Hi everyone,

With the freeze coming to TX (coldest we have experienced in the current house), we got into a debate of putting faucets to drip while temps are below freezing vs shutting the watermain, and draining (attempting to drain) the system.

We have a whole house filter (3M AP903) on the outside of the house, 4 hose outlets about 3ft above ground each (which are the lowest draining points), a crawlspace (pier on beam foundation) but there are no draining points there. Gas heater in the attic.

The current forecast is that we would be below 32F for 38 hrs:

Sunday 11pm: 32F
Monday 9am: 21F
Monday 4pm: 29F
Monday 11pm: 20F
Tuesday 7am: 14F
Tuesday 2pm: 32F

I am thinking dripping would be a safer bet since we can not properly drain the system. We already insulated the filter (there is no bypass although there is a large Watts bronze thing with a valve before and a valve after, just before the filter head - not sure what it is). We used old blankets with plastic on top to insulate all external pipes. We are not insulating pipes in the crawlspace, although we would close the ventilation vents to retain temps while its cold outside.

We are not planning to drip the external garden hose faucets - just disconnected the hoses. My main concern with dripping is not being able to drip the line coming to the washing machine, I guess I should disconnect it and drip it as well?

What do y'all say?

Wishing all to stay warm and cozy, and dry!!
Mark

you can't drip the outside faucets it the temperature is going to be 14 deg F.
fill yourself some buckets of water to flush the toilet and have water to cook with.
then turn off the main and drain what you can.
WARNING... this is not a time to worry about saving money on you heating.
turn the heat up high and get the house nice and warm.
if you have a space heater, put it in the crawl space as close as practical to the pipes.
turn it on now to get the crawl space as warm as possible.
P/S, i'm up here in new england and have dealt with many, many freeze-ups. they are not very pleasant..
also, i would take the outside filter apart like you were changing the cartridge.

good luck

? why would one build a cave and leave the utilities outside ?

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"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638

Thanks Packy! Should the water heater tank be drained by hose or it’ll drain via closest hot water faucet?

Thanks,
Mark

Yeah! I guess building codes don’t (and neither the builders) consider 1-in-30 yrs events as credible to do things right. Quite unfortunate.

you need to drain some water out of the water heater and open the hot water faucets to let air into the piping. you only need to take about a 5 gallon bucket out of the heater to drain the piping above it.
remember to shut the power to the heater as well.
with some water left in the heater you can take out a bucket or two during this cold spell so you can (if you want to) take a GI shower.
BTW, after this is all over, post back for directions to turn everything back on
it is not complicated but there is a procedure to follow to avoid getting debris into the system.

@ OP,

follow packy's advice

+

I guess the cowboys were wasting their time with HEAVY bedrolls and banked fires at night since it seldom gets below freezing in Texas.


It breaks my heart to see the 'modern' code(s).


IMO: they do NOT meet the minimum requirement(s) for human occupation as they evidently do NOT allow for routine weather

==============================================

"Measure Twice & Cut Once" - Retired U.A. Local 1 & 638



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