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re: Remember to drip yo water bruh. Wind chill of 2 degrees tonight.

Posted on 1/16/18 at 11:14 pm to
Posted by DownshiftAndFloorIt
Here
Member since Jan 2011
72881 posts
Posted on 1/16/18 at 11:14 pm to
I tie the flapper up and barely crack the supply line valve. Accomplishes the same thing but wastes less water.
Posted by Jim Rockford
Member since May 2011
106119 posts
Posted on 1/16/18 at 11:27 pm to
I tried several ways of doing that. I wanted it to just trickle but it seemed to run wide open or not at all.
Posted by slackster
Houston
Member since Mar 2009
91874 posts
Posted on 1/16/18 at 11:36 pm to
quote:

Nope. It's the major benefit. The water coming into the house is much warmer than freezing because it's in the ground. Keeping that warm(er) water in your pipes is what stops them from freezing and busting. You can't relieve the pressure of ice.


Insurance Institute for Business & Home Safety says otherwise:

quote:

Letting a faucet drip during extreme cold weather can prevent a pipe from bursting. It’s not that a small flow of water prevents freezing; this helps, but water can freeze even with a slow flow. Rather, opening a faucet will provide relief from the excessive
pressure that builds between the faucet and the ice blockage when freezing occurs. If there is no excessive water pressure, there is no burst pipe, even if the water inside the pipe freezes.
A dripping faucet wastes some water, so only pipes vulnerable
to freezing (ones that run through an unheated or unprotected space) should be left with the water flowing. The drip can be very slight. Even the slowest drip at normal pressure will provide pressure relief when needed. Where both hot and cold lines serve a spigot, make sure each one contributes to the drip,
since both are subjected to freezing. If the dripping stops, leave the faucet(s) open, since a pipe may have frozen and will still need pressure relief


Posted by Jim Rockford
Member since May 2011
106119 posts
Posted on 1/16/18 at 11:37 pm to
Good idea. Thanks
Posted by Napoleon
Kenna
Member since Dec 2007
74900 posts
Posted on 1/16/18 at 11:46 pm to
How are they separate? Running hot runs the hot water line.running hot runs the cold water line by having the heater draw in more cold water.

This post was edited on 1/16/18 at 11:53 pm
Posted by TigerstuckinMS
Member since Nov 2005
33687 posts
Posted on 1/16/18 at 11:48 pm to
quote:

Nope. It's the major benefit. The water coming into the house is much warmer than freezing because it's in the ground. Keeping that warm(er) water in your pipes is what stops them from freezing and busting. You can't relieve the pressure of ice.



Nah, fam.

The open faucet creates an open system that allows expanding ice to push water out and make room for itself, thus avoiding pressure buildup. It has nothing to do with preventing freezing as the main goal and everything to do with preventing bursting if freezing happens.

Science is hard.
This post was edited on 1/16/18 at 11:51 pm
Posted by CroakaBait
Gulf Coast of the Land Mass
Member since Nov 2013
4098 posts
Posted on 1/17/18 at 12:05 am to
quote:

Will leaving a drip on the hot water side damage my tankless heater?

I have an electric tankless in the attic, so in order to drip the hot water line without engaging the electricity and having the elements heating for hours on end, I yank the ac disconnect pullout in the service box located in my laundry room. I normally do this before bedtime and then plug the pullout back in the next morning when I need hot water again. It’s a little inconvenient, but it beats having that line in the attic bursting.
This post was edited on 1/17/18 at 12:21 am
Posted by tLSU
Member since Oct 2007
8692 posts
Posted on 1/17/18 at 12:10 am to
Completely wrong, as stated above.
Posted by K E V 8 4
Member since Jul 2010
628 posts
Posted on 1/17/18 at 6:28 am to
quote:

Nah, but it helps.


Thanks for educating people. For all those saying wind chill doesn't matter, you better bet your arse that wind will increase the rate of heat transfer and it does matter. Do any of y'all even "heat transfer" bro? I'm old, but I think that's the way to do that, right?
Posted by Tiger in NY
Neptune Beach, FL
Member since Sep 2003
31666 posts
Posted on 1/17/18 at 7:47 am to
quote:

Raised, old homes are a problem.



Om, now this I can understand. A raised home with exposed pipes underneath would be an issue.
Posted by DownshiftAndFloorIt
Here
Member since Jan 2011
72881 posts
Posted on 1/17/18 at 8:16 am to
That shite is wrong.

Leave your pipes dripping slow enough for the valve to freeze up and see what happens. The ice isn't going to get pushed out of the valve by the water behind it, the valve is just going to split from the ice expanding inside of it. Ice doesn't flow like water. If it freezes you're fricked. Preventing freezing is absolutely the goal.
Posted by WaWaWeeWa
Member since Oct 2015
15714 posts
Posted on 1/17/18 at 8:33 am to
quote:

The cabin I go to in Vermont just drips the cold water, and that place deals with 0 degrees regularly. If you have the heat on in your house, I really think this seems silly down here. If anything, I could maybe see dripping the outside bibs.


You do realize they build things differently in Vermont right?
Posted by WaWaWeeWa
Member since Oct 2015
15714 posts
Posted on 1/17/18 at 8:41 am to
quote:

Nope. It's the major benefit. The water coming into the house is much warmer than freezing because it's in the ground. Keeping that warm(er) water in your pipes is what stops them from freezing and busting. You can't relieve the pressure of ice.


I agree with you here. The pipe doesn’t freeze, the water inside the pipe freezes. Constantly replacing that water with warmer water doesn’t allow it to freeze. Doesn’t seem that difficult.

I dripped my lines, my pipes didn’t freeze. My dad down the street forgot to drip his pipes, this morning he has zero water pressure, all pipes frozen

It’s really not hard to understand
Posted by AlxTgr
Kyre Banorg
Member since Oct 2003
88029 posts
Posted on 1/17/18 at 8:44 am to
quote:

Shouldn't you turn on both?
Not at my house. Cold only. Hot is a waste. The freeze of my pipes occurs outside, never inside.
Posted by slackster
Houston
Member since Mar 2009
91874 posts
Posted on 1/17/18 at 8:49 am to
quote:

Leave your pipes dripping slow enough for the valve to freeze up and see what happens. The ice isn't going to get pushed out of the valve by the water behind it, the valve is just going to split from the ice expanding inside of it. Ice doesn't flow like water. If it freezes you're fricked. Preventing freezing is absolutely the goal.



1) you want to avoid freezing if St all possible. Dripping helps with this.

2) you really want to avoid a burst/crack. Dripping really helps with this. The ice expands and pushes water out of the open faucet as it does. A frozen pipe isn't a problem if the system has minimal pressure built up.
Posted by WaWaWeeWa
Member since Oct 2015
15714 posts
Posted on 1/17/18 at 8:53 am to
quote:

It has nothing to do with preventing freezing as the main goal and everything to do with preventing bursting if freezing happens.

Science is hard.


It is for you

Let me help you out. Dripping the water will reduce the chances that your pipes freeze by constantly replacing the water in the pipe. T chnically the temperature needed to freeze your pipes should be lower with a dripping faucet. However, if the temperature drops low enough the pipe will freeze regardless. This is where the open system of a drippping pipe is beneficial.
This post was edited on 1/17/18 at 8:58 am
Posted by DownshiftAndFloorIt
Here
Member since Jan 2011
72881 posts
Posted on 1/17/18 at 8:56 am to
I don't understand what you're saying with that 2nd point. The valve is the first thing that freezes every time. Once the valve freezes no water is getting by and the ice expanding inside of the valve busts it open.

Disclaimer: I have never read/researched any of this shite and am going off of what it looks like happens.
Posted by Splackavellie
Bayou
Member since Oct 2017
13055 posts
Posted on 1/17/18 at 8:58 am to
I've found another good thing to do is I program the dishwasher to run at some point in the middle of the night.

I drip the pipes as well.

Never had any issues.
Posted by tgrbaitn08
Member since Dec 2007
148031 posts
Posted on 1/17/18 at 9:00 am to
I only let a couple of faucets drip last night. Now I have 2 bathrooms and my kitchen with no water. My laundry room, sunroom, downstairs and upstairs bathrooms have running water.

Posted by WaWaWeeWa
Member since Oct 2015
15714 posts
Posted on 1/17/18 at 9:04 am to
Depends on the design of your plumbing system. Maybe you have mulitple lines coming in from the outside, or lines in the attic.
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