At 3 AM and 3? , the water was fine . At 6:30 and 1? it was frozen (only in the camper , The Shed water is fine) . Apparently the insulation I covered the short vertical run of hose wasn't quite enough and I shoulda left a faucet dripping . Well , now I know how cold it needs to get before I need to drip the faucet .
Well, thanks for the update -- but we do not remember whether you are in Michigan or Georgia.
Surprise ! It isn't frozen where I expected , apparently the hose is frozen where it runs under the connecting hall between the camper and the faucet under the house . I have my backup in place and hooked up , but it runs across open ground and will be disconnected as soon as I thaw the regular hose . I see I need to insulate , I think I'll lay some batts over the hose . And leave it dripping at predicted temps below 20? .
I got up this morning and my water was also frozen. I live in central NC and it was only 10 deg F here. The well house is about 100 feet from the house. It was frozen in the well house that has a small bladder tank and above ground pump. Typical single row of bricks and wood roof with a layer of shingles. Probably about 4x5 feet and the brick part 3 feet or so high. First time in the 10 years I lived there it did this.
I put a 150 watt flood ligh in the well house and in about an hour I had water in the house.
I am wondering if what I did this summer may have caused this. The bladder tank (that is only a gallon or two) started loosing its air , so I installed a larger (around 5 ot 7 gallon) tank under the house where it is about 100 feet away from the well house. I did leave the lod tank in the well house. We do not use much water as it it is just my wife and I in the house.
North central Arkansas , up on the Ozark Plateau , elevation about 1500 ft . Turns out the hose was frozen under the camper , I thought that area would stay above freezing . It will now , I put a 250W halogen work light under there - should also warm the floor up a little . I also built an insulated box to cover the vertical part of the hose instead of the cobbled insulation I had there . Doesn't insulate any better but it's prettier .
The hose didn't burst , but when I was pulling it out so I could bring it indoors to thaw I bent it . It broke . I have my spare under there now , and will pick up another spare next time I go to town .
I doubt that your changes caused this , if it's only a single layer of brick and a roof with no insulation . Twenty bucks worth of 1" foam insulation and a 60w light bulb will solve your problem probably down to below zero . Use silicone to stick it to the bricks , construction adhesive melts the foam .
Having the faucet "drip" may not do anything but make an icicle before the line freezes. You need to run a stream of water, the colder the temperature the faster the stream.
Thanks , but I think I have this under control . The idea is to NOT have to have a faucet running all night and wasting water . Having figured out where the water supply froze and why , I have taken steps to prevent this in the future . FWIW it was fine at 3? , that last 2? or 3? is what made the difference . Oh , and it didn't freeze where I expected , but in another place that was totally unexpected .
If you have a septic, this may not be a good idea. If the septic and drain bed fill with water and freeze, you have a worse problem.
A place I used to live, had a septic ONLY for the toilet and kitchen sink. Gray water (bathtub laundry and bathroom sink) just ran out a pipe down a hill.
I left the water run slowly for several days during a cold spell in the bathroom sink. The next thing I found was the bathtub overflowing all over the floor. The slow water probably never got to the end of that pipe before freezing.
Then I could not use any water in those fixtures. The 4" PVC pipe was solid ice all the way from the house to the end of it. (about 40ft.). A month later when we had a warmer day, I managed to modify some pipes and just run that water right out into the yard till Spring.
In Spring, I had to dig up and replace the split and cracked pipes. No Fun!
Even with my septic, last winter I had the line to the septic freeze. I had to have someone come with a power snake. It turned out there was a clump of frozen toilet paper in a bend near the house. That pipe is about 2 ft deep, but last winter there were pipes freezing as much as 5 ft. deep.
I DO NOT flush toilet paper down the toilet in freezing weather anymore. I have a covered pail next to the toilet and toss it in there. I just dump it in my burn barrel outside. So far no more problems.
We had the water freeze last winter while we were out of town for Christmas . Good thing too , because as you did we had the drain freeze too . Woulda been truly ugly ...
Him "Rat Cheer!" Dam boy, eberbody know dat.
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