Which one to turn on.

[wedge40]

We've had a cold snap and to be on the safe side I opened the farthest faucet to let the water dribble a little. My question is whick one do you turn on, cold, hot or both?

Wedge

 

[ncnurseryman]

Any water flowing cold or hot will keep it from freezing.

 

[dave1949]

Turning on either will keep your water supply line to the house from freezing. To keep hot and cold lines from freezing in/under the house from freezing, turn on both.

 

[cqaigy2]

Don't make the same mistake i did. :confused2: Cold snap in western washington, I left my only tap dribble in the sink, not dripping but small dribble and it froze in the sink and worked it's way up to the tap and froze back up into the faucet. Broke the pipe back inside the wall. Granted the cabin wasn't heated.

 

[dave1949]

Don't make the same mistake i did. :confused2: Cold snap in western washington, I left my only tap dribble in the sink, not dripping but small dribble and it froze in the sink and worked it's way up to the tap and froze back up into the faucet. Broke the pipe back inside the wall. Granted the cabin wasn't heated.

Sounds like you were hoping for a miracle on that one. :laughing: I suspect there will be a rash of water line breaks when this deep freeze ends. I don't why, but the leaks seem to happen with the thaw more than initial freezing.

 

[Mickey_Fx]

Turning on either will keep your water supply line to the house from freezing. To keep hot and cold lines from freezing in/under the house from freezing, turn on both.

:thumbsup: and how fast of flow is dependent upon how cold. By the time temps are down in the teens, I have the water flowing so there is a steady flow about half way down the water column before breaking into individual droplets. This is also Dependant upon whether pipes are insulated and running in a heated space or not. Insulated hot water pipe cool with no flow and on those real cold night they will get almost as cold as the cold water pipes if there's not a small flow of water.

At the previous house pipes were not insulated and neither was the crawl space. At our current home pipes are insulated but crawl space isn't.

 

[nybirdman]

Remember the "hot" water will freeze before the cold.Less oxygen.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Remember the "hot" water will freeze before the cold.Less oxygen.

I dont know the reason wheter it is about less oxygen but for sure hot water will freeze first.
Not only do you need to worry about the pipes freezing but if you have commodes, the P trap will freeze in them and bust the ceramic. How to I know this? I have one broken in my shop right now. I usually put a small heater in my bathroom in my unheated shop during cold winter days. At Christmas we left for about 10 days and it was 80F. Brother in law was taking care of animals but I didnt mention putting on a heater for cold as there was not prediction of artic blast coming when we left. It got down to 15F according to BIL while we were gone but since we were in Houston and warm, I didnt think about freezing. Strangely, the water lines to the sink didnt freeze but I noticed water standing about the commode and thought frozen water lines but no leaks. Checked by feeling around the lines and commode and didnt see a leak and it still worked. I mopped up the water and a few days later I noticed a small amount on the floor again. This time I got on my knees and with a flashlight looked behind the commode and the back side had spider web cracks at the top of the P trap. It hasnt shattered out a big chunk and still functions, holds water in the bowl etc. Wife is supposed to pick one up at Lowes today for replacement.
Luckily I have a very cheap toilet to replace ($49 original cost) and not one of my $400 ones in the house.

 

[unbidden]

Would plug in heated pipe wraps be an option?

 

[charlz]

I don't why, but the leaks seem to happen with the thaw more than initial freezing.

Because often the pipe breaks and freezes. When it thaws it starts to leak. If it stays frozen it can't leak.