Frozen Water Lines

[freewookie]

If you guys on water wells and have tanks in the garage or? The nipple below the pressure switch will freeze first. Most will over look it when wrapping heat tapes and such. A light hanging in with a good built insulated well house will help. Light and heat tape on crappy well house. My well house has no insulation, but has a heat tape on every line and the nipple. -6 and nary a issue.

If pressure tank is inside, a good space heater will suffice, but I like heat tapes. I remember back in the early 70’s when they hit the market. On frozen up city water to homes, best advice I can give is one the cabinets and faucets in whole home to help with thawing. Crawl spaces we use a kerosene force heater blowing under the home, set it back a couple feet from entry to crawl space and let it run. We have electrical current machines two, but good ole heat blowing under is faster. Good luck out there! And dripping don’t work in these temps, need a steady stream going!

I have a propane force heater but a little scared to do that. Frozen or busted pipes are easier to deal with than the crawl space on fire.


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[freewookie]

Just found a second problem now besides my heat pump not shutting off.
Apparently my slab has shrunken so much I have 6 kitchen tiles that have pulled loose and shaped like a tent 1/2 high at the joints. Amazingly the grout joints did not break even after I stepped on it. Hopefully they will lay back down as it gets back warmer. I have lived in this house 14yrs and that never happened.

Its friggin cold alright. Still snowing maybe 4-5inches so far. A few trees tops I see have snapped on the treeline behind the house. I don't think its because of ice or the 10 mi wind, I think they are just frozen.

Your heat pump is most likely stuck in defrost mode. We have one that way and I’m pretty sure it’s because of the condensate drain frozen up. Might check that.


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[Shadowrider]

My mom's cold water line froze in the kitchen. Was dripping and had the cabinet doors wide open. She keep her house at about 78 degrees like most old people. Still froze. Hair dryer took care of it. I have a 20lb propane bottle and a Buddy heater in the garage that keeps her washing machine cozy. Also have a weatherstation remote in there and last night the buddy heater had to be ran on medium to keep it above freezing. That's a first as running it on low will usually keep her garage about 40 degrees overnight.

ITS.FREAKING.COLD!

 

[dancer4life]

Fortunately we have not had any problems here at Grand. The lake look like a galcier.

 

[Mr.Glock]

I have a propane force heater but a little scared to do that. Frozen or busted pipes are easier to deal with than the crawl space on fire

My family has drilled Water Wells and Septic Tank business for over 100 years. Not a single home has ever caught fire and burned. Don’t be stupid and stick it up close to the crawl space entry, back it up a few feet. We have a piece of galvanized 14” vent pipe we use sometimes if no room to park the heater back a distance

Wife and I are living in a Rent Home we own, it’s Trailer Home. We are temporarily living in while we look for a home in Chickasha and building a home in Colorado. Last night, no faucets left dripping and no froze nothing. On a Water Well and Septic.

 

[Mr.Glock]

Just a word of caution to those of you that have frozen water lines. The longer they are frozen the more likely they are going to break. i know that is common knowledge but you might start thinking about taking some action to remedy the problem. Just because you have PEX pipe does not mean you are exempt from breaks. Yes the pipe will withstand a lot but its the fitting you need to worry about. If the fittings are plastic pex vs brass pex you stand a lot better chance of withstanding breaks. As the forecast calls for colder temperatures i sure hope those of you that are froze up can get help soon

Yes on this! Don’t let em stay froze, the faster the better to get them thawed out!

 

[crrcboatz]

Converted to tankless hot water system last spring. Have a heat light on in the water heater closet in the garage. We r ok so far. If anyone is forced to or planning to replace your hot water heater consider tankless. More cost up front but u have endless hot water, no fear of losing a tank with age, and u get the water quicker. We like getting it quicker the most

 

[freewookie]

My family has drilled Water Wells and Septic Tank business for over 100 years. Not a single home has ever caught fire and burned. Don’t be stupid and stick it up close to the crawl space entry, back it up a few feet. We have a piece of galvanized 14” vent pipe we use sometimes if no room to park the heater back a distance

Wife and I are living in a Rent Home we own, it’s Trailer Home. We are temporarily living in while we look for a home in Chickasha and building a home in Colorado. Last night, no faucets left dripping and no froze nothing. On a Water Well and Septic.

Yeah we’re in a mobile too and scheduled to break ground in April on house build.

I have a designed vent underneath the back porch that will work well so I’m going to try it in just a bit. It’s lattice and probably 2x2 which is bigger than our access door.


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[jmike314]

My main worry at our place is frozen sprinkler heads on our aerobic septic system.
So far I can only find one of the three. It was covered in ice; I kicked the ice off and it popped back down, so hopefully it will flow.
I'm going to keep looking for the other two.

Same situation over here.
I marked my heads with a stake before the snow came down.
Yesterday, I hit both of them with some hot water to melt the ice and then ran them manually long enough to substantially lower the level in the septic tank.
I figure that I don't have to worry about the heads freezing up if the tank doesn't get full.
As long as we watch our usage, we shouldn't have an issue.

The problem I'm having now is that cold water runs from all of the faucets in the house......but the kitchen sink and 2nd bath sink don't flow when switched to hot. I've got hot everywhere else in the house...sinks, tubs, showers, washer - just not on those 2 sinks. The kitchen sink, 2nd bath are both on same side of house....but so is the washer.

Not sure.
Gonna have to do some figuring.

 

[Mr.Glock]

Leave those froze hot side on.