02-17-2021, 05:06 PM
RgrF wrote:
Sam - turn on the cold water taps to a drip, constant flow can prevent future freezes.
And do what RgrF suggests now before the power goes out and you lose heat. If you have sufficient pressure, run the water as fast as you can, hot and cold, until you think the pipes have thawed. Then turn on the cold and hot taps so you get a steady trickle.
A couple of years ago our homeowners insurance stopped covering damage from frozen pipes. Therefore when we left home in December for warmer climes I shut off the water to the house and then opened all our taps. I did not drain the hot water heater because I was willing to risk it freezing and also because one hot tap is lower than the top half of the heater. I set our forced air gas furnace to 55° which is adequate to keep the house from freezing even if we hit -40°.