Sandisfield House

Winter and Pipes

In the middle of January I came up during a stretch of days with temperatures frequently in the single digits at night. I had trouble with the cold water in the kitchen sink, both bathroom sinks and both toilets.

In the case of the kitchen sink I thawed it by placing a space heater under there for a few minutes. The hot water in the downstairs sink was persuaded to run by blowing a hair dryer down into the hole in the floor where the pipe descends. The others sort of came around on their own.

The temperatures that appear to be the problem are teens or colder, multiple days in a row. It hasn't been quite that cold for so long since then, and I have not had trouble again, but I have also:

Blocked the excess space in the hole that the kitchen sink drain uses to pass into the basement - it was cut too wide, allowing both cold air and, judging from the scratch marks in the wood, mice. I also insulated the cold water pipes in the sink cabinet.

Partially blocked some of the vents in the basement that allow cold air to flow in so freely - I used roughly-cut cardboard pieces so air still comes in - they are not sealed.

Insulated nearly all of the hot water pipes in the basement. Not all because not all are easily accessible. I don't know if this will ever prevent freezing but it will take those pipes longer to cool after use and increase efficiency.

Re-sealed some of the insulation around the cold water pipes in the basement where they ascend into the kitchen. They had not been well-applied.

Additional Precautions

I routinely run the water a bit in each faucet and then turn the water off at night. On very cold nights, I turn the water off AND run the cold water out of all of the faucets after doing so.

On very, very cold nights, or if I won't be here when very cold weather is forecasted, I've done the above and also drained excess water out of the cold water system via a valve in the basement (the one without black insulation). It never fully stops coming out because I think there is a link to the hot water system, so I stop when it slows down. This technique will fill a bucket halfway (if you've already run the faucets out of water).

Use the thermometer hanging near the de-humidifier as a guide. If it's 33 degrees expect problems. If it's 36 degrees or above it should be fine based on past observations, and none of these precautions should be necessary.

Temperatures in the basement change fairly slowly and are fairly uniform. I tested this by temporarily placing a 2nd thermometer near the fuse box - over several days it always displayed the same temperature as the one near the de-humidifier.

One night of single digits will not likely bring the temperature in the basement from, say, 40 degrees to 32. Observations have been informal but I've never seen it vary more than 4 degrees in one day.

The plumber, Louis Ludivico, has said that getting as much water as possible out of the system is good when there is danger, but that even with the precautions outlined above, if the furnaces fail there WILL be frozen, and possibly damaged pipes.

Freeze Alarm

I purchased an inexpensive freeze alarm (Control Products Model # FA-B-CCA). It is attached to the phone line in the kitchen and lives on top of the shelf near the oil lamps. If the temperature drops below 45 degrees it will call me. I would then call Paul and/or drive up.

Additional Notes

- The kitchen sink pipes don't descend directly under the sink. They travel down into the sink cabinet, then along the baseboards through a hole in on the right side of the cabinet, around the corner behind the hot water heater, along the back wall a bit and then descend.
- The bathroom toilet downstairs is connected to the hot water supply.
- I typically keep the thermostats set to no lower than 55. If there will be temps in the 30's or 40's I may set it to 52 for short periods to save propane. I may set it lower still as late winter temperatures rise.
- As of late January 2013, the large propane tank is full, which should be enough fuel to last through spring and hopefully, summer.
- The garden faucet froze. We thawed it using a hairdryer on the metal pipe. We removed as much water from the line as we could and closed the dedicated valve in the basement. The water line from the basement to the faucet itself is PVC or some other kind of plastic. Char thinks it's too deep in the ground to freeze. We'll see in Spring.
- I have only used the valves for the garden faucet and cold water system. The cold and hot water systems are joined in a way I don't understand and I'm afraid to mess with the hot water system because of implications to the hot water heater. When I drain the cold I stop when the strong flow diminishes and the water gets warmer.