re: Frozen Pipe Prevention?

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How do people in places like Wisconsin and South Dakota and Toronto avoid this problem?

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With these

Alright so maybe yall can Help me as a first time homeowner who really doesn't know how far to go with this and can't really take notes from my dad cause I don't think he really ever did what he should've (must've got lucky)

Next few days it's not going above 28 here and the low is 8 though most nights are at least 15

The house is well insulated and I have the heavy duty covers on the faucets outside

I have or will have before the severe cold hits all the cabinets under the sinks open and most of the sinks dripping (thermostat is on 65 degrees inside the house)

We have a well insulated 2 story shop separate from the house that has an apartment upstairs where I only keep the heat on 50 degrees cause no one is ever in it so I opened all the cabinets and have all the sinks dripping

In the main house the washer and dryer are in a well insulated room that is heated to 65 degrees but it is an exterior wall, should I do something in there?

Do yall think My measures are enough to make it through about 4 days with temperatures ranging from 28-15 with one night of 8? Is it overkill?

My main concerns are the outside faucets not dripping, feel like I probably need to do that and the washer on the exterior wall

I feel like a dumbass asking all this but I want to be as sure as I can be without being crazy about it, appreciate any help I can get

House is slab

I do have a seperate water line for the shop and there is a drain though, and it's a long story that I'll spare yall the details of, my dad had the shop built and while it's an incredibly nice shop, he had one of his buddies build it

Well the issue is that his buddy is a fricking crook, cuts every corner imaginable and my dad came to realize this as time went on though he already knew it he was just kinda trying to help out a friend with some work. Anyways bc of the potential shoddiness of the lines and what not I don't really trust the drain the drain properly and I just figured I'd go with the old open cabinet and drip method for now


I also wasn't figuring on any 8 degree nights when I decided that, don't get many of those around here

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I'm gonna koozie the spigots and trickle the faucets.

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This is our method. Works every year. Open cabinets to outer walls and drip pipes.

Opening cabinets on a modern house is way overkill/borderline stupid. But still works.


Only year my pipes froze was from my own stupidity. Pool fill line. I turned off hose and fill valve but below valve is still primed with water. I had a nice water feature by my backdoor at around lunchtime.

I've never turned on my outside faucets to drip during the night- I've just wrapped them. Does dripping outside faucets help?

The previous owner of my house installed a shite ton of outside faucets with pvc pipe sticking out of the ground and a faucet mounted on that. I've just wrapped them in the past, but this week is going to be the coldest it's ever been since living in this house.

Should I drip the outside faucets?

ETA- I decided to text a friend who lives in Ohio after I posted this. He said he would let them drip overnight.

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I've got a pain in the arse to reach water heater pipe in my attic. Should I be concerned about it?

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Drip hot water at the furthest faucet in the run.

Especially the copper water line to your fridge ice maker.

It may have been mentioned, but in a jam you can wrap a chemical (the shake type) hand warmer inside a towel next to the pipe/faucet. It Will last for about 10 hours so you may have to replace it for extended cold periods.

A towel alone might not be enough for 18-20 degree nights.