For those who live in cold climates

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  • doobabe
    doobabe Posts: 436 Member
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    As an insurance agent, that sees "burst pipe" claims regularly, no its not a good idea to leave your water on.... However, you should definately turn it off, at the main pipe coming into your home IF you dont use the water for extended periods of time. This is what my seasonal clients do to prevent pipes from bursting. When they freeze, they usually burst and thats a mess.

    Even insulated pipes will freeze & burst if it gets cold enough!

    That said, it needs to be REALLY cold for pipes to freeze, unless your in a "trailer" or poorly insulated home..... And it would typically take a few days of inactivity in sub zero weather for them to start to freeze.
  • loserbaby84
    loserbaby84 Posts: 241 Member
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    Insulation - I've also seen electric current in extreme cases like out of the city and such for the country folks :)

    That would be an awful water bill I'm thinkin!

    Cheers!
  • CyclngChick
    CyclngChick Posts: 57 Member
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    Yay New Hampshire!
  • LeslieC1970
    LeslieC1970 Posts: 160
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    No from Ontario.
  • melduf
    melduf Posts: 468 Member
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    I live in Quebec, Canada. The temperature goes form -30 Celcius in the winter to +30 in the summer.

    Our landloard always warns us in december not to completly close the heating when we leave for the holidays. As long as the temperature stays around 15, its fine.
  • BeSophisticate
    BeSophisticate Posts: 132
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    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.

    Huh? We have central air here in Michigan. Of course, it'll depend on the age of your house. The house I grew up in was 100 years old back then, so yeah, that house didn't have central air.

    And no, I've never left the taps on, though I do remember leaving a drip going a couple times in the old farm house when I was a kid. Even then, it was only a couple times when the temps dropped to around 20 below.

    However, if I go anywhere during the winter, I never just turn the heat off. We always leave the heat on (but lower) so the pipes don't freeze.
  • morningmud
    morningmud Posts: 477 Member
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    Since when is Georgia a cold climate? Haha talk to me when it's negative 14 outside with a wind chill!

    (Although the person from Alaska win this thread)

    And no I don't do that wouldn't you use your water enough that your pipes won't freeze? If I go away I turn off the water for this reason but I think you're fine if you're living there. All you're doing by leaving it on is increasing your water and/or heating bill

    I wasn't saying that it's cold here; it's often in the 80's in January here. I'm saying that because I live in a warm climate, that we are told to do that and I am wondering how things are in the land of the cold.
  • morningmud
    morningmud Posts: 477 Member
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    Omg, I would die without central air! Just die!!!
  • denezy
    denezy Posts: 573 Member
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    I live north of North Dakota and Minnesota. Yes it is snowing here today.

    If you go away in the winter I would either have someone come over to run your water or turn it off and empty the pipes. I do know a few people who have had their pipes burst in the winter due to freezing.

    Side note: I buy expensive gas in the winter because if your gas lines freeze that is a HUGE pain in the *kitten*. And I plug in my car.
  • kelly_e_montana
    kelly_e_montana Posts: 1,999 Member
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    I live in a Victorian era house, so yes, I do leave my pipes on when it gets below zero. I have had my pipes freeze once or twice, but it was -10 or -20 and I was gone for a couple of days without running the water.
  • kittyhasclaws
    kittyhasclaws Posts: 446 Member
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    Not for indoor taps. We're getting our outdoor and sprinkler system taps blown out on Saturday, though. We've already had snow, so it's definitely time. Now, I just need to get the trees wrapped...
  • BlackKat75
    BlackKat75 Posts: 210 Member
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    And I plug in my car.

    I grew up in Canada and my car that I took to college (down here in the States) had a plug for a block heater in the front. Everyone that my total beater of a car was electric :laugh:
  • Leannek74
    Leannek74 Posts: 374 Member
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    I live in Edmonton, Canada..... nope, we don't do that!
  • denezy
    denezy Posts: 573 Member
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    And I plug in my car.

    I grew up in Canada and my car that I took to college (down here in the States) had a plug for a block heater in the front. Everyone that my total beater of a car was electric :laugh:

    People from elsewhere who come to Winnipeg always ask if everyone has electric cars. :laugh:
  • rob1976
    rob1976 Posts: 1,328 Member
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    When I lived up north in Wisconsin, we only did it for the outside faucets since they weren't insulated.
  • ArtemisXXII
    ArtemisXXII Posts: 42
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    Depending on the year Connecticut can drop below freezing a lot or a bit, but when it does we don't leave the water running. Heck we have our thermostat set to 60 and considering the age of my house (100+ years old) the pipes do pretty well. It's probably just that in Georgia your pipes aren't insulated for cold temperatures like ours are. A hardware store should have insulation you can put on your pipes.
  • emmie0622
    emmie0622 Posts: 167 Member
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    Chicago weather for me, never have done that though I have heard if you go away for an extended period of time in cold weather to do that
  • maddymama
    maddymama Posts: 1,183 Member
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    I live in Texas, but grew up in Maryland. In Maryland, our pipes were insulated and we never had to drop the pipes. In Texas, we drip the faucets whenever it gets to hard freeze.

    A few years ago it got cold here (like a high of 14 degrees) for 3 days. Our pipes froze and burst on the second day and flooded our house (and caused about $35,000 in damages). The thing that sucks is that it was a bathtub pipe on an interior wall that froze and burst. I had the exterior pipes dripping and cabinets opened. I did what I was supposed to do.

    Our plan for the next deep freeze is to stop the water at the street, drain the pipes, and stay with my in-laws for a few days. I do not want to repeat that experience again. It sucked!

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