No water comes out of the hot faucet. Cold works fine. (floor, foundation)
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I have an electric water heater and during the Texas blizzard last night, the temp got down to 6 degrees and has stayed below 14 degrees all day. I kept the cabinets open, water trickling (from the cold faucets) and made sure the outside spickets were wrapped. I thought I did everything right.
This morning, the electricity went out forabout 4 hours, the inside temp stayed about 55-60 degrees but when it came on, I tried to use the hot water, and nothing comes out, only a small trickle for a few seconds. The cold water faucets work normal, it is only the hot faucets.
The combined faucets in the tubs work on cold, but when you try and turn them on hot, the pressure drops in proportion to the amount of hot water that is supposed to be coming out.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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Since you only let the cold water drip, there is a good chance that a hot water pipe inside a wall or under the house froze. The fact that you get a trickle for a few seconds means that it's most likely starting to thaw. I would just leave a hot water faucet on (farthest from the water heater) and check on it periodically until it returns to normal. Before that, though, I would make sure all faucets are off, and go check to make sure your meter is not showing any water flow. A break in a hot water pipe from the freeze would also cause a lack of hot water at the faucets. If the 1' hand is spinning, you need to call your water company to get it shut off right away, then call a plumber.
Thanks, I checked the meter and there are no leaks at that point. I also have the hot water faucet furtherest from the heater turned on and am now just waiting. I hope it is the cold water supply line frozen. It got down to -4 degrees last night in East Texas! Thanks for all your help!
Not sure if you have a basement or crawl space, but if you can locate the supply line for the water heater, trace it back to where it connects with the main cold line, suspect any areas where the pipe is in close proximity to the ground, basement floor & foundation walls. Do you have a propane torch? Do you have a fire extinguisher for safety? If yes to both, and you have copper pipes, heat up the pipe in suspect areas first, staying clear of any floor joists and paper backed floor insulation, which can catch fire real easy, a medium flame on the torch will do, when you hit the right spot, you will hear a rush of water thru that pipe.
Make sure to keep the cold running a little so the main line don't freeze, and make sure you know where the main shut off valve is, because there's a chance the frozen pipe might be cracked, and when you unthaw it, water will spray out from the rupture. Therefore, it's nice to have a short section of pipe that size with 2 couplers, so you can cut out the bad section and solder in a new piece.
Meanwhile, keep the cold running just a little to keep main from freezing, and the hot on, but I would use the fixture closest to the water heater, not furthest, as pipes may be frozen in more than one spot, and you won't know that using the furthest, get closest fixture running first, then check the others one by one, if not working, you may have another frozen spot to deal with. I would buy some foam sleeve pipe insulation for your size pipe, and cover the sections you unthawed, to help with future cold snaps.
Hot water lines freeze before cold water lines, know we’re your main shutoff is because if you’re water supply pipes are copper then they will split we’re the freeze was. If pex you should be ok.
We finally had a normal Texas day and the how water lines started trickling. By late afternoon we had pressure and I just took a hot shower. Praise the Lord! I checked for leaks and it doesnt look like there is any leaks. THANK YOU all for the help!
We finally had a normal Texas day and the how water lines started trickling. By late afternoon we had pressure and I just took a hot shower. Praise the Lord! I checked for leaks and it doesnt look like there is any leaks. THANK YOU all for the help!
What type of waterlines do you have, copper, pex ,cpvc, galvanized.
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