking about. This is entirely different from emissions law which states you can be fined for leaving a car idling unnecessarily in a public road

But I’m not using one, as my previous post said.

You use public transport. Is it powered by good thoughts?

Ok for the avoidance of doubt it is illegal to leave a car engine running without someone being in charge or control of the vehicle.

Does that include private driveways?

So according to some posters on here I can't leave the engine running, I can't scrape the windows as it's noisy and I can't use de-icer (I don't anyway)!

I start the engine and turn everything to max, scrape the windows and sit in the car for a few minutes while it clears, the same as everyone else in the street and probably most other people in real life!

That is stunningly selfish. I'm glad you re not my neighbour. I know you're not as your post doesn't mention a furious old woman reporting you to council