It just occured to me that if the electricity, and therefore heat is out for some time, pipes will start to freeze. Does anyone know how long the heat can be off (in January!) without this becoming a factor? Any ideas on how to prevent it?

-- Douglas Malcolm (doug@bookideas.com), July 06, 1998

Answers

Depends on the location you live. Far NE USA in the dead of winter, not very long.

You could attempt to purge your above ground pipes. Might be wise to install a valve at the lowest level possible for this purpose.

j

-- j (yada@yada.com), July 07, 1998.

Typically one night with the temperatures below 20 degrees, especially if you have pipes in the exterior walls (which a lot of places have, in spite of it being a bad design from this standpoint)

Have water pressure? Let the water run all the time.

No water.....called contingency planning.....drain enough water from the pipes that expansion, when the freeze does occur, doesn't burst the pipes. Doesn't prevent freezing, just prevents the mess of replumbing. You should first shut off the water where it enters, (usually well below ground level where it doesn't freeze), and then drain from the lowest point you can find. Leave taps open so that water remaining in the pipes can freeze, with expansion forcing air out of the system.

See why most people recommend storing drinking water? It has to get really cold for a long time to freeze a 55 gallon drum of water.

-- Rocky Knolls (rknolls@hotmail.com), July 07, 1998.

Frozen pipes are nothing new here. Draining the lines is a good idea if you expect a long cold spell with no power or water pressure; but that's something that doesn't need y2k to happen. If you can reach the pipes, wrap them with insulation (Home Depot or any competitors will have what you need); that will help a LOT. Wrapped pipes can handle below-zero F nights.

Make sure you also empty out any outdoor tanks or filters as well. Rocky, a 40 gallon tank with no insulation will freeze SOLID in less than a day if the high temperature is 27F and the low is near 10F. The tank in question developed some interesting bulges. If you have a storage tank in the basement, it'll be OK.

Having gone without running water for a week at a time during some winters, our most pressing need was for flushing toilets. (I could usually get a shower at work or at the in-laws' place.) We usually keep a few gallons of water for drinking & washing in milk jugs in the kitchen, & fill up a pair of 5-gallon collapsible containers when the temperature really drops. This winter, I'm going to try filling a bathtub since it's next to the toilet & I want to see if the drain has any slow leaks.

-- Larry Kollar (lekollar@nyx.net), July 07, 1998.

Those 5-gallon red plastic "jerry cans" from most hardware stores work great for this purpose. They are usually less than $10 (but they can freeze, also). You can haul them around in your house - hard to do with 55-gal drums.

-- Mike McNatt (tulsanok@aol.com), July 07, 1998.

You will have to decide how much of your house to heat. If you "hole up" in your basement only, you can drain the pipes. Often, the hot water heater faucet is the low spot in the system. So you could shut off the main supply at the meter or the faucet that feeds your house, open the lowest elevation valve, and open ALL of the faucets so that water is siphoned from everywhere. Save the water, you may be drinking it in a day or two. If you have water still, and have good heating resources, be diligent to allow heat near exterior wall with faucets. Open cabinets under the kitchen sink, as the cabinet door will insulate slightly from your heat source. If you are using a portable heater (kerosene, for example), maybe park it in the kitchen. Running the water continuously will help too. In my case, I plan to have a big water tank in my basement which will receive water from my well, and I may drain upper floor pipes if it gets cold (I'm in Virginia).

-- Steve Hepperle (hepperle@illuminet.net), July 07, 1998.

Well, I was wondering if there is no electricity, how will the houses in the city get water anyway? Don't city pumps require electricity to run them? It is probably a good idea for city dwellers to store water the best way they can

-- Patrick Greene (greeneguy@mindspring.com), July 08, 1998.