My plumber told me to leave the farthest most faucet on with a fast drip to prevent the water from freezing, he says it works so I'll try it. He said that having it drip once a second might not be enough.
Cold wave in Texas
- Thread starter parshisa
- Start date
- Status
I remember going down to Houston in the 80's to visit my father after he finished a sabbatical, and it got down to 18°F. Didn't think palm trees could survive that cold.
Can't be that unusual. I remember going down to Houston in the 80's to visit my father after he finished a sabbatical, and it got down to 18°F. Didn't think palm trees could survive that cold.
Drain pan will not hold or catch & release 40-50 gallons of water if the tank breaks. All pipes in Texas homes often run through the attic, NOT the slab. I came home from work to water running out of my front door…ceiling falling in my Houston home back in a cold snap about 1980. Attic pipes broke!
The “drip” thing can fail you as MANY folks can embrace this to the point water pressure falls significantly….then YOUR drip stops & attic pipes freeze. Be careful.
Last edited:
Sounds good, if you have pex, after turning the main off I would probably leave everything closed with residual pressure vs letting the lines fill with air, which includes airborne bacteria, mold, etc. I would drain copper but avoid drinking for a week after.
Drain pan should have a drain pipe. I've seen some tied into the overpressure relief valve line. I would not trust that setup myself.
My friend's house near Richmond, Virginia was built in the late '90s and has the HVAC equipment in the attic, which gets ridiculously hot in the summer. That seemed strange to me. At least his water heater is in the (attached) garage.
OVERKILL
$100 Site Donor 2021
Meanwhile, it was -32C in Edmonton the other day, LOL!
I'm interested to see how ERCOT handles this...
There's 18GW of wind online right now but that will likely collapse as the cold rolls in.
I'm interested to see how ERCOT handles this...
There's 18GW of wind online right now but that will likely collapse as the cold rolls in.
Meanwhile, it was -32C in Edmonton the other day, LOL!
I'm interested to see how ERCOT handles this...
View attachment 131564
Hopefully they have 0w-XX in those windmills.
The builder that built my house had a brochure about how energy efficient their houses are and one of the bullet points was "We do not install any HVAC equipment or ducts in the attic".
It takes a little more to design a house with space for duct work and design that duct work than it does to slap a furnace or air handler in an attic and connect it all up with flex duct with ceiling registers in the rooms below. A monkey could do that, and they often do (based on some of the pictures I've seen where the flex duct is just laying in a tangled mess on the attic floor).
Last edited:
Those heaters are natural gas. I doubt you will loose that.
It works, just make sure it's the last tap on any leg that exists...
In Texas it doesn’t matter unless you are off grid.
Op will need to shut off his water
4WD
$50 site donor 2024
Yeah - wind is getting to be a sizable portion of the mix … We’ll see …Meanwhile, it was -32C in Edmonton the other day, LOL!
I'm interested to see how ERCOT handles this...
View attachment 131564
The “drip
drain Pan May handle a small leak from the water heater. The Problem in Texas is many drains for the water heater or AC evaporator are plugged up with insulation debris. I had my AC drip pan overflow from a drain that couldn’t handle a drip (plugged!)
Zero risk means OP should drain the system in case electricity and/or natural gas goes out if he is going to be away. Agree with RV antifreeze in any of the traps that retain water.
The tanks might drain from a syphon effect - open the lowest faucet and it might suck the water "backwards" out of the water heaters, depending on how they are plumbed. Connecting a hose and opening the bottom drain valve is still safest. Good luck!
The tanks might drain from a syphon effect - open the lowest faucet and it might suck the water "backwards" out of the water heaters, depending on how they are plumbed. Connecting a hose and opening the bottom drain valve is still safest. Good luck!
Exactly .. Older pier and beam with uninsulated pipes will break . Just south of Austin..... Been there. Drip faucets and cross fingers
Don't leave a hot water heater on with a chance that it will lose water! It will best case destroy itself, worst case become a steam bomb!
If you're home to monitor it, that's different. It'll be insulated and offer at least tepid water as long as the city water has pressure.
Shutting off a street spigot is a good start-- if a pipe bursts, it won't flood your house with a never ending supply of water.
You likely don't have a drain, so find the lowest point and open its faucet then open the other faucets so they can drain through. Follow up with some compressed air if you can find a way to rig it.
RV antifreeze, good luck finding it. Some is potable safe but most is not. It would be good for your toilet P-traps and sink traps but you'll have plenty of time to panic and put it in there if you're living there. Honestly cheap vodka might be the tonic to somehow force into your drinking water pipes, maybe with a funnel and hose from a 2nd story faucet. You just want it so that if ice forms, it won't burst your pipes. Alcohol can make it slushy and or lower the freezing point.
If you're home to monitor it, that's different. It'll be insulated and offer at least tepid water as long as the city water has pressure.
Shutting off a street spigot is a good start-- if a pipe bursts, it won't flood your house with a never ending supply of water.
You likely don't have a drain, so find the lowest point and open its faucet then open the other faucets so they can drain through. Follow up with some compressed air if you can find a way to rig it.
RV antifreeze, good luck finding it. Some is potable safe but most is not. It would be good for your toilet P-traps and sink traps but you'll have plenty of time to panic and put it in there if you're living there. Honestly cheap vodka might be the tonic to somehow force into your drinking water pipes, maybe with a funnel and hose from a 2nd story faucet. You just want it so that if ice forms, it won't burst your pipes. Alcohol can make it slushy and or lower the freezing point.
Hermann
Site Donor 2023
Saw on the news that the "Power Grid" has been improved in a interview with a Texas power offical. I'm from Missouri.
If it goes down again it affects us here in KC, as the electric utility here is part of the Southwestern power grid.
- Status
Similar threads
