Let the Water Run , slowly , and , IT won't freeze !?

[fordy]

.............This is my strategy for tonite and all other freezing nights here in my 5'ver ! I'm letting the water run slowly in the bathroom sink and hopefully it won't freeze outside , the temps here in north central Tx are supposed too get down to around 22f to 25f or so . , fordy

[arabian knight]

Yes it will stop the water from freezing. No question about it.
In fact last year many small towns around me were telling people In Town Now, to let their water run so not to freeze the water lines.
A pencil lead stream is what I always leave running.

[tamsam]

Watch your drain lines if they are outside. Good luck surviving the cold.

[Old Vet]

Well tonight it is supposed to be 18 or so. I well run a small stream after midnight. I doubt that it will freeze before then because I use a lot of water. I only have a frozen pipes around 5 or so but with the stream ruining I never do.

[NCLee]

We leave a small stream of water running when the temps get down to the low teens. That's to help keep the pump from freezing. Pump house isn't as well insulated as we'd like. Plus the possibility that the light bulb we keep in it will burn out.

Agree about watching drain lines. If the drain freezes there'll be a mess at the sink.

As a by the way, water won't freeze, even outside when the temps are in the mid 20's and are that low for only a few hours. When the forecast is 25 that's our signal to disconnect outside hoses and such. Once the temp drops down to 32 degrees or below, it takes a while for the water to freeze. Think about how long it takes to make ice cubes in the freezer. Much faster in a 0 degree standalone freezer than it is in most refrigerators that are normally higher than 0. Considering both the low temp and how long it will stay below freezing is the key.

On another note, for freezing pipes inside the home, opening cabinet doors, especially with sinks on outside walls helps keep the pipes from freezing. Opening the doors allows warm room air to enter the cabinets.

Lee

[seagullplayer]

I am glad I don't have to worry about my pipes when it was 20 F I would have problems all the time!

Mine have froze two times in the 13 years we lived here, once when we had temps below 5 F for about four days with no snow on the ground.
And last year when I had a water leak at the meter and didn't know it, it was during "The Great Ice Store" of 08, it was cold enough for the ice to stay on for several days, we got water back after two. I'm pretty sure if I had left it dripping it would not have got us then...

Dripping at 20 F should do the job.

[foxtrapper]

Running water does not have any magical anti freezing properties. When the thermal energy is removed, it freezes, moving or not.

However, running water in pipes tends not to freeze because the water has come up from the ground, gone through the pipes, and back down the drain before all 40 calories per gram have been removed. The water has lost thermal energy, but not enough to freeze.

The colder it gets, the faster you should run the water through the pipes.

[whistler]

An alternative option for some situations is to open the cabinet doors underneath the sink thereby heating the outside wall containing the pipes.


Whistler

[VERN in IL]

Originally Posted by foxtrapper

Running water does not have any magical anti freezing properties. When the thermal energy is removed, it freezes, moving or not.

To freeze many more hydrogen bonds have to be made between the water molecules making it solid. If the water is moving then these bonds cannot be made or are broken instantly as independently each one is very weak. The force of the water overcomes the bonds easily. So the molecules remain free moving, thus no frozen water pipes.

[foxtrapper]

No, as all those frozen rivers and creeks and such show. Running water freezes just fine. Thermodynamics doesn't change just because the water is flowing.

And flowing water has nothing to do with molecular motion. Those molecules are moving around just fine in still water.

Ya know, icecream making is a good example of this. You're moving it constantly, and it still freezes.

[seagullplayer]

foxtrapper: Running water does not have any magical anti freezing properties.

It is folks like you that take all the fun out of Santa!

[fishhead]

Our streams and rivers stay open far below 32 degrees and I don't think it's groundwater additions. Moving will keep it open at temps below freezing but what is working for the sink is that is warmer than the cold air.

[Gianni]

Originally Posted by whistler

An alternative option for some situations is to open the cabinet doors underneath the sink thereby heating the outside wall containing the pipes.


Whistler

I would do this as well as running water. We have been in the -20's the last few nights and needed nothing special with the water but are well insulated.
I have lived in a few places where you needed to run a summer fan to insure enough warm air circulation to keep pipes from freezing.

[o&itw]

water will not normally freeze untill allthe water gets to 32F. In a river or lake, there is a lot of stored heat down in the ground which it flows thorugh...think of it... soil hardly ever freezes down more than 3 ft. The flow of a river may help keep the water mixed better, and certainly there is some kinetic energy produced by the friction of the flow. The reason water flowing slowly comming out of a faucet doesn't freeze though, is that it is comming from a ground area that is 55F or so. That may be "cold", but it still has a lot of heat to loose before it freezes. Also, it takes a whole lot more energy loss to turn 32 degree water into 32 degree ice, than it takes to turn 33 degree water into 32 degree water.

If one lives in a mobile home, though, they need to be a bit more careful, especialy if they don't have good underpinning. It can get cold enough for the dripping water to get cold enough in exposed drain pipes to build up layersof ice over time, and freeze shut. Then one wakes up with the sink running over

[Freeholder]

Fordy, do you have the fifth-wheel skirted with insulation? That would be the most important thing you could do. Second, as someone has already said, open the cabinet doors so the pipes under the sinks get some heat. And third, leave water running. I don't know how cold it can get there, but if I was living in an RV in the winter, I would want heat tape on the water pipes.

Kathleen

[Bearfootfarm]

now that I live in MN and it gets down to -40ºF -we don't do any such thing

I'd think that houses there are built with cold temps in mind, whereas they are rare in Texas

I've seen places in FLA that dont have ANY type of heat in the homes, because it's so seldom needed

[fordy]

Originally Posted by BlueJuniperFarm

Fordy, do you have the fifth-wheel skirted with insulation? That would be the most important thing you could do. Second, as someone has already said, open the cabinet doors so the pipes under the sinks get some heat. And third, leave water running. I don't know how cold it can get there, but if I was living in an RV in the winter, I would want heat tape on the water pipes.

Kathleen

...............No , it is not skirted ! But , the complete underbelly , is covered and the furnace blows warm air into the compartment where all 3 tanks are housed . So , yes it is skirted in a different format than what your question referred too . , fordy

[big rockpile]

I have all my plumbing running on the inside but I still have to let my water run when it gets around zero.

Our river never freezes it stays around 55 degrees.But yes it is coming from under the ground.Don't feel so bad if you fall in the middle of Winter but sure is cold when you get out

big rockpile

[Hooligan]

Originally Posted by fordy

...............No , it is not skirted ! But , the complete underbelly , is covered and the furnace blows warm air into the compartment where all 3 tanks are housed . So , yes it is skirted in a different format than what your question referred too . , fordy

Sounds like you got it covered.

My plumbing is in an unheated, uninsulated crawl space. It is wrapped with insulation. We're looking at highs of 25 the next week.

[soulsurvivor]

Our house sits on a foundation, no basement, and there are vents that open/close for the airflow. DH installed all new vents this past year and put in the new type of vents that operate automatically with the temperature. We always open the cabinet doors under the sinks when the temp gets to 10 degrees or below. We run a pencil stream of water when the temp gets close to zero. The woodstove keeps everything warm enough even through the flooring.