Freezing pipes

On an rather unrelated note, having an old drafty house ain't so cool when the temps get into the single digits. Calling the insulation guy next week to see what he can do about it.

 

Initial build was 1890, drafty as hell but all the plumbing has been replaced with PEX, ductwork is wrapped but I feel cold, really cold spots coming up the floors. But it really doesn't get this cold often around here.

 

I need to redesign my well tank level indicator. Maybe go digital, but when a layer of ice forms on top, it holds the rope & i have no clue until i climb up there and bust it free.

 

Preventing it for sure.

 

Not sure how it works, it just does. In fact, if I knew how it worked, I would have been telling everyone to go out and buy “Banditos Freeze Stoppers” and they’d be shaped like little wieners for broader appeal to truck owners.

 

Around 1895 for us. I can relate.

 

The "tip" you are seeing is what regulates the flow. As it gets colder, it shrinks or something and more water flows around it so it should never seal shut.

 

We are just about on the other side of the hard freeze. Our power went out right at the beginning because a massive Oak tree limb cut a power line. Took the city about 3 hours to fix and our house dropped into the 50's.

My tankless water heater froze up (it's always the condensate line) but I was able to clear it after figuring out there was also a condensate trap that froze up. My heat gun is my favorite tool right now. Our refrigerator line froze up in the wall (its the north wall) and I worked on it for a while. I gave up and decided to start our dishwasher before I went to bed. I guess the heat from the dishwasher was enough to heat that wall up and it thawed the refrigerator line.

Hopefully everyone fared or is faring well.

I hope you all are able to have a Merry Christmas.

 

Likewise. Merry Christmas. We are back into the 50s here in Colorado.

 

Supposed to get in the upper 40's down here. Y'all hijacked our temps!

 

We had issues here yesterday morning. It got down to 17 Friday night so I had left faucets dripping as we always do when we get a hard freeze but we still had no water pressure when we got up yesterday. The 1/8 inch pipe that goes to the pressure switch had frozen so the switch wouldn’t close and start the pump. I poured a pot of hot water on it and the switch closed after a few seconds. I wrapped some insulation around that pipe and so far so good. Got down to 20 last night and we’re good. We’re not used to this cold shit down here.

 

Running water definitely helps but up to some point ... -20F good luck, You will need running fire.

 

Space heaters.. Anywhere a pipe is on an exterior wall did the trick.