For those who live in cold climates

morningmud
morningmud Posts: 477 Member
in Chit-Chat
Do you guys have to turn your faucets on to let them drip when the temps fall below freezing? We are always told to do that here in Georgia to prevent pipes freezing and bursting but we don't get that many below freezing days here. It just seems like you guys would waste an awful lot of water when the majority of your winter nights are below freezing. Surely you guys have better insulated pipes or something...
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Replies

  • know_your_worth
    know_your_worth Posts: 481 Member
    LOL .....I live in Alaska. It averages -40 during the December-February.

    No, we don't leave the water on. The pipes are insulated so they don't freeze.
  • verptwerp
    verptwerp Posts: 3,629 Member
    No, I don't have to do that here in lower NY ..... it's below freezing a lot, but the house is well-insulated :drinker:
  • TylerJ76
    TylerJ76 Posts: 4,375 Member
    No.
    I turn the heat on.
    :tongue:
  • AmyFett
    AmyFett Posts: 1,607 Member
    Nope. I had to at one place we lived in because they were stupid. But I live in New Hampshire, and no, we don't leave the water on. Down south, they're probably just not insulated well enough?
  • corn63
    corn63 Posts: 1,580 Member
    You can purchase insulating tape for pipes. The only issue you'd have though would be the pipes that are exposed to the outside temps such as an outside faucet. But we just close off the water from inside the house that supplies to the faucet and it's good. Temps in the winter here and get to -40 with the wind chill.
  • smiley245
    smiley245 Posts: 420 Member
    We don't let them drip though for the outdoor taps we shut off the water supply to it and let it drain out.
  • skullshank
    skullshank Posts: 4,323 Member
    Nope. I had to at one place we lived in because they were stupid. But I live in New Hampshire, and no, we don't leave the water on. Down south, they're probably just not insulated well enough?

    *waves* oh hi fellow new hampshirian
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    Do you guys have to turn your faucets on to let them drip when the temps fall below freezing? We are always told to do that here in Georgia to prevent pipes freezing and bursting but we don't get that many below freezing days here. It just seems like you guys would waste an awful lot of water when the majority of your winter nights are below freezing. Surely you guys have better insulated pipes or something...

    I live in north Florida now, but I grew up in NY. We never had to do that and I don't do it here, even when it falls into the teens in the winter. But I have a friend in Jacksonville who used to live in a trailer and her pipes would freeze on cold nights if she didn't do that.

    Is your house nnot well insulated or something?
  • Faintgreeneyes
    Faintgreeneyes Posts: 729 Member
    No, us new englanders do not have to keep our faucets running- mainly because our pipes up here are insulated to accommodate the cold weather that we get for 6 months out of the year.

    I am thinking because you live in GA, your pipes aren't insulated, thus them telling you to keep the water dripping.
  • taylor5877
    taylor5877 Posts: 1,792 Member
    I work for a water well company in the south...by all means don't insulate your pipes or well head when it gets cold.


    We made a BUNCH of money off customers 2 winters ago when it got into the teens here in SE Texas. Lots of folks burned up submersible pumps (OUCH).
  • RGv2
    RGv2 Posts: 5,789 Member
    I LOL'd.

    Live in Minnesota. I turn the outside water off in the basement. I only turn it on to flood, or resurface my hockey rink.
  • vim_n_vigor
    vim_n_vigor Posts: 4,089 Member
    No, our homes are better insulated and the pipes are better insulated. The only time we will turn on our faucets at all is for an extreme freeze and then usually only for a few hours.
  • AReasor
    AReasor Posts: 355 Member
    The only time we had to do this was when they decided to replace the water lines on our street at the beginning of winter.
  • morningmud
    morningmud Posts: 477 Member
    Is your house nnot well insulated or something?

    I guess so but this is just a general statement they make on the news when we get freeze warnings. Not that we are anywhere near getting a freeze warning; that's still pretty far from now.
  • smiley245
    smiley245 Posts: 420 Member
    Do you guys have to turn your faucets on to let them drip when the temps fall below freezing? We are always told to do that here in Georgia to prevent pipes freezing and bursting but we don't get that many below freezing days here. It just seems like you guys would waste an awful lot of water when the majority of your winter nights are below freezing. Surely you guys have better insulated pipes or something...

    I live in north Florida now, but I grew up in NY. We never had to do that and I don't do it here, even when it falls into the teens in the winter. But I have a friend in Jacksonville who used to live in a trailer and her pipes would freeze on cold nights if she didn't do that.

    Is your house nnot well insulated or something?

    Not all our pipes just the one the leads to the garden. (We have a house with a fully finished insulated basement, no trailer.)
    Our home inspector told us to do this to prevent the water from freezing in the tap portion that leads to the exterior.
    We figured it was easier just to do this, than to risk burst pipes in an exterior wall. Chances of it actually hapening? I have no clue.
    We live in Canada, seems to be a common thing to do over here...?
  • summertime_girl
    summertime_girl Posts: 3,945 Member
    My first "house" was really something that should have been a seasonal beach rental. It was not insulated at all! We had to leave the water dripping there, or the pipes would have burst.

    Ah, fond memories of that place in the summer. Not so much in the winter.
  • jenjersnapco
    jenjersnapco Posts: 206 Member
    Ditto. We do turn off and drain the faucet to the outside and lawn sprinkler system every fall as a precaution.
    No, our homes are better insulated and the pipes are better insulated. The only time we will turn on our faucets at all is for an extreme freeze and then usually only for a few hours.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    Do you guys have to turn your faucets on to let them drip when the temps fall below freezing? We are always told to do that here in Georgia to prevent pipes freezing and bursting but we don't get that many below freezing days here. It just seems like you guys would waste an awful lot of water when the majority of your winter nights are below freezing. Surely you guys have better insulated pipes or something...

    I live in north Florida now, but I grew up in NY. We never had to do that and I don't do it here, even when it falls into the teens in the winter. But I have a friend in Jacksonville who used to live in a trailer and her pipes would freeze on cold nights if she didn't do that.

    Is your house nnot well insulated or something?

    Not all our pipes just the one the leads to the garden. (We have a house with a fully finished insulated basement, no trailer.)
    Our home inspector told us to do this to prevent the water from freezing in the tap portion that leads to the exterior.
    We figured it was easier just to do this, than to risk burst pipes in an exterior wall. Chances of it actually hapening? I have no clue.
    We live in Canada, seems to be a common thing to do over here...?

    In the 28 years I lived in New York (including Buffalo), no one ever said to do that and we never did. I dunno. I guess better a higher water bill than having to replace the pipes, though! You can winterize them. Have you tried that? Or do you have to winterize all the pipes if you do that?
  • KristysLosing
    KristysLosing Posts: 683
    That is a negative here in WI.
  • lavieboheme1229
    lavieboheme1229 Posts: 448 Member
    Nope. I had to at one place we lived in because they were stupid. But I live in New Hampshire, and no, we don't leave the water on. Down south, they're probably just not insulated well enough?

    This. We have special pipes in our house made of something so they expand and contract and don't freeze or burst. We also have this pink stuff in our walls called Installation. Keeps the cold out.

    Houses down south aren't built the same way, so there are different worries. For example- you have central air. we don't. if it's too hot upstairs to sleep, you sleep in the living room. Or the one room where there is a window unit.
  • californiagirl2012
    californiagirl2012 Posts: 2,625 Member
    LOL .....I live in Alaska. It averages -40 during the December-February.

    No, we don't leave the water on. The pipes are insulated so they don't freeze.

    Same here. We live about an hour away from Truckee CA where it snows and is not quite as cold as Truckee and it's the same as the others here, we do not leave our water on. Insulation and under ground pipes take care of them so they do not freeze. :)
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    Nope. I had to at one place we lived in because they were stupid. But I live in New Hampshire, and no, we don't leave the water on. Down south, they're probably just not insulated well enough?

    This. We have special pipes in our house made of something so they expand and contract and don't freeze or burst. We also have this pink stuff in our walls called Installation. Keeps the cold out.

    Houses down south aren't built the same way, so there are different worries. For example- you have central air. we don't. if it's too hot upstairs to sleep, you sleep in the living room. Or the one room where there is a window unit.

    Some houses up north have central air and some houses in the South don't. Just sayin'.

    And I have never had to run water in the South to keep my pipes from bursting and it's gotten into the teens many times since I moved here. Maybe in older homes down here more than more modern ones. I can't say for sure, but it's not an issue I've ever had in the North or the South.
  • mamakira
    mamakira Posts: 366
    It is very cold where I live (Sweden) but the pipes in our "normal" house are good insolated. We also have a farm upper north, there we empty the pipes during wintertime and get all our water from the well. Yes, you read right, a lot of work. :smile: So we just don´t use that much water then.
  • gomisskellygo
    gomisskellygo Posts: 635 Member
    Nope. I had to at one place we lived in because they were stupid. But I live in New Hampshire, and no, we don't leave the water on. Down south, they're probably just not insulated well enough?

    This! I am from NH too:)

    If we lose power than yes, you turn the faucet on a slow drip to prevent pipes from freezing. But like another poster said our pipes are insulated. The homes where you live may not insulate the pipes, so you probably should let the faucet drip.
  • Im_NotPerfect
    Im_NotPerfect Posts: 2,181 Member
    I live in NE Wisconsin and No...we do NOT do that! LOL I do know some people who wrap their pipes, but not many. Around here pipes tend to burst only if it's below zero for weeks at a time.
  • gomisskellygo
    gomisskellygo Posts: 635 Member
    Nope. I had to at one place we lived in because they were stupid. But I live in New Hampshire, and no, we don't leave the water on. Down south, they're probably just not insulated well enough?

    *waves* oh hi fellow new hampshirian

    Hi, I am another one!!
  • mdsjmom98
    mdsjmom98 Posts: 333 Member
    We have an old house, and it's not very well insulated. I live in Illinois, so we've been known to have a few cold winters!! Typically what we do is wrap our pipes with insulation (stuff you can get at Lowe's) Seems to work pretty well for us. Our kitchen sink is on an east wall, and there are times when we open up the cabinet below the sink, and it feels like a mini fridge. Haven't had any pipes freeze since we've been there.
  • DannyMussels
    DannyMussels Posts: 1,842 Member
    Our winters are -30C with wind up to -50, never left water running.

    I lived a few miles outta town and our kitchen ones actually froze once or twice (strong winds on the kitchen side of the house) anyway, opening the cupboards under the sink thawed them fast.

    Some people in the country insulate outdoor pipes in the winter by throwin bales of hey over the ground where they run. I assume these are people with wells.
  • lesita75
    lesita75 Posts: 379 Member
    I live in Minne-SNOW-ta (couldn't help it) and I have never had to do that. Perhaps there are differences in building codes between cold and warm climates.
  • gomisskellygo
    gomisskellygo Posts: 635 Member
    Our winters are -30C with wind up to -50, never left water running.

    I lived a few miles outta town and our kitchen ones actually froze once or twice (strong winds on the kitchen side of the house) anyway, opening the cupboards under the sink thawed them fast.

    Some people in the country insulate outdoor pipes in the winter by throwin bales of hey over the ground where they run. I assume these are people with wells.

    Those temps make New Hampshire feel tropical! Brrrrrr!

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