Keeping pipes from freezing (Boise: 2014, apartment, water heater)

[slingshot]

10 above zero here in Arkansas and my faucets are dripping and my crawl space vents are covered. When I lived in Idaho I had no running water to worry about. How's that, Sage?

[countrylv22]

Originally Posted by DESERTRYDER

Norcalmom.

Be sure and see if the local utility might provide a free service check of your forced air heater.
Is it electric or some sort of Gas unit?
Check the filter in the heater and make sure it's clean.
Are the duct pipes accessable in the attic or crawl space? Are they properly insulated ?
Check all connections on the duct pipes and retape them with duct tape to minimize any hot air loss to non living space.
Remember cold air comes down the chimney when the fireplace is not on so check the flue pipe and see if there is a damper inside that maybe closed when not in use. If there isn't , a big chunk of cardboard in front of the fire place and some more tape will work wonders to seal out the cold. It's cheap and when you want to use the fireplace again just remove the cardboard and replace it AFTER the fire place cools off.
Buy a 48" wide or bigger roll of cheap 40 mil plastic and some blue painters tape. Cut the plastic to be a bit over sized for the entire window.
Make your own dual payne windows by installing the plastic on the inside of the windows with the blue painters tape. Cover the entire window frame and all.
It will be a miracle take my word. Fun for the family too.
35 years in the how to keep customers warm buisness for as little money as possible...

Thanks for this post This is an excellent thread to keep handy, regardless of where you are

[Mtn. States Resident]

A lot of helpful suggestions and thoughts. Basically, your neighbors will probably have some suggestions too. It's not always just the temp. Other factors resulting in the wind chill being low add to freezing pipes. I think being aware of what is projected is the biggest factor. A lot of different ways to address a potential problem in advance. It's thinking this couldn't happen to you (pipes bursting etc.) I think. Is the most dangerous.

[Sage of Sagle]

Originally Posted by cleosmom

Uh oh Sage, you trying to tell us something?

It was just a gentle "nudge" back onto the topic.

[sharon148]

Originally Posted by Clark Fork Fantast

Welcome to the forum, Sharon! Good first post, and a great thread to revive at this time of year. I see you're in Wisconsin--are you planning a move to Idaho, or just visiting the forum?

Mike, it breaks my heart, reading about your lost collections. There was a roof leak in the storage unit where I keep some of my books, and they all got moldy. They were special topic books, collected over 30 years.

In our NID cabin we're going to have a water tank and haul water for the time being. Winterizing will be a little different, I suspect, but we're used to winterizing our travel trailer, and I've winterized the family cabin back east for years. Can't be all that different.

No, not moving to Idaho. Just landed on this forum from Google. Just noticed some of these posts are by State. I thought they would be by the problem not the area? Either way, very informative forum.


Sharon

[Sage of Sagle]

There are probably threads about this in the House forum as well. But this question came up in the Idaho forum...so we answer....

[sharon148]

Clark, Guess I didn't realize these forums were split up by state. But, freezing pipes are common in all cold states, hey?
I just read a post from someone who mentioned a wireless temperature sensor for his crawl space. Did not know there was such a thing. So , now I'm going to get a couple, as it will probably save me even more money, if I can monitor the temp in my crawlspace and thus will know for sure when to turn the heaters on and off. Good Forum!

[lakerat]

Originally Posted by sharon148

Clark, Guess I didn't realize these forums were split up by state. But, freezing pipes are common in all cold states, hey?
I just read a post from someone who mentioned a wireless temperature sensor for his crawl space. Did not know there was such a thing. So , now I'm going to get a couple, as it will probably save me even more money, if I can monitor the temp in my crawlspace and thus will know for sure when to turn the heaters on and off. Good Forum!

You can pick those up at Home Depot. Probably Lowes or W mart too. They're around 20 bucks for your basic ones but can go up to 40 or 50 for the fancy ones. The 20 dollar ones work just fine until your batteries get weak. I think I get about a year on a set of fresh batteries. The one I have now is Acurite brand. You have the remote sensor that goes outside or in your crawl space or basement or where ever, and then your main sensor unit that goes inside. It shows your inside temp and outside temp. I think each unit takes 4 AA batteries. They really are slick little thermometers. You should find them in the garden/patio area .
Good luck.

[lakerat]

Oops. Forgot to mention. Mine also show the time, day of week, and the date on the little 2x3" digital screen.

[xani]

Putting 4 radiator heaters meant for the indoor space, into the crawlspace, DYI and running extension cords through the window....a recipe to lose the house, in a fire. These do cause fire rarely, and when sitting unattended for a long time in the crawlspace specially can go out of order, tip over, anything is possible. If one is going to go to the crawlspace which is not a basement where one can easily go down to and check on heaters, by all means a heat tape around pipes and not household radiator heaters.