Water pipes partly frozen

[samintx]

But my electricity has stayed on so far the whole time. But heavy sleet so power lines are compromised. John’s don’t flush due to diminished water. Fun times in Texas:RollingEyesSmiley5:

[RgrF]

Sam - turn on the cold water taps to a drip, constant flow can prevent future freezes.

[Speedy]

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°.

[ztirffritz]

If you can fill a bucket of water, you should be able to just pour into in the toilette to make it flush.

[Speedy]

ztirffritz wrote:
If you can fill a bucket of water, you should be able to just pour into in the toilette to make it flush.

From your filled bathtubs. Fill all your bathtubs.

We are in day three of no power but it is above freezing. Texas is one cold mess.

[hal]

I saw a tweet yesterday of a texas bathtub full of water that had a layer of ice on the top - thick enough to support a glass bowl.

brrrr! Hang in there texans! (and transplanted Kansans)

[macphanatic]

Open cabinet doors under sinks.

Make sure that garden hoses are disconnected from spigots. Shut water to the spigots off inside and open outside spigot to allow water to drain.

Allow water to trickle from faucets and shower/tub fixtures.

Close off rooms that don't have plumbing fixtures and aren't needed to be used. The idea is to try to maintain heat in those that either have water or are generating heat (due to people or appliances). Open curtains on sunny side of the house to gather some warmth, although energy efficient windows will limit this benefit. Close curtains at night. Hang blankets, etc over windows to reduce heat loss.

[btfc]

Around here, where temps go well below zero most winters, they recommend running a stream of water the size of a pencil.

[rjmacs]

Stay warm, Suzanne!!

[Zoidberg]

If there's snow (fluffy snow), fill your tub with it and as it melts, bucket it into the toilet tank for flushing water.