Question About The Cold Weather (Duluth: houses, water heater, school)

[Yorkie_Mom]

Originally Posted by blakeb99

well i'm the type who def rathers the cold. i already visited two months ago to check it out and loved it. i did notice that as cold as it was up there, it wasn't as bad inside over there as it is inside my house down here. i thought that was strange, b/c at night it will sometimes get in the forties and be really cold inside the house over here. but up there it didn't seem nearly as cold. i guess we don't know too much about insulation down here. also, what about at night...y'all don't have to leave the faucets drip then since it will be 8 or 10 hours without it running? I don't know too much about plumbing, but i am pretty sure our water pipes are above ground over here.

I think your funny we don't have our water dripping here at night, it is only if you go on vacation, and then you have someone watch over your place while you are gone.
For an everyday thing, if you are only going to be gone for all day you still don't have to worry. It gets cold, but not like what you are thinking, and I guess maybe trailer houses are the ones you have to be more concerned about. But for a house or apartment, you have nothing to worry about.

The only time it feels really cold in our house is if it gets way below zero, other then that we are pretty cozy. You will be just fine. Yorkie

[QueenBee]

Blake, your posts give me a chuckle. I have lived here all my life minus a few years spent abroad and I've never had to do anything you mentioned. I assure you, you will not have to leave the faucets drip. I have never heard of such a thing. But I do know that they do build houses a lot sturdier up here than in the south. Our houses are insulated well as are our water pipes. We turn off our pipes to our outside water faucets in the fall to make sure those don't freeze and then turn them back on again in the spring. No dripping involved. As I said our houses are built and insulated appropriately for our climate and our windows are better insulated than Southern windows as well, so the homes typically stay pretty warm. I am always cold, so I just put on more clothes. We keep our thermostat set at 70 degrees during the day and I usually wear 2 or 3 shirts to keep warm. But I am a person who thinks that 95 degrees feels great. I also typically wear 2-3 sweatshirts at night and sleep under 3 comforters (that is not a joke).

Keep in mind that even if you like the cold, that our winters are really long and they do get old quick. Visiting during the winter is one thing, but living here means month after month of cold temps. Some people like it, many don't. It's tolerable if you dress appropriately. Invest in a good quality windproof coat and don't be ashamed to wear a scarf and hat; they keep you so much warmer. Good quality boots are nice too. More than the cold, I struggle with the white, barren landscape and the early sunsets. Good luck to you,
Jenny

[yellowsnow]

Originally Posted by blakeb99

well i'm the type who def rathers the cold. i already visited two months ago to check it out and loved it. i did notice that as cold as it was up there, it wasn't as bad inside over there as it is inside my house down here. i thought that was strange, b/c at night it will sometimes get in the forties and be really cold inside the house over here. but up there it didn't seem nearly as cold. i guess we don't know too much about insulation down here. also, what about at night...y'all don't have to leave the faucets drip then since it will be 8 or 10 hours without it running? I don't know too much about plumbing, but i am pretty sure our water pipes are above ground over here.

2 months ago, it was balmy compared to now! I am hoping we will have our 1st night above zero in 16 or 18 days. Doesn't really count for much though because it's windy and IMHO, that just makes it worse. For a while there it looked like a warm winter but it was just an illusion.

Your pipes will be fine. Worry about frostbite!

Buy an electric blanket or matress pad. Crank it up to high 1/2hr or so before bedtime. Get in bed and turn it off. Getting into warm bed makes all the difference in the world!

[MidniteBreeze]

As others have mentioned, no we don't leave our faucents on all winter

Some years back I was down in Texas on spring break and a waitress was asking us the same questions about the pipes freezing. I told her we bury them about 6 feet underground and she just couldn't get over it, lol.

The only time I've heard of people having issues is if they live in a trailer/modular home without a basement. The exposed sections of pipe in the "crawl space" of those homes will have insulating material around them, but if it gets REALLY cold and/or they won't be home for an extended period of time, they may leave one faucet on "drip" mode. Some people have electric "pipe warmers" to use for those situations so they don't have to do the "drip" thing.

But yeah, if you're living in a regular house or apartment building, you really don't need to worry.

Yes, chains are illegal here on public roads (unlike in Colorado, where they're sometimes MANDATORY on mountain passes if there's snow!) A good set of snow tires is not a bad investment though. I would NOT recommend driving a rear-wheel drive vehicle in the winter up here though, especially if you're not used to winter drving. There's a reason 2-wheel drive trucks don't sell well here!

[Minnehahapolitan]

I live in the cities, so I can' speak for outstate areas. Tire chains are for the Rockies, most streets are plowed to a drivable condition before you are ever out of bed. If you are ever stuck in the snow, drive your car in drive, then reverse and wiggle your way out, don't accelerate too fast or you'll be going 60 MPH nowhere, dig a little out if you half to. I have never worried that much about pipes. Do go to Menards and buy a roof rake to keep snow off the first foot of your roof, if there are icicles water can backup under your shingles. If you have the extra cash it is well worth the money to insulate the garage, my family made a weekend out of it once and did it ourselves. Hope I helped, good luck

[blakeb99]

what do you mean by roof rake? do you just hold the rake up to the roof and pull down the snow on top of it? seems like i remember watching a movie... grouchy cold men or something...and i remember the snow fallin off the roof and on top the man. that better not happen to me.

[truckstein]

Grumpy old Men, Good movie, made Wabasha famous! A snow rake is 20' long with a big wide metal rectangle and you pull the snow toward you and off the roof, it can be difficult not to get a little snow on ya. I live in a latitude equal to St. Paul, and our ground freezes solid about the first 4 feet down in the winter, the lakes ice over 12-24" thick, it is usually below freezing for 4 months straight and the record low temps can reach -40 farenhiet, without the windchill!!! It gets MUCH colder in northern Minnesota than southern, but more beautiful up there too. Basements are a must anywhere in upper midwest to not having frozen pipes. I also turn off my water supply coming in from street, and drain my entire house of water before leaving for a long weekend in the winter. This way if the heat goes out, there is no water in the pipes to freeze. A little extreme? Maybe, but I don't want to have to come home to 8,000 gal. of ice water in my house either. I figure it is good insurance. IMO, summer here is awesome, winter here is just something you endure. LOL

[BorderGirl]

Chains aren't required for tires, I've never used them and I don't think anyone in my family (except maybe my uncle) has ever used them. My mom has always had a 4 wheel drive vehicle and my sister and I have rear wheel drive vehicles and we've never had a problem. Just can't go down hills without 4 wheel drive because sometimes you can't get back up again!

As far as the pipes freezing, it does happen. My mom has had to leave the water dripping over night several times this year. The toilet has also gone frozen as well but that is generally a quick fix. Part of our problem is that we remodeled the basement and our contractor covered up previously exposed pipes so we can't warm them up as easily as we used to.

Ah yes, good old roof rakes. They're really important to have when you have heavy snowfall. The weight of the snow builds up and can cause your roof to cave in, or cause dripping in windows without proper insulation, which we experienced the first winter after mom bought the house. All sorts of fun but I love Minnesota more than everything! And on this fine day of 45 degrees here in Utah I'm wondering why I ever left.

[blakeb99]

Originally Posted by BorderGirl

Chains aren't required for tires, I've never used them and I don't think anyone in my family (except maybe my uncle) has ever used them. My mom has always had a 4 wheel drive vehicle and my sister and I have rear wheel drive vehicles and we've never had a problem. Just can't go down hills without 4 wheel drive because sometimes you can't get back up again!

As far as the pipes freezing, it does happen. My mom has had to leave the water dripping over night several times this year. The toilet has also gone frozen as well but that is generally a quick fix. Part of our problem is that we remodeled the basement and our contractor covered up previously exposed pipes so we can't warm them up as easily as we used to.

Ah yes, good old roof rakes. They're really important to have when you have heavy snowfall. The weight of the snow builds up and can cause your roof to cave in, or cause dripping in windows without proper insulation, which we experienced the first winter after mom bought the house. All sorts of fun but I love Minnesota more than everything! And on this fine day of 45 degrees here in Utah I'm wondering why I ever left.

so i wonder what people do in cities like duluth? i visited there and they had some areas of road that were very very steep. guess u in a bind if u dont have 4 wheel drive

[golfgal]

Originally Posted by blakeb99

so i wonder what people do in cities like duluth? i visited there and they had some areas of road that were very very steep. guess u in a bind if u dont have 4 wheel drive

I grew up in Stillwater, also very hilly. They do a fine job on snow removal and ice control so you don't really need a 4 wheel drive, front wheel drive works just fine. Towns with such issues are prepared to handle these things so keep that in mind too.