Posted on 12/13/2016 9:16:50 PM PST by Impy
If anyone has any advice on this subject.
Some people I heard say you just need to leave one dripping, the one furthest from the source, presuming you know which one that is.
Or is better to leave all of them dripping? Or upstairs only?
Mid to low single digits tonight.
Cold here in SoCal tonight. It’s just a little over 60 degrees.
Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
Yes, leave them dripping. I do all.
Let all near outer walls drip.
Open cabinets under each sink to allow heat in.
Depending on how many faucetts you have, let them all drip when temps fall into the teen or lower. It is better to pay a few $$$ more on the water bill than to have major plumbing due to burst pipes.
Run them all at a flow almost the diameter of a # 2 pencil. The cost of that much water is a tiny tiny fraction of a plumbing repair.
If you have lavatories on external walls open the vanity doors, unless you have extremely well insulated walls.
Several years ago, an acquaintance only ran their kitchen sink. The master bath lav was on an exterior wall. The pipe inside the vanity, from the shutoff to the faucet froze and broke and leaked all night long. The low was 22.
Better safe than flooded and sorry.
#14 it happens as you get older..... : )
Niagara Falls either froze completely or mostly.
I do not think a dribble of water would be enough for your pipes. Drain them if they are in danger of freezing.
Get some insulation and if needed electric tape to warm the pipe above freezing.
Turn off the water at the meter and drain all the water out of the pipes.
Crank up the heat, open cabinet doors under each sink, slow drip every faucet indoors, put a insulated cover on outdoor spigots and or at some point install freeze proof type spigots. Consider adding heat tape wrap under pipe insulation cover that turns on at 31 degrees automatically to every section of water line you can get access to.... Install a wood stove and secure about 10 cords of hickory as well. Electricity goes out you will be very happy to have that wood stove .
Second ice age is on the way ....:o)
Use these. Never leave outside faucets dripping. NEVER!
I’ll tell you one thing that I’ve seen is that some of the outdoor hose bibs will turn themselves off if the trickle is too small.
If there are pipes under a cabinet on an outside wall, leave the cabinet doors open. All faucets should be dripping. Out should be wrapped. A towel with duct tape will do the job
definitely dribble. It depends on your plumbing. Here, we don’t dribble unless the forecast is -5F or lower.
Unless the towel gets wet then freezes. It won't provide any insulation value at that point.
http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/westfield-in/46074/weather-forecast/19823_pc
Its a little chilly here tonight. Covers are on.
http://www.accuweather.com/en/us/westfield-in/46074/weather-forecast/19823_pc
Its 60 here too, give or take an order of magnitude.
I tend to agree that dripping water is going to be next to your foundation. Freezing water there does not sound like a good idea.
I use these faucet covers, but be aware that they are only useful if you expect there to be some heat from the building which can be trapped. So they will not work for an unheated outbuilding.
Also, if you drain the system, remember to shut off your water heater.
We have a cabin in Payson, Arizona. We always shut off the water when we are not there. If it is somewhat cold, then we also drain the upper floors, but leave water in the heater. If it is really cold, then drain and leave an interior faucet on in order to allow expansion if the water freezes.
The pencil? Or the lead in the pencil? Seems like it should be the lead.
“... open doors under sink so warm air from room gets in there...”
Yep - that helps a lot. Along with the dripping - but I do more than a “drip”.
If your house was built from the mid eighty’s to present you may have plastic water pipes. Either Quest, a gray plastic with copper fittings, or later Pex, a white plastic with plastic fittings. If that’s true, you don’t need to do anything. They will expand when they freeze but they won’t burst. When they thaw, all will be well. Older houses with copper pipes and soldered fittings, follow advice from the posts above.
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