North Texas "cold snap"

[dave1949]

At 6:00 AM this morning, I had one thermometer that said 7.5 and another one that read 5.9. I'm not sure which is the most accurate, but I think it's safe to say it's very cold. Brrrr! So far, no freezing problems, but I'm ready for some warmer weather. I have no intention of operating my tractor, and that's probably a good thing. I'd bet the diesel fuel in it is like jello. I think I bought it over a month ago and had it sitting in cans until Christmas. It was probably formulated for above freezing for sure.

Our low this morning was 11*F, guess you should start going north for the winter PS Bring your shovel.
Dave.

 

[jinman]

Our low this morning was 11*F, guess you should start going north for the winter PS Bring your shovel.
Dave.

Oh Dave...this cold weather just makes me appreciate how our normal weather is even more. I think I can handle this cold snap rather than what you have all winter long. By mid-week here, it's supposed to be back in the 50s during the daytime and no colder than the mid-30s at night. That's shirtsleeve weather compared to now.

 

[Western]

If any of you have ever hunted in Alaska, you'll know that cold temps in the winter don't do anything to the bug population in the summer!!!! The might not be very big, but there sure is allot of them.

Eddie

Good point..

Deer where out early yesterday.. 1:30 in the afternoon, guess they know this routine.

I have one line that is froze, the cold line in the kitchen. I hope it is a "soft" freeze, I had made some decaf last night and I guess I turned the water all the way off out of habit. Considering all the possibilities, I can deal with 1 ok..

Actually, though the temps are low, we got out of this pretty good. Just imagine if it came will allot of moisture!!

 

[EddieWalker]

I have frozen water lines this morning. It's the third day of freezing temps and I guess it's building up. I've never had this problem before, so it's all new to me. Obviously, I need to get my pipes insulated better. My water line coming in, goes to my water,which is in an uninsulated room on the side of my house. Then all of my water lines go from there, into the house. Where they are exposes, I wraped them with insulatation, which I thought would be fine. Obviosly it's not. I'm sitting here wondering how much more is it going to take to protect those lines. I have a terrible feeling that this is just a hint of what winter in Texas is going to be like in the future. Heck, it's just the beginning of winter and February is the month when it normallly gets cold.

Eddie

 

[Bird]

Well, I hope both of you do have frozen lines that will thaw without bursting. Usually, plenty of insulation is all we need in Texas, although some do use the heat tape. I've not used the heat tape myself, but during our RV days, I sure did keep a good hair dryer for thawing water lines. Some of the hair dryers put out a lot of hot air without bursting lines like a torch can do.

 

[mikim]

My water froze this am. Got it thawed in one place so we had water to use inside, went to town and came home to a gusher outside -- guess it all thawed out while we were gone. Now it's back to town to buy repair parts. At least pvc is easy to fix.

 

[EddieWalker]

Water is flowing again here, but I was sure nevous about ruptures. I

've had five phone calls from clients about fixing their ruptured water lines, and I'm busy with my own issues. I feel like crap not being able to be everywhere, for everyone right now.

This really is new to me and I'm feeling very uncomfortable about what is happening with the lines. I don't know if PVC glue works in 20 degree temps.

I've told every call that I'm busy with issues already and to call a licensed plumber.

Eddie

 

[Bird]

When it warmed up to 26 today I tried turning on the heat again in the shop and it's been running as smoothly and quietly as ever, so I guess I was luckier than some of you.

And yep, PVC is easy to repair if it's where you can get to it easily and if you're not working in a muddy hole in the ground. Many years ago I had a fellow working for me who lived in town, but had several acres in the country with a little cheap mobile home that he had completely re-plumbed with PVC. But then he failed to drain the lines once because he wasn't expecting the freeze we had. He told me that PVC shattered throughout the place, so he had to completely re-plumb it again.

 

[Egon]

Heat gun Eddie.

 

[jinman]

Eddie, a heatlamp or small portable electric heater will do wonders in that little room. Even at 5.9 degrees this morning, I have not had one problem because I use those small heaters where needed, and I also have a healthy dose of good luck.