Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
If you have a hot-water heating system, and you are vacating your home or have no power and/
or heat to prevent it from freezing, then you must also drain your hot-water heating system.
1. Shut off the main water supply to the heating system.
2. Turn off the gas or electricity supply to the hot-water heater/boiler for your heating system.
3. Unplug or turn off any recirculating pumps in the system, so they don't run dry and burn out.
4. Open radiator and expansion-tank drain valves. Position pans under each drain valve to catch
spillage.
5. Drain the hot-water heater/boiler for your heating system, and its piping, by opening a valve at the
system's lowest point, which is usually on the bottom of the boiler. Typically you will run a hose
from the drain valve to a floor drain, or to the outside.
Caution:
Use a rubber hose, or red-colored
high-temperature hose, since the hot water may ruin a cheap plastic hose.
How to Thaw Frozen Plumbing
Inspect piping for sections that are frosty or bulging. You may be able to feel a frozen section
with your bare hand. Check plumbing in, or adjacent to, exterior walls first, and also look for
plumbing at low spots under the house where cold air would tend to pool and cause pipes to
freeze. If you are able to locate the frozen section of piping, it is possible to thaw that part out
using a hair dryer, or by wrapping the pipe in a towel and pouring extremely hot water onto the
towel. The use of a propane torch for thawing frozen pipes is not recommended owing to po-
tential for causing more damage, so if you do use a torch, keep it moving and don't allow any
portion of piping to overheat.
I have thawed out frozen pipes under my house by manually lighting my furnace and dis-
connecting a duct so that the hot air from my furnace poured directly into my crawl space, and
not into the main part of the house. As you start to thaw your piping, continuously inspect dif-
ferent parts of your home to ensure that a split pipe or fixture is not causing a flood once the
water starts flowing again. I recently met one couple who had a split pipe under their house that
went undiscovered for weeks, causing a huge mold and rot problem that resulted in the loss of
both their home and their health.
Staying Warm in a Home Without Power
If you have no heat, or a very limited source of heat, you will be more comfortable if you close
off a small room and everyone stays in that one room. Covering your living area's windows
with thick curtains or blankets, especially at night, can make a huge difference in heat lost to
the outside. The human body puts out an average of about 100 watts of power when at rest,
which is a significant amount of heat, and roughly 500 watts of power when working hard. It
