On Jan 20, 7:44*pm, RedDwarf wrote:
I live in a house that was built in 66, it's on a slab (no crawl space
or basement), and it's all copper or galvanized pipe.

I live in Southern Virginia, and it's been freezing lately. We haven't
had any problem with our pipes yet - but a neighbor did. Their
interior pipes burst, but no one was living in the home at the time
(it's for sale) and the heat was off. so that may have factored into
it.

I'm wondering if I have to worry about my pipes freezing below the
slab/under the house. There is also one copper pipe that sticks out
from the foundation about 5 inches. It leads out to some buried pvc
pipe to carry water to the other side of the yard. I have that shut
off (no water going out to the pvc). but i'm worried that the 5 inches
that is exposed just before the shut off valve is in danger.

i'm sure i'm going to get a ton of opinions on this... my girlfriend
thinks letting the water trickle from a faucet in the house is a
waste. she just assumes turning off the water to the house at the
street.

Any thoughts on this would be great. Thanks everyone.

The pipes froze because the heat was totally off. Your pipes won't
freeze if you keep your house heated to a reasonable temp. No need to
boost the temp or end a daytime setback (if you use one) .....heat
flows from your house out through the slab on grade. Are you pipes in
the slab or under the slab? Does the slab have any insulation? Where
are the pipes relative tothe insulation?

If you're worried about the copper pipe that protrudes from the
foundation.....put some closed cell foam insulating tubing over it.
The heat that is drawn from the house by the copper pipe will keep the
water from freezing in the pipe.

Of course whether things freeze will depend on how cold the weather
gets & how long it stays cold.....if you get

Turning the water off at the street will not prevent freezing in your
house unless you drain the water system. I am eluctant to give this
advice......don't listen to your g/f on plumbing issues.

Yeah, leaving a tap running does waste water and only protects those
pipes through which water is actually flowing. A dead-end circuit
exposed to cold for long enough will freeze.

Wasted water is cheap compared to a burst pipe somewhere in the
house.


cheers
Bob