Can you tell I am a Floridian? (mobile home, middle school)

[TripleH1978]

When it freezes here, do y'all drip your pipes, like in the bathroom or kitchen so the pipes don't freeze? The weathermen/weatherwomen in Jacksonville always remind us to take care of the "4 P's" - Pipes, Pets, Plants, People when it goes below freezing.

I asked our neighbor and he just looked at me like I was crazy.

We turned off our outdoor spigots and cleared the water out, but this question was still lingering.

[Sauz]

I've lived in Virginia since 98 and we've never done this before.

[reebo]

I've been here since '71 and haven't done it either.

[mississippimagnolia]

The houses in Virginia are normally better insulated than the ones down here in Florida. We just moved from NoVA to Jacksonville, Florida over the summer.

But...if it gets really cold, you should take steps to prevent your pipes from freezing. We never worried about the pipes unless the forecast called for temperatures in the teens for several hours.

I always open the cabinets under the kitchen and bathroom sinks, and allow the facet to drip very slowly just in case.

It can happen. Our pipes froze in our home in Raleigh, North Carolina. The builder didn't insulate the pipes in our upstairs bathroom properly. Luckily, we caught it before any damage occurred.

[ACWhite]

I think if you go out of town for awhile (e.g., several days) when it is REALLY cold (e.g., 10 degrees) you may want to leave a drip, to avoid worries, if you don't mind paying a higher water bill. I moved here from the midwest and we did it there when these conditions were met, which happened a lot more frequently there than here.

[tgbwc]

We always drain and turn the water off to our outside spigots.

[robbobobbo]

I do that for outdoor spigots, but I've always assumed the interior of my house would be above the freezing point. Supply lines inside can freeze, if the interior room temp is above freezing? I profess ignorance of the matter. Never ran into a problem.

[terrence81]

I'm from Georgia and have heard the weatherman tell us to leave faucets dripping. When I was in high school or maybe even middle school my mom sure enough didn't leave the faucets dripping and on a really cold night the pipes sure enough burst. So it does happen but I grew up in a house with no basement just a crawlspace that would probably have been uninsulated.

[Flamingo13]

I don't think you have to do the dripping unless you live in a mobile home (no or less insulation) - although when we have the freak frigid winters, we do open the cabinets below the kitchen sink (we also have the heat pretty low (I HATE to be hot) - generally though if you are in a normal house/apt. whatever, you'll be fine - no sense in wasting water.

[TripleH1978]

Cool! Thanks for all of your replies!

I just wanted to check and re-check. I am doing all I can to be ready for the cold, we just didn't want any unexpected bills!

I am such a wimp, I probably won't leave the house when January rolls around.