LAST QUESTION - Prepping for winter, avoiding freezing pipes

11 December 2023, 02:34 PM

There really is no reason to shut off the water to the house unless you have an active leak or you are going to make a major plumbing repair.

But definitely do turn off the spigot for the washer hose if you are going to be away.

11 December 2023, 07:20 PM

ShiroKuro

quote:
There really is no reason to shut off the water to the house unless you have an active leak or you are going to make a major plumbing repair.

The tricky thing is, you don't have an active leak until you do. And if it happens while you're away, you're screwed.

Anyway, we're good for now. Although I do need to go and try to figure out where the spigot for the washer hose is...

11 December 2023, 07:21 PM

wtg

There will be two of them, one for hot and one for cold. They're usually right above the washer.

--------------------------------
We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home. - Australian Aboriginal proverb

Bazootiehead-in-training

11 December 2023, 08:27 PM

ShiroKuro

quote:
They're usually right above the washer.

Why yes, indeed they are. I look at them every time I do the laundry.

14 December 2023, 08:24 AM

ShiroKuro

Ok - last question.

What if there’s a power outage (i.e. we don’t have heat) on a super cold night and I want to run the water to prevent pipes from freezing?

Should I do that in more than sink? Both hot and cold taps? Anything else to know?

TIA!!

14 December 2023, 09:35 AM

wtg

A lot of things have to go wrong for pipes to freeze. You would need a combination of an extended power outage (days), extremely cold weather (also days), and poorly insulated pipes for it to occur. It's very unlikely to happen.

That said, if that combo occurs, I would probably choose a faucet or faucets that are on an outside wall. You want to let both hot and cold drip; both sets of pipes run through the wall and the water in them needs to keep moving so as not to freeze.

I would open the cabinets underneath to let the pipes get whatever residual heat there is in the house.

You might get an early clue about a particular set of pipes that could freeze...as the weather gets cold, if you open a cabinet door and feel a cold draft, it's an indication that cold air is getting into the area where the pipes run. That doesn't mean they will freeze when it gets cold, but it could indicate a vulnerable area.

As for the likelihood of an extended cold snap (one of my three conditions mentioned above), here's the 30 day outlook:

https://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/...s/predictions/30day/

14 December 2023, 10:01 AM

Jack Frost

I live in an 1875 house in Maine and never had a problem.

J

14 December 2023, 10:40 AM

jodi

The ONLY time we have ever had trouble with pipes freezing was in the bathroom addition of an 1800s rental house in Wisconsin where the pipes were up against a poorly insulated outside wall. They didn’t break, they just quit working, and a hairdryer attached to a broom handle fixed the problem. I don’t turn any water off when we leave the house for a vacation. the only time I did (when we went on an 11 month sabbatical), we had a leak because we let someone use the house for a week, and them turning the water valve under the sink back on, and then off again messed up an old gasket so it didn’t seal properly, and then it developed a leak which caused about $10k in damage. Luckily the neighbor who was checking on the house caught it before it was worse. Those screw valves are not as reliable as the knife valves for leaks, and it’s really best if you don’t mess with them unless you have to. If you are worried about a kitchen sink on an outside wall, the first thing to do is open up the cabinet underneath to make sure warmer air circulates around the pipes. But if you are a modern house, you likely won’t have a problem. Homeowners insurance will help with any issues you do have. So far we’ve had to file claims for two leaks (the other other was the icemaker on the fridge) and hail damage to the roof and windows.

14 December 2023, 11:35 AM

ShiroKuro

WTG, thanks for the info, and the outlook link!! We're in the area projected to have above average temps for the next 30 days.

Jodi, that whole thing about the problems that come after turning something off and then on again is why I decided that if we do travel, we won't be turning of the water, the water heater etc.

But I know people who have had pipes burst from freezing, one in the state we lived before we moved so it's maybe not relevant here. But also one person in my new dept. told me she had a pipe burst above her garage last winter. She said it happened because her garage was too cold.

So you are all right, we probably don't have anything to worry about. But -- if there's a cold snap and we were without power, then I would probably want to open up a few taps and leave the water running until the power came back.

This winter, it may never happen, but I want to be prepared and not have a 2am panic google session trying to decide what to do!

In the end, I know you can't prevent every problem. Another person I know had a leak happen while they were away, in a bathroom that was above their dining room. It was a huge mess, but I don't think there's anything she could have done to prevent it -- other than not go on that family vacation!

14 December 2023, 01:30 PM

wtg

quote:
Originally posted by ShiroKuro:
But also one person in my new dept. told me she had a pipe burst above her garage last winter. She said it happened because her garage was too cold.

I checked a site with daily historical records and it looks like there was a cold snap below zero for a few days in December 2022 in the area. Temp got down to -10, well below the average of 20. Am guessing that's when your colleague's problem occurred.

14 December 2023, 02:07 PM

ShiroKuro

quote:
Temp got down to -10, well below the average of 20. Am guessing that's when your colleague's problem occurred.

Yikes! Yeah, I'm sure that's it, because it was recent.

Fortunately our rental house doesn't have any pipes over the garage, there aren't any rooms over the garage here at all.

15 December 2023, 02:56 PM

jodi

I have a couple of plug in heaters in the garage - I have one of those wifi thermometers that has three units, one is outside, one is on the back porch (where I tuck the plants in the spring) and one is in the garage - we watch the garage, and I turn the heaters on in there when it gets below about 37. I’m not worried about pipes, and the garage is big and full

and insulated - but we have a ton of things out there that we don’t want to freeze. I usually turn the heaters on a few times each winter.

15 December 2023, 05:53 PM

ShiroKuro

What kind of plug in heaters do you use?

We have cheapo electric space heaters that we use in different rooms because I try to keep the house temp low-ish (68F) to keep the humidity from dropping too low in the piano room. This winter for the first time, I'm using a humidifier.

When we eventually start looking for a house to buy (that's another thread!) I think I want a room for the piano where I can close the door. That way it will be easier to control the humidity for the piano in both the summer and the winter.

/ThreadDrift

15 December 2023, 06:22 PM

wtg

quote:
Originally posted by ShiroKuro:
What kind of plug in heaters do you use?

We have cheapo electric space heaters that we use in different rooms because I try to keep the house temp low-ish (68F) to keep the humidity from dropping too low in the piano room . This winter for the first time, I'm using a humidifier.

Not sure I understand the bolded part. Warmer air can hold more moisture, just use a humidifier.

quote:
In order to learn how to spot low humidity in your home and how to increase the humidity, it's important to have a firm understanding of relative humidity. Relative humidity refers to the amount of water vapor in the air relative to the current temperature. Warm air holds more water vapor than cold air. This means that a cold home with 50 percent relative humidity may actually have the same amount of water vapor in the air as a warm home with 40 percent relative humidity, despite the difference in relative humidity.

How about some plants?

quote:
Adding houseplants to your home will also increase the humidity level in the air

https://www.thespruce.com/low-...ity-in-house-5219369

15 December 2023, 07:40 PM

Nina

Late to the party, but the only thing I've ever had to worry about was any outdoor automatic watering that you may have set up (think Rainbird or similar). There, if I remember, I just turn off the, um, timer? (the brains of the system) and bleed the water out of the irrigation pipes.