A friend of mine (Western, NY) had the electric shut off, on Thursday March 01. The power company will turn it back on, after the Welfare worker gets around to faxxing over a voucher. Which could be Monday, and it could be days later than that.
In the meantime, an old drafty house sits with no furnace. It will be in the twenties tonight, and below Zero on Monday night the 5th going into the 6th.
The hot water heater (yeah, I know, you don't have to heat hot water) is natural gas. The stove is electric. The neighbors won't let him run an extension cord over, to power the furnace. He doesn't have a generator.
The only two heat sources in the house at present are a camp stove, probably 2,500 BTU / hr or so. And some candles.
Any ideas how to keep the house warm enough not to freeze pipes? They are at a motel, tonight.
Aside from renting a generator, not much you can do. There are some heaters that can be used indoors, but they are $100 and up. Kerosene heater, but most are not rated for indoor. If he can't pay the electric, I doubt they have the money for a rental deposit.
Better drain all the plumbing & traps before bug-out.
Or... as long as I'm paying the electric bill(as a New York Tax Payer) for your friend, & I'll assume I'm picking up the tab for the natural gas & water bills too, I'll tell you how to fritter away some more of my money:
Instead of an extension cord, borrow as much garden hose as he can, run it throughout the house in the areas most susceptible to freezing in one continuous loop, terminating in a sink or drain. Let the hose fill/run slowly connected to the hot water tap furthest from the heater.
For even better heat retention, fill the bathtub with the loose/drain end of the hose and let the cooled water go out the overflow(adjust the flow rate accordingly).
I suggest that your friend IMMEDIATELY NOTIFY the utility company and the NY State Public Service Commisssion (PSC) of the law in New York regarding "Your Rights as a Residential Gas, Electric or Steam Customer Under the Home Energy Fair Practices Act" :
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Pertinent excerpts:
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"Reconnection of Service
"If your service has been shut off for non-payment, the utility has to turn service back on within 24 hours, where possible, in the following situations:
*
*
where the utility is notified that serious harm to health or safety is likely to result if service is not reconnected (see Special Protections below);
or when directed by the PSC."
and
"Special Protections
"Special protections are available for consumers with medical emergencies; or who are elderly, blind or disabled; and TO ALL CONSUMERS DURING THE COLD WEATHER PERIOD BETWEEN NOVEMBER 1 AND APRIL 15." [Emphasis added.]
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That's not going to keep your pipes from freezing but try getting in touch with these folks; it sounds like they have experience and could offer help and/or advice:
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Public Utility Law Project
194 Washington Avenue, Suite 420 Albany, NY 12210 Phone: 518-449-3375
This last one sounds to me like a terrible idea. Many, most or all overflows barely drain at all. I don't know why -- they look big -- but I have tested and barely anything flows out.
If one wanted to fill the tub, he could do it from the tub's own faucet, and when it gets close to the top, turn off the water and make sure it's not dripping. If it is dripping even some, being away from the house for 12 hours or mroe could easily lead to lots of overflow.
Then let the water from the sink faucets run into the sinks themselves. Again don't count on the overflow accepting more than a few drops, although that's probably enough to keep the pipe from freezing.
But there is a furhter problem. most of my faucets when left running slowly gradually run more slowly until they don't run at all. To make sure they don't stop running, they would have to be left on more than the overflow could handle. And if they can progressively run more slowly, I would think some would gradually run more quickly, so if a faucet were set to run no faster than the overflow can handle, it might start running faster later.
And none of this takes care of the toilets. The water supply to the tanks could be turned off, and the tanks emptied by flushing, but the built-in trap could still freeze and break the toilet. how does one drain a trap? Better to put some sort of antifreeze in it. They may not have ethylene glycol handy, but as I posted about before, anything that dissolves will have some effect. I didn't want to use salt in my car, and others thought sugar was bad (though no one gave a reason) but they will both work in a toilet. A mixture of both is probably even more effective. That is, a cup of salt and a cup of sugar would be iiuc much more effective than two cups of either one of them. And add some rubbing alcohol. It won't evaporate when cold, unlike in the car's radiator (although I think alcohol would have lasted for a few weeks there too.)
I find that working keeps me warm. Maybe going out and getting stuff to winterize it, will help. It will make the welfare money( every one say "You're Welcome") go further, and get one bill (heat) a little more undercontrol. So good old hard work, winterining the property sounds great.
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