re: preventing freezing pipes

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So I just got under the house. My crawl space is bricked in with small vents throughout - does that change anything? Also, my water main is only about 3 feet of metal total, then pex. Thinking I’ll just use towels and garbage bags for the metal part and drop overnight.

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Yes those facts do make a difference in your favor. Crawl space being largely bricked in - helps to trap heat radiated from the ground/concrete underneath the house helping to protect the pipes - same principle as covering tender plants with a sheet/tarp so as to trap heat radiated from the ground under the tarp.

And as I understand it from others on this board pex is less prone to bursting if frozen than metal pipe.

So you may be fine by insulating your main water line really good and allowing for a slight water drip from a couple indoor faucets, on opposite sides of the house, during the night when temps are in the 20s.

Your pex pipe will expand when frozen, but pex fittings will break.

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I always heard that you set your dish washer to run in the middle of the night and that pulls a lot of new water through your pipes. That’ll help prevent freezes as well. Anybody ever done this?

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Yes - I do it, and I mentioned it in a post on page 1 where I provided the link to the H&G poster from a couple years ago who provided detailed recommendations on freeze proofing your house.

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Your pex pipe will expand when frozen, but pex fittings will break.

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I have Pex in the attic. What should I do besides a slow drip?

I have the same, sitting exposed atop the rafters above my garage. Wind will be 15mph all day blowing the cold air up through the soffits into the attic. Thinking about buying 20 feet of pipe insulation to cover.