In winter, when it’s sub-zero, do soda machines have heaters installed to keep the pop from freezing?
Wouldn’t the machine have to be insulated to keep the drinks at the correct temperature? I would think that would prevent the drinks from freezing unless it gets really, really cold.
Who gets cravings for cold soft drinks when the weather is sub-zero?
Not unless there is an internal heat source. Insulation keeps your house warm or you warm because your house and you generate heat which the insulation keeps close to your body. Wrapping insulation around somethign with no internal heat source will delay it’s loss of heat if it’s warmer than its environment, but I doubt that would last too long.
Now the lights in the soda machine might (actually must) provide a little heat, but I’d think they’d design them so they didn’t give off too much as this would increase the cooling costs normally. For example they probabbly flourescent lights and LEDs or LCDs.
Also note soda won’t freeze at 32 degrees F (or 0 C) as it’s not pure water. Almost anything you put in water will lower it’s freezing point – for example the oceans don’t freeze at 32.
I almost posted this question a while ago.
I know of pop machines that sit outside all year. With temps that can get down to -20f. They must have heaters.
Oh, and it’s Pop, not Soda. And certainaly not a “Coke”.
:D.
I live in Maine and all the soda machines I’ve seen are inside year-round.
Well, some of us need our caffiene fix, but can’t stand the taste of coffee. And caffiene pills don’t taste good either.
Here’s a picture of such a vending machine heater from Happ Controls:
27-1330-00
To see the whole catalog entry, you’ll need to cut and paste the model number to the search field and select the first link.
Yes, they do. Or the one in front of our general store does, anyway.
And pop machines probably have heaters to keep the soda from freezing, too. 
What about fire hydrants? Wouldn’t these also freeze up in cold parts of the world.
The’ve got this stuff called tea thats pretty good.
They’re below the frost line here: (Great lakes midwest region)
If you look near the bottom of this page there’s a diagram that shows how a dry barrel fire hydrant works.
Ahhhhh. Thanks. 