I won't try to dissuade you on your decision. I used a Gerbings jacket for several years when I lived in the Seattle area - great piece of gear for October through May. It wore out though, and so I didn't replace it on my ride to South America. My feeling was, the heated jackets tend to have a limited function - great when plugged in, but lacking when off the bike. (The Gerbings jacket was essentially a nylon shell with wiring running through it - no real insulation value, no warmth unless plugged in.)

Except for a few days in Peru and Bolivia, and again down in the very south of Patagonia, I didn't miss it at all. Other riders down there said the same thing. There's a few days for using the heated jacket - but too few to carry it that far. There's other gear more essential.

When it would have been nice, I was wearing all my insulation layers and a rain shell under my riding jacket - and was warm enough. The other insulation layers (a windpro fleece vest and a thin "windstopper" and water-resistant fleece and neoprene like jacket) provided much more function than a heated jacket for walking around cities, around the campground, sitting around in the unheated houses/hostels, as well as on the bike when all you need is a bit of extra warmth. A heated jacket would have been better on the bike (a less bulky feel), but again, with limited space, every piece of gear is important and for me, has to provide multiple function.

The heated jacket is dispensable.

__________________
quastdog
Chiang Mai, Thailand