HoneyBerry
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what would you do?

So I guess there was a major nat'l gas line explosion in Canada yesterday. We are supposed to conserve both power and nat'l gas while the utility figures out what to do. There will most likely be outages.
My only heat source is nat'l gas. I use electric for lighting but do not feel comfortable using electric space heaters - old house with old wiring. Besides, the utility needs for us to conserve both gas and power. And about my pipes: there are a couple of spots that need 'babysitting' when it gets really cold because they have frozen in the past and I need to prevent them from freezing again. So I can't let the place get too cold. I was looking at a portable propane heater. I've never had one. So what fo you think? What would you do? I want to be prepared for what appears to be a rough winter season. I do have a portable generator but have never used it. It needs to be outside which is a problem.

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Pipes can be insulated. For pipes that freeze from the outside to the inside, there are newer outside faucets/pipes that are resistant to freezing. I had one installed this past spring or maybe last year (can't remember!).

HoneyBerry
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I have been considering a freezeproof hose bib.
Everything will work out somehow.

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!potatoes!
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for pipes, I'd be using heat tape to prevent freezing.

we heat with wood, but I'm guessing that's not an option to you?

HoneyBerry
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I don't have a way to burn wood. Plus there are air quality restrictions in my county. Wood stoves and fireplaces need to be certified.
It will all work out. It will be inconvenient. The effects really haven't hit us hard yet. I have been conserving. That's what we're supposed to do for now.

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PraticalGardener
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I recommend keeping a few extra blankets on your bed or couch. Extra jackets can help in the house. You can wear knitted socks/'bed socks' in bed to keep your feet warmer.
Use rugs on wooden floors, especially along the bed, for until you get your shoes on.

Close off all unnecessary rooms without pipes or food that must be kept warm, especially if heating an old farmhouse. Use curtains to block doorways if you need to.

Use a 'door snake'/door draft stopper to prevent drafts entering or exiting underneath the door. This can be used on doors leading to outside, or even on doors to unused unheated rooms. In a pinch a old towel or blanket could work.

Use 'shrink film' on windows, it is basically double-sided sticky tape with a large piece of plastic shrink-wrapped indoors with a hairdryer. It works well on my window against drafts. :)

You can open the cabinet doors to allow the warmer air to more easily reach the pipes inside, such as the kitchen sink pipes inside the counter.

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The last house I lived in was drafty. In the winter we could see our breath and in the summer the humidity was unstoppable.

My new home has double glazed windows that help keep the winter out, as well as the humidity in the summer. Nevertheless, I still do my best to seal up the areas where cold air can get in, using that sticky foam stuff to line the doors.

Carpets are helpful, too.

Vanisle_BC
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honeyberry, I don't think you told us what kind of building you're in? Is your plumbing in a basement, crawlspace, what? Where are the pipes that freeze, and how can you get at them? I assume they're copper or galvanized. You can probably get through the cold personally, bundled up with plenty of clothing and in some discomfort but burst pipes would be a bit of a disaster. Insulate the plumbing wherever you can get at it, with anything from "real" insulation to rags, cardboard, old blankets. If you can run trouble lamps on extension cords, located close to the vulnerable sections (but away from anything that could burn), that will likely prevent them from freezing. You should use good old incandescent bulbs that give off more heat than newer types. It also helps if you keep a little water running through the system by leaving taps slightly open.

Above all don't burn things like propane, white gas or other oxygen-depleting devices indoors. That can be very dangerous as I'm sure you already know; but in the 'heat of the moment' (sorry!) it's easy to make a forgetful mistake.

HoneyBerry
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Thanks. I'll be okay. I was just feeling frustrated that day of my first post on this topic. I normally don't care for winter and the thought of outages makes it seem like tough times ahead. I need to have a freezeproof hose bibb installed. I am gearing up to do that.

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Gary350
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Could you get by for a while by keeping your house at 40 degrees so pipes don't freeze.

We go camping in winter in very cold weather we put 14 quilts and blankets on the bed sometimes sleep in a tent with 7 blankets on bottom and 7 blankets on top below zero temperatures. I wear a sock hat to keep my head warm. Can you do that in your bedroom.

Close off all the rooms of the house you don't need.

I have found 30 candles can make a lot of heat. I buy all the 10¢ to 25¢ candles I can fund an yard sales. Use about 150 candles to get the room warm then blow out about 100 of them. Make adjustments to get the temperature you want according to how cold it is outside.

Buy a battery power CO2 detector mount it about 12" from the floor. Candles make carbon monoxide, gas space heater makes carbon monoxide. be save and use a CO2 detector. If you keep burning candles on the floor too much CO2 will make the candles go out.

Years go I lived in an old house I poked paper towels in cracks to keep wind from blowing threw. Cement is cheap it works to fill in cracks.

HoneyBerry
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Gary350: It looks like we think somewhat alike. It's not so bad really. I have a low voltage heated dog bed that keeps the wall warm where the freeze-prone hose bib is. It works. But if the power goes out, it could freeze. It's not a problem when I'm there, just when I'm gone. Once in a while I turn the water off at the meter, just when things get really cold and I'm going to be gone for a while. It's a hassle but it works and I have peace of mind while I'm gone. I just don't know where to draw the line so I don't take any chances. The pipe froze and broke in the utility room a few years ago. Water spraying all over that room. I had a bad feeling so I went home early that day. I could see steam on the windows as soon as I got to the driveway. The problem wasn't all that bad really because it's just a little porch style laundry room and slopes away from the main part of the house. There is even an old leftover conduit hole in the floor behind the washer where most of the water drained. Now I am more likely to worry about something happening because of that experience. I had the washer valves moved to the inside wall instead of the outside wall and had the pipes insulated with foam, so that room is much better now. There is not an exterior door on that room, so that's why it gets so cold. I had a security door installed but it is wrought iron, not a solid door, very nice in the summer.
Winter is not my favorite time of year. Sometimes it feels like I'm camping. Winter isn't even here yet and I'm already looking forward to Spring.

Vanisle_BC
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HB; turning the water off may not be a good idea unless you can also drain the system. Better to leave water dribbling slowly through than leave it standing in the pipes. Just a thought.

HoneyBerry
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I was wondering about that. I guess the water could freeze sitting in the pipes. I didn't have any freezing happen when I turned the water off at the meter. I opened the valves and drained water from the pipes but there was no way to tell if all of it drained out or not.

I'm going to get things fixed up better. I'm going to remodel the bathroom anyway and that is where the problem hose bibb ties in.

Thank you for the input. I am learning as I go through this life. Sometimes I have to learn things the hard way.

Vanisle_BC
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HoneyBerry wrote: Sometimes I have to learn things the hard way.
Me too and it sometimes more than once.

gumbo2176
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HoneyBerry wrote:I was wondering about that. I guess the water could freeze sitting in the pipes. I didn't have any freezing happen when I turned the water off at the meter. I opened the valves and drained water from the pipes but there was no way to tell if all of it drained out or not.

I'm going to get things fixed up better. I'm going to remodel the bathroom anyway and that is where the problem hose bibb ties in.

Thank you for the input. I am learning as I go through this life. Sometimes I have to learn things the hard way.

If you open your faucets after shutting off the water at the main, the water remaining in the lines will not burst the pipes since it has room to expand as it freezes without any pressure. It may freeze enough to not allow water to pass through for a while, but it is better than having split pipes to deal with in the long run.

HoneyBerry
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Thanks gumbo2176.
I'm hoping for a mild winter but the Farmer's Almanac is predicting otherwise.

HoneyBerry
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oops
accidental post
sorry
Last edited by HoneyBerry on Fri Oct 19, 2018 10:20 am, edited 1 time in total.

gumbo2176
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HoneyBerry wrote:Thanks gumbo2176.
I'm hoping for a mild winter but the Farmer's Almanac is predicting otherwise.
Oh, forgot to mention. When draining your water pipes, always aim to open the lowest faucet on your property and open the ones above it so air can be pulled as the water drains.

I live in a 2 story house and my main residence is on the 2nd floor. The few times it gets below freezing in my part of this orb, I'll head outside and open my faucets outside the front and back of my house as they are only about 2 ft. off the ground and I'll open the kitchen and bathroom faucets upstairs and you can hear the water draining. You may still have some that will freeze if the pipes are not protected, but the water can expand in the near empty pipes and do no harm.

HoneyBerry
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I will do it like that. I hope that I don't have to. We'll see how it goes.
I seem to be getting wimpier as I get older. I never used to worry about stuff like I do now.

gumbo2176
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HoneyBerry wrote:I will do it like that. I hope that I don't have to. We'll see how it goes.
I seem to be getting wimpier as I get older. I never used to worry about stuff like I do now.
I can understand that. I'll be 66 in a couple more weeks and if I can avoid an issue with my house or other things that can cause me grief, I'll do my best to avoid it. I don't look at it as so much being wimpier, just living smarter while trying to avoid hassles you really don't need.

Last year we had what amounted to one of our colder winters with several nights getting in the low to mid 20's and I drained my water lines overnight while we were sleeping and opened them back up in the morning and all was fine. My wife works with a young lady in her early 30's and she and her husband didn't do this and when they woke up in the morning they had no water. Then when the day warmed up and the pipes thawed, they had several sections under their raised house that had splits in the pipe and needed replacing. That little mishap cost them around $800 for a plumber to come out to replace the water line damage. Live and learn.

HoneyBerry
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Being prepared ahead of time should be worth the effort. After all, I do like warm showers. And other water related stuff. It's just nice to have running water. Plumbing repairs are so expensive. And it could take a while for a plumber to come during a cold spell. Thanks for the pointers.



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