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[email protected] trader4@optonline.net is offline
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Default What does it take to freeze pipes?

The big factors here are how cold it gets and how exposed the pipes in
question are. And how exposed is going to vary a lot depending on
construction, wind speed/direction, etc. If it got down to a low of
30 overnight for a few hours and the most exposure is just an outside
sillcock that comes out of the wall, I wouldn't be worried.

Here at my house in NJ, I went away for a week in Jan. While I was
away, near the end of my trip, we had several days here where the temps
were down into the low teens at night, and only in the mid 20's during
the day. During that time, the furnace went out. For how long, I
don't know, but suspect it was for a couple days right before I
returned. The house is of frame construction, about 22 years old, with
a full basement. I had a electronic thermometer sitting on the counter
in the kitchen, which is at the south end. It recorded a low of 32.
The only problem was in the master bath at the north end of the house,
also on the first floor. There, the cold water supply line to the
bottom of the toilet, where it connects with a plastic nut had sprung a
leak. It wasn't even actually cracked. The supply line comes up from
the basement via an exterior wall.

So, obviously, it got colder in that end of the house. I was very
lucky, as the leak although a constant stream, was small and while I
had water on the floor and water on the basement floor as well, there
was no damage to the tile, etc.

But, the real issue in all this is if it gets cold enough in an area
with a house with no heat to be worried about, I'd winterize or make
arrangements to avoid having to make panic mode trips because very cold
weather is on the way.